“Tonight in Jungleland”: A Review

There’s a touching moment in Peter Ames Carlin’s Tonight in Jungleland: The Making of Born to Run. Critiquing Bruce Springsteen’s work, mentor/manager Mike Appel sings an excerpt from Paul McCartney staple “The Long and Winding Road”: “See how much space he’s leaving for the melody?” Impressed by this observation, Springsteen returned to work on Born to Run and made some necessary adjustments. Pop, like all art, is an organism and reacts to what goes before, then gives in to what comes after.

The Springsteen of 1974 is a very different man from the one we see today. He was, he realized, a “twenty-four-year-old kid,” discovering the United States for the first time in his life. There was danger – Carlo Rossi, a crime lord affiliate, threatened the guitarist’s management when the band considered pulling out of a gig due to the absence of a percussionist – yet the splendor of youth seemed to guide all involved. “I was a romantic at heart, you know, ” Springsteen conceded years later. “So, a dark romantic, I guess.”

Rock, author Carlin admits, is meant to be over-the-top, and Born to Run was an extravagant exercise in flourish and rhythm. The monster closer, “Jungleland”, featured a buzz-saw solo between the poetic verses. “She’s the One” flirted with tempo and tone, plastered by a barrelhouse piano. And then there was the title track, a masculine anthem bristling with soaring saxophones.

Springsteen’s band was mixed-race; keyboardist David Sancious found himself in a tricky situation when he “was the only African American in sight” on this beach dotted with angry, uncomfortable white men. Springsteen’s decision to lean on saxophonist Clarence Clemons’ shoulder on the cover of Born to Run was meant as a salute to black minorities during a difficult time in their country’s history.

On August 9th, 1974, Richard Nixon resigned from the role of President, leading to uncertainty among the counterculture. Out of all the tunes that make up the record, “Backstreets” is the most indebted to the shifting political climate. “Trying in vain to breathe the fire we was born in,” Springsteen grunts, his guttural vowels scarcely concealing a contempt. The narrator and Terry started off in one environment, woke up in another, and all they had to show for their labor was a shared heritage.

In later years, Springsteen tried to write off his characters as “alter egos”, but “Thunder Road” hints at something more autobiographical, a place where cars and talking guitars can satisfy a man in his twenties.

Carlin writes vividly, transporting readers right back to the 1970s. This was the era of The Village Voice’s “Musicians Wanted” classified column, the Vietnam War, and John Lennon’s raucous Walls & Bridges album. It was also a time of harder substances, which Springsteen wanted nothing to do with. His drug of choice was music. It was this thirst that drove him to throw spontaneous vocals over multi-layered string accompaniments, aided and abetted by Frank Sinatra’s favorite Charlie Calello, who came up with arrangements for “Backstreets” and “Jungleland.”

Tonight in Jungleland focuses on one aspect of Springsteen’s life, and anyone searching for the bigger picture would be better off purchasing the singer’s 528-page autobiography. But fans of Born to Run will be well served by Carlin’s writings, a portal into the backdrop, and a style of writing that avoids the trappings and pretensions of rock memoirs.

-Eoghan Lyng

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