By February 1972, The Bruce Springsteen Band was at the top of its bluesy game.<\/p>\n
Thanks to the local popularity of Bruce’s previous band, Steel Mill, Bruce had developed a loyal following in Richmond, Virginia, leading to a month-long stand for his new band at The Back Door, a legendary live music venue from 1970 until its closure in late 2018. (The venue changed names a few times along the way.)<\/p>\n
Bruce was established enough locally to not only draw crowds but bootleggers, too, leading to a collection of fine (for their age) documents of this pre-E Street stand.<\/p>\n
The stand may have been pre-E Street, but the band wasn’t: the five-man combo consisted of Bruce, Steve Van Zandt, Garry Tallent, David Sancious, and Vini Lopez. Only Clarence and Danny had yet to join the original line-up.<\/p>\n
At the opening show of their Back Door residency, The Bruce Springsteen Band was joined by Southside Johnny, already known for his impressive harmonica skills. Bruce gave Southside a spotlight that night on Jimmy Reed’s “Bright Lights, Big City.”<\/p>\n
Reed’s song was a decade old by that time and already a standard for any self-respecting blues band. Notching in at #3 on the Billboard R&B chart, “Bright Lights, Big City” also charted at #58 on the Hot 100, earning it broad mainstream appeal as well.<\/p>\n