Bruce Springsteen has been the definition of a rockstar when it comes to rock n’ roll. And the rockstar himself has been inspired by various artists over the course of his long career. Among such various artists is The Rolling Stones, who inspired him to pursue music and be in a band one day.
According to Bruce, he had to sell his pool table to fund his first electric guitar. Since then, he had dreams about joining a band one day and performing like Keith Richards, as he is his biggest inspiration.
He recalled, “That night I went home, pulled out the second Rolling Stones album, put it on and taught myself Keith Richards’s simple but great guitar solo to ‘It’s All Over Now’ — It took me all night, but by midnight I had a reasonable facsimile of it down.”
He went on to say that this was the occurrence that happened to him for years to come. Even after a few years, he would have dreams of being in a rock n’ roll band. He remembered, “Here’s how one would go: The Stones have a gig at Asbury Park’s Convention Hall but Mick Jagger gets sick. It’s a show they’ve got to make, they need a replacement, but who can replace Mick? Suddenly, a young hero rises, a local kid,” continued Springsteen. “Right out of the audience. He can ‘front’: he’s got the voice, the look, the moves, no acne, and he plays a hell of a guitar. The band clicks, Keith is smiling, and suddenly, the Stones aren’t in such a rush to get Mick out of his sickbed. How does it end? Always the same…. the crowd goes wild.”
Springsteen also said that he loved Rolling Stones’ political anthem ‘Street Fighting Man.’ This is a powerful track and was a straight response to the student riots of 1968. Speaking of the song, he said, “That one line, ‘What can a poor boy do but sing in a rock and roll band?’ is one of the greatest rock and roll lines of all time. It has that edge-of-the-cliff thing when you hit it. And it’s funny; it’s got humor to it.”
He revealed that this was his favorite and the greatest lyric for him as it was very inspiring. Who knows these could have been the very words which made him what he is today.
