Jan 3rd we kicked off the 1st meeting for the Firedog Rock n Roll book club! The group met at Source Brewery in Colts Neck NJ and we enjoyed a nice selection of their brews and talked for hours about Tonight in Jungleland.
Everyone enjoyed the book but the general consensus was that it was lacking technical details about the recording process. It had some good stories in it especially about when Little Steven stepped up to write the music scores for the horn players from NJ. (He was just hanging out at the studio, he wasn't even in the band yet!)
By the time Bruce was working on this album (#3), he was on the verge of possibly being dropped by the label. He was losing executive sponsors. Early on he had Clive Davis as a fan. Other execs wanted Bruce to continue to be more like Bob Dylan a folk singer songwriter. Album #2 was loved by critics but not so much radio. He needed a hit big time and the pressure was on.
Through the journey there was Mike Appel the manager and friend who invested everything in Bruce. Some say that the contract was “all encompassing” and controlled every aspect of Bruce's career. (like what happened with Elvis) Eventually this relationship came to a head. Along the way Bruce befriended Jon Landau and Jon ended up being the co producer on Born to Run.
The book dives heavily into the emotions of the recordings and the songs themselves. Writing and rewriting lyrics. Recording parts over and over again. Pushing for perfection while 2nd guessing every step. Bruce struggled with the process and felt the pressure of his career and his life on his shoulders. This album marked the “end” of his current contract so the big question was.. will it be a hit and will he resign? As the album was coming to a close, the studio was a buzz with mixing in one studio, rehearsing for the tour in another, and recording overdubs in another. The big reveal was in Aug of 1975 with a run of shows at the Bottom Line in NYC. Interesting read for sure.
Overall rating of 3.5 stars from the group.
