Terry Gross

The now-classic Bruce Springsteen album Born to Run had its 50th anniversary in August.

The album was a turning point for rock and roll and for Springsteen in his life and his songwriting.

Before he recorded that album, his record label, Columbia, was on the verge of dropping him because his first two albums were critically acclaimed but had pretty feeble record sales.

The making of Born to Run is the subject of the recent book Tonight in Jungleland, which is also the title of Born to Run's final track.

We're going to hear the interview I recorded with the book's author, Peter Ames Carlin.

He's also the author of a biography of Springsteen called Bruce, as well as books about R.E.M., Brian Wilson, Paul McCartney, and Paul Simon.

Our interview was recorded in August when the book was published, right around the time of the actual anniversary.

Let's start things off with this.

I really enjoyed the book.

Looking back on Born to Run and looking ahead at what happened after it, what do you think is the significance of that album?

It's such an important album, too, because his record company, Columbia, was about to drop him.

They were considering dropping him.

This is in your book.

They told him he had to make a single, and if they liked it, they'd release it.

Tell the Billy Joel story about the record reps.

So initially, the song Born to Run was called Wild Angels.

What were the early lyrics like?

I'm going to stop you for a second because I want to quote a line from an earlier draft that you quote in the book.

And everyone will recognize a phrase in this line.

This town will rip the bones from your back.