SOFT INFESTED SUMMER: BORN TO RUN REMEMBERED BY ED HUERTA
Ed Huerta’s i.d. card 1974-75 school year from Westminster High School
He’s back! Drummer and writer Ed Huerta of Jackaboutguitars ‘Art “N” Soul column, aka “The Prince of Primitive“, has returned to share a cool, heartfelt piece he did for Iman Lababedi on Iman’s sweet site rocknycliveandrecorded.com You have to check out Iman’s cool site!!!
SOFT INFESTED SUMMER: BORN TO RUN REMEMBERED BY ED HUERTA
A little history is in order before you decide to take this dive into this article. A post on Facebook on 4th of July by legendary writer and musical connoisseur, Iman Lababedi about the song “Born in the USA” sparked my mind to recall the feelings for Bruce Springsteen and what he means/meant to music then and now.
Some of you may have had similar journeys. Some of you may hate the man and his music, so be it. You have that choice. I thought he was the musical messiah at one point in my life. In this column, possibly the first of a few on this man, I am only going to touch on the Born to Run era Bruce and how it affected a young teenager living in an angst filled high school world.
I could easily go on and maybe with a little prodding will continue to write about the historic run of Bruce’s career and how it affected the chapters in my life and growing up and how rock and roll has taken a backseat to everyday woes and responsibilities. I hope the haters and doubters stay with me, if not, take two aspirins and go listen to early Genesis and we’ll meet ‘neath that giant Exxon sign cuz this guy don’t dance…
Summer 1975
Summer 1975. I was fourteen years old, a freshman in high school in a city far away from the east coast, Westminster California, in the heart of Orange County. I was never a popular kid in school and spent a lot of alone time in my room listening to the radio and LP recordings. At that time songs like “Billy Don’t be a Hero”, “Seasons in the Sun”, “Clap for the Wolfman” were permeating the airwaves.
So I found solace in The Who, The Beach Boys, Sam and Dave, Elton John, The Beatles, The Eagles, (god, did I just admit that!???), J. Geils, The Ronettes, The Crystals, The Shangri-La’s, George Carlin, Richard Pryor…and I would buy Rolling Stone, Creem and Circus magazines and absorb everything about music that my 14 year old brain could handle.
One thing I kept seeing were ads for the “future of rock and roll”, “the new Dylan” this bearded, curly haired, gap-toothed dude with a dumb cocked hat on named Bruce Springsteen. They made it sound like he was the next Elvis or The Beatles. I turned my back on him right away.
But one day, I was with my older brother Jack (he probably had to watch me that day) and we went to his friends house to just hang out (mother nature may have been involved here…not saying…can’t remember) and he had like KMET on or something and the DJ said “here’s the new song by Bruce Springsteen, Born to Run”..instantly I thought cool, I get to hear this clown and finally see what much to do about nothing is all about.
I go into the living room where the speakers were blasting to hear it better…then the opening snare roll fill with the constant bass drum pattern, the glockenspiel and the sax and the Duane Eddy/Link Wray/Dick Dale guitar riff in a wall of sound production filled my world.
WHAT IS THIS??
What is this?? This was my personal vision of rock and roll perfection! This dude was marrying all these influences that I dig, into an angst filled (my middle name at the time was angst!) song about escaping into a better future. I must have stood stock still, just absorbing the music, time stood still, doors flew open, this is what rock and roll is all about!
This is why I exist! I was transported with high hopes…and then the cacophony of sounds heralding the end of the song was coming…but no “One, Two, Three, Four”..the desperate plea/statement “The highways jammed with broken heroes on a last chance power drive”..Jesus H.! This is brilliant! The glockenspiel…the F*CKING glockenspiel! “Run, run, run, run run….”
What the heck did I just hear???
I was by myself, in some dude’s living room, awakening from a dream.. I needed to hear that again! Again and again. That may have been the most perfect song that I had ever heard in my 14 years!
I don’t remember much more about that day.
I bought the LP and listened.
I basically tore apart every song and studied them. The cool Roy Orbison reference in “Thunder Road” and the homage-y Dylan lone harmonica that starts us on the journey, then the Stax-y introduction to the E Street band “Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out, that could have had Steve Cropper himself, playing guitar. Night (my least favorite, never moved me for some reason, maybe because I couldn’t connect any musical dots with this one, but was very happy to hear it live) then propels us onto the streets.
A precursor of “Racing in the Streets”