Editing Bruce Springsteen (section)

=== <span class="anchor" id="The Castiles"></span> 1964–1972: Early career ===
In 1964, Springsteen saw [[the Beatles]]' televised appearances on ''[[The Ed Sullivan Show]]''. Inspired, he bought his first guitar for $18.95 at the [[Western Auto]] appliance store.<ref name="Crandall" />{{sfn|Statham|2013|pp=12–13}} Thereafter, he started playing for audiences with a band called the Rogues at local venues, including [[Elks Lodge]] in Freehold.{{sfn|Carlin|2012|p=26}} Later that year, his mother took out a loan to buy him a $60 [[Kent (guitar)|Kent]] guitar, an act he later memorialized in his song "The Wish". In 1965, he went to the house of Tex and Marion Vinyard, who sponsored young bands in town. They helped him become the lead guitarist and subsequently one of the lead singers of [[the Castiles]], a band that recorded two original songs at a public recording studio in [[Brick Township]] and played a variety of venues, including [[Cafe Wha?]] in [[Greenwich Village]]. Marion Vinyard said she believed the young Springsteen when he promised he would make it big.{{sfn|Statham|2013|p=}}<ref>{{Cite web |date=April 17, 2002 |title=Musicians' best friends to be honored in Freehold |url=http://newstranscript.gmnews.com/news/2002/0417/Front_page/003.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090223191210/http://newstranscript.gmnews.com/news/2002/0417/Front_page/003.html |archive-date=February 23, 2009 |access-date=June 9, 2012 |website=News Transcript |location=New Jersey}}</ref> In the late 1960s, Springsteen performed briefly in a [[power trio]] known as Earth, who played in various clubs in New Jersey and at a major show at the Hotel Diplomat in [[New York City]].{{sfn|Statham|2013|p=}}

{{quote box |align=left |width=25em |quote=This was different, shifted the lay of the land. Four guys, playing and singing, writing their own material. [...] Rock 'n' roll came to my house where there seemed to be no way out [...] and opened up a whole world of possibilities.
|source= —Springsteen on the [[cultural impact of the Beatles|impact of the Beatles]]<ref name="Crandall">{{Cite web |last=Crandall |first=Bill |date=February 6, 2014 |title=10 musicians who saw the Beatles standing there |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/10-musicians-who-saw-the-beatles-standing-there/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200420144355/https://www.cbsnews.com/news/10-musicians-who-saw-the-beatles-standing-there/ |archive-date=April 20, 2020 |access-date=April 16, 2020 |publisher=CBS News}}</ref>}}

From 1969 through early 1971, Springsteen performed with the band Child, which later changed its name to [[Steel Mill]] and included [[Danny Federici]], [[Vini Lopez]], [[Vinnie Roslin]], and later [[Steven Van Zandt]] and [[Robbin Thompson]]. Steel Mill performed at various [[Jersey Shore]] venues and also outside of New Jersey, in [[Richmond, Virginia]],<ref>{{Cite news |date=April 29, 1986 |title=The Boss Growing Up in Richmond |work=[[The Commonwealth Times]] |url=http://dig.library.vcu.edu/cdm/compoundobject/collection/com/id/7779/rec/36 |url-status=dead |access-date=January 13, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402112138/http://dig.library.vcu.edu/cdm/compoundobject/collection/com/id/7779/rec/36 |archive-date=April 2, 2015}}</ref> [[Nashville, Tennessee]], and [[California]],{{sfn|Statham|2013|p=}} and gathered a cult following. In his January 1970 review of Steel Mill's show at [[The Matrix (club)|The Matrix]], music critic Philip Elwood wrote in the ''[[San Francisco Examiner]]'' that he had "never been so overwhelmed by a totally unknown talent"<ref>{{Cite web |last=Comaratta |first=Len |date=March 3, 2012 |title=Dusting 'Em Off: Bruce Springsteen with Steel Mill – Live at the Matrix, San Francisco 1/13/70 |url=https://consequenceofsound.net/2012/03/dusting-em-off-bruce-springsteen-with-steel-mill-live-at-the-matrix-san-francisco-11370/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201016023707/https://consequenceofsound.net/2012/03/dusting-em-off-bruce-springsteen-with-steel-mill-live-at-the-matrix-san-francisco-11370/ |archive-date=October 16, 2020 |access-date=October 14, 2020}}</ref> and called Steel Mill "the first big thing that's happened to [[Asbury Park]] since the good ship [[SS Morro Castle (1930)|''Morro Castle'']] burned to the waterline of that Jersey beach in '34".{{sfn|Statham|2013|p=}} Elwood praised the band's "cohesive musicality" and called Springsteen "a most impressive composer".<ref>{{Cite news |last=Elwood |first=Philip |date=January 14, 1970 |title=A Memorable Wet Night with the Steel Mill |work=San Francisco Examiner |url=https://pusabase.com/blog/2020/01/13/steel-mill-live-at-the-matrix-50th-anniversary-edition/ |url-status=live |access-date=October 14, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201014045022/https://pusabase.com/blog/2020/01/13/steel-mill-live-at-the-matrix-50th-anniversary-edition/ |archive-date=October 14, 2020}}</ref> In [[San Mateo, California|San Mateo]], Steel Mill recorded three original Springsteen songs at Pacific Recording.<ref>{{Cite web |date=February 22, 2020 |title=Kingdom of Days: February 22 |url=https://estreetshuffle.com/index.php/2020/02/22/kingdom-of-days-february-22/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201101073311/https://estreetshuffle.com/index.php/2020/02/22/kingdom-of-days-february-22/ |archive-date=November 1, 2020 |access-date=October 27, 2020 |website=E Street Shuffle |quote=("He's Guilty," "Goin' Back to Georgia," and "The Train Song")...This is only Bruce's second time in a recording studio.}}</ref>

As Springsteen sought to shape a unique and genuine musical and lyrical style, he performed with the bands Dr. Zoom & the Sonic Boom from early-to-mid-1971, the Sundance Blues Band in mid-1971, and the Bruce Springsteen Band from mid-1971 to mid-1972.<ref>{{cite book|last=Santelli|first = Robert| date = September 28, 2006| title = Greetings From E Street: The Story of Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band| publisher = Chronicle Books| isbn = 0-8118-5348-9}}</ref> His songwriting ability included, as his future record label described it in early publicity campaigns, "more words in some individual songs than other artists had in whole albums". He brought his skills to the attention of several people who went on to prove influential to his career development, including managers [[Mike Appel]] and Jim Cretecos, who in turn brought him to the attention of [[John Hammond (record producer)|John Hammond]], a talent scout at [[Columbia Records]]. In May 1972, Springsteen auditioned for Hammond.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Lifton |first=Dave |title=Revisiting Bruce Springsteen's Columbia Records Audition |url=https://ultimateclassicrock.com/bruce-springsteen-auditioned-for-columbia-records-40-years-ago-this-month/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190507213653/https://ultimateclassicrock.com/bruce-springsteen-auditioned-for-columbia-records-40-years-ago-this-month/ |archive-date=May 7, 2019 |access-date=August 6, 2019 |website=Ultimate Classic Rock|date=May 2, 2015}}</ref>

In October 1972, Springsteen formed a new band for the recording of his debut album, ''[[Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J.]]'' The band eventually became known as the [[E Street Band]], although the name was not used until September 1974.<ref name="rs-esb">{{Cite magazine |last=Fricke |first=David |author-link=David Fricke |date=January 21, 2009 |title=The Band on Bruce: Their Springsteen |magazine=Rolling Stone |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/25556603/the_band_on_bruce_their_springsteen/print |url-status=dead |access-date=February 7, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090401080648/http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/25556603/the_band_on_bruce_their_springsteen |archive-date=April 1, 2009}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Bruce Springsteen Bands: from Rogues to E Street Band, passing from Castiles and Steel Mill |url=http://www.brucespringsteen.it/e_streetx.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303193948/http://www.brucespringsteen.it/e_streetx.htm |archive-date=March 3, 2016 |publisher=brucespringsteen.it}}</ref> Springsteen acquired the nickname "the Boss" during this period, since he took on the task of collecting his band's nightly pay and distributing it among his bandmates.<ref name="bbc-nicknames">{{Cite news |last=Brett |first=Oliver |date=January 15, 2009 |title=What's in a nickname? |work=BBC News |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/7829013.stm |url-status=live |access-date=January 21, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090118223753/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/7829013.stm |archive-date=January 18, 2009}}</ref> The nickname also reportedly sprang from games of ''[[Monopoly (game)|Monopoly]]'', which Springsteen played with other Jersey Shore musicians.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Marchand |first=Francois |date=November 29, 2012 |title=Review: Bruce Springsteen rocks like a boss in Vancouver |work=The Vancouver Sun |url=https://vancouversun.com/entertainment/Review+Bruce+Springsteen+rocks+like+boss+Vancouver/7612975/story.html |url-status=dead |access-date=September 7, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170830170940/http://www.vancouversun.com/entertainment/Review%20Bruce%20Springsteen%20rocks%20like%20boss%20Vancouver/7612975/story.html |archive-date=August 30, 2017}}</ref>