Down Thunder Road: The Making of Bruce Springsteen [Paperback]

Marc Eliot (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1993

An unauthorized biography of the Boss relies on interview material to describe Springsteen's troubled childhood; rise to fame; treatment of roadies, band members, and girlfriends; business affairs; complicated personal relationships; and more. 50,000 first printing.

--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Rock writer Eliot ( Phil Ochs: The Death of a Rebel , Watts, 1989) chronicles Springsteen's rise to stardom during the mid-1970s. By effectively patching together lengthy quotes, he outlines the rock star's New Jersey childhood, mentions his first bands, and concentrates on Springsteen's relationship and 1976 split with Appel, who managed the singer/guitarist to his Born To Run (1975) success and whose recollections form the basis of this book. Though overrating the importance of Appel, who is cast as a victim, and unable to interview either Springsteen or current manager Jon Landau, Eliot delivers a readable, sometimes fascinating text that sheds new light on the 1975 selling of Springsteen and should be read together with Dave Marsh's more laudatory biographies, Born To Run ( LJ 11/1/79) and Glory Days (Pantheon, 1987). Recommended to anyone interested in Springsteen, rock 'n' roll, or the music business.
- David Szatmary, Univ. of Washington, Seattle
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 382 pages
• Publisher: Fireside; 1st Edition: 1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2 edition (October 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0671868985
• ISBN-13: 978-0671868987
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.7 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,770,790 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Marc Eliot is the New York Times bestselling author of more than a dozen books on popular culture, among them the highly acclaimed biography Cary Grant, the award-winning Walt Disney: Hollywood's Dark Prince, and most recently American Rebel: The Life of Clint Eastwood, plus the music biographies Down Thunder Road: The Making of Bruce Springsteen, To the Limit: The Untold Story of the Eagles, and Death of a Rebel about Phil Ochs. He has been featured in many documentaries about film and music and has written on the media and popular culture for numerous publications. He divides his time among New York City; Woodstock, New York; and Los Angeles. Visit him at marceliot.net.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An amazing journey into artist development, May 26, 2000

By 

Hintzy, Stan (Paris, France) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Down Thunder Road: The Making of Bruce Springsteen (Hardcover)

Down Thunder Road is presented on the back cover as somehow contreversial and anti-Springsteen. Well, as a Springsteen fan, I did not found this book outrageous at all, but on the contrary fascinating. It is an amazing journey in the development of a new artist that will eventually become a popular music icon. Down Thunder Road is not only the recount of an adventure, it is also a music business case, full with a copy of the contracts, record company memos and court orders. Fascinating !

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Appel''s version of events, May 30, 2009

By 

M. Fonseca "carmarthen" (Thunder) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Down Thunder Road: The Making of Bruce Springsteen (Paperback)

The famous split between Appell and Springsteen, who opted to have Jon Landau at his side.

The book is well balanced and, of course, it has Appel's version of events. But it's not, by any meands, biased. The writer gives a balanced narrative of the vents that culminated ina a long legal battle that almost put Bruce's career to a ignominious halt.

A good and fast read (if you do not spend time reading the tons of legal papaers printed in the last part of the book!)

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars worthless junk, July 21, 2005

By 

radioguy - See all my reviews

This review is from: Down Thunder Road: The Making of Bruce Springsteen (Hardcover)

Read the Library Journal review above. They've got it right. This is junk, pure and simple - a hack job designed to let Mike Appel, one of the vilest men in the music business, whine about Bruce. There is no substance here, no real thought, certainly no real biography. I wish I could give it zero stars - even that is more than it deserves.