Traditional/Roots Rock, Music Biography, Rock & Roll

Down Thunder Road

Name: Down Thunder Road
Author: Marc Eliot
ISBN: 9780859651745

by Marc Eliot

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Overview

Down Thunder Road is the book Bruce Springsteen hoped would never be written--the no-holds-barred, behind-the-scenes story of Springsteen and his rise to superstardom, written with the participation of Mike Appel, the man who discovered the Boss, managed his career, produced his first record, and then was fired, resulting in the controversial lawsuit that kept Springsteen out of the recording studio for a year. Based on never-before-released court depositions and other documents as well as exclusive interviews, Down Thunder Road lifts the veil of secrecy that has surrounded the Boss for more than a decade, revealing for the first time the true and complete story of his early years. Marc Eliot follows Bruce from his young days playing in blue-collar dives along the Jersey shore to his "overnight success" with Born to Run, to the superstardom achieved with Born in the U.S.A., and the years beyond. Along the way, Down Thunder Road shows the gritty reality of Springsteen's rock and roll career--from his troubled childhood, to early band frustrations, to marital and legal difficulties as he became a superstar. Here is Springsteen as you've never seen him before--raw, out-of-control, self-destructive, yet bursting with creative energy and passion. With dozens of never-before-seen photographs and memorabilia, Marc Eliot illuminates the reality behind the myth. Down Thunder Road is the ultimate story of Bruce Springsteen and how he became a star.

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Editorials

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

The career of rock superstar Bruce Springsteen, including his long-term yet fragile father/son alliance with producer Mike Appel, is depicted in this unprettified look at the music industry. While appreciative of Springsteen's enormous talent, Eliot ( Death of a Rebel ) portrays The Boss as sullen and capricious; at the same time he avoids the mudslinging found in many ``unauthorized'' biographies. Eliot sees rock journalist/recording producer Jon Landau as the wedge that divided Springsteen and Appel and led to the bitter legal battle in 1976 that hampered Springsteen's career and virtually drove Appel out of the business. Sympathetic to Appel, the author portrays him as abrasive but totally dedicated to the success of his protege. The effect of Eliot's confident, spare style is hampered by many lengthy excerpts from Springsteen's pretrial depositions. Photos not seen by PW. (Nov.)

Library Journal

This is a real cut-and-paste job: much of the text comprises the verbatim transcripts of the lawsuit between rock idol Bruce Springsteen and his first manager, Mike Appel. Those transcripts are strung together with a thin pastiche of pseudo-biography and gossip. Since no one close to Springsteen would talk to Eliot, the biography has a once-removed feel; there is virtually no revelation here, nothing any fan would not already know from the pages of Rolling Stone . Eliot professes to be a fan himself, but innuendo and snide comment are the order of the day. Some of the illustrations--old ticket stubs, etc.--are rather charming, and those who devour put-downs of the rich and famous will find some satisfaction, but true Bruce fans will just turn up their noses and turn up the volume. A very marginal purchase.-- GraceAnne A. DeCandido, ``School Library Journal''