Bruce Springsteen: The Day I Was There
Neil Cossar
Bruce Springsteen had his say in his Born To Run autobiography. Now it’s his fans’ turn in this lavishly illustrated, memorabiliafestooned treasure trove of chronological reminiscences of encounters and concerts from Child (aka Steel Mill) shows in 1969 to this year’s Broadway residency. There’s occasional celebrity input (David Bowie, cricketer Mark Nicholas, assorted E Street Banders), and while there’s no shortage of gush (and someone speaks of Clarence “Clemens” and a language called “Catalonian”), there are some jaw-dropping tales.
None more so than a brother and sister bumping into the unaccompanied Springsteen at a St. Louis cinema in 1980. They watched Woody Allen’s Stardust Memories together, drove him home to meet mum (who demanded Springsteen showed her his credit card to prove his identity) and dad, cooked him a meal and drove him back to his hotel, many hours later. Extraordinary.
Surely this is the very book Springsteen might wish to read about himself.