As 'Born to Run' turns 40, recalling its Rockland roots

Forty years ago - Aug. 25, 1975 - Bruce Springsteen's third album was released. "Born to Run" turned out to be the record that would catapult him to stardom. Back in May I wrote this piece about the album's iconic title track, which was recorded in Blauvelt.

Back in the days when Rockland still owned a piece of the 914 area code, the county also owned a piece of rock 'n' roll history.

Four decades ago, at the 914 Sound Studios in Blauvelt, Bruce Springsteen laid down one of rock's most iconic tracks – "Born to Run." The album of the same name was released during the summer of 1975.

Springsteen's manager Mike Appel had been bringing him to the legendary recording space on Route 303 to craft his sound, away from the time and financial constraints of the New York City studios. They were nurtured by 914's founder, Brooks Arthur, who was a hot name in the business after capturing the signature sounds of Carole King and the Shangri-Las.

From garage to hit factory:The 914 Sound Studios story

Piecing together this narrative offers a glimpse into Rockland's role in the creation of the Springsteen sound. I tried to get a reminiscence from Bruce, to no avail. But some of the key people involved shared their memories.

After scoring modest successes with his first two records – both recorded at 914 – Springsteen returned to Blauvelt to start work on the album that would turn the cult favorite into The Boss.

"At that point he was doing more complex songs than the first two albums. Every album was kind of growing in complexity," recalled Larry Alexander, who was the assistant engineer on all the Springsteen recordings at 914.

The four-and-a-half minute title track – with its shifting tempos and elaborate arrangements – took forever to lay down.

"We worked on it a long time," Alexander recalled with a laugh, "because ... it's like a symphony. And, yeah, we tried many different things, many different parts."

Getting the right sound from Springsteen's Telecaster for the main guitar riff was tricky, said Alexander, who now runs a recording studio from his Valley Cottage home. "We tried putting the amp in the studio, we tried putting the amp in the bathroom, we tried putting the amp in the backyard until he got the sound."

Bruce was after a sophisticated variation on Phil Spector's "Wall of Sound," said Appel, who co-produced "Born to Run" with Springsteen.

Appel had a connection to Jeff Barry, who had collaborated with Spector on many hits in the early 1960s. Appel said he replicated those techniques to build Spector's sound onto the Springsteen classic.

"That's why 'Born to Run' sounds like 'Da Doo Ron Ron,' " Appel told me in a phone interview.

"We basically replicated Phil's genius … but with a song that's more sophisticated than 'Be My Baby.' "

Appel says a "mini-orchestra" – including a glockenspiel – was brought in to help capture that sound.

Arthur remembered "searching for the pocket ... searching for that invisible something when it all gels."

"Mike Appel called me into the control room and I kept on hearing magic," said Arthur, who lives in Los Angeles nowadays. Arthur, who had worked for Spector as an engineer, said he suggested ways of weaving that high echo effect into "Born to Run."

Arthur wasn't the primary engineer on Springsteen's recordings – Louis Lahav is credited – but he said he set up the studio and pulled together the team that would work with Springsteen and Appel.

Alexander recalled how driven Springsteen was to find the sound he wanted: "When it came to recording, he knew exactly what he was doing and he would just work the band really hard. They would do sometimes like 100 takes of a song until he thought he had it right. They would work, you know, late into the night, into the early morning, actually."

The "Born to Run" sessions eventually moved to The Record Plant in New York City, where the remainder of the album's tracks were recorded.

"It was a little disappointing that they only used the one song from 914 but I was glad that they used it," Alexander said. "I didn't really expect that they were going to use anything from the 914 sessions."

Keyboardist and composer Joe Delia first heard "Born to Run" when Springsteen and his E Street Band performed it live during their legendary Bottom Line shows.

"At the end of the instrumental, the band plays this descending chromatic figure in unison, so it's a very strong orchestral section of the song," said Delia, who lives in Tappan. "That's what struck me musically: this guy can really play. He can write some innovative songs."

Delia continues, "The song still evokes those feelings of being a young musician, of being a young guy in the '70s. It's a timeless piece of music for me. It's a great poetic statement."

The song comes in at No. 21 on Rolling Stone magazine's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

Today there's a car wash where 914 Sound Studios once stood. But that hasn't scrubbed away all memories of the music created there.

"The customers, they've been telling me this place is a famous place," Maynor Mata, owner of Blauvelt Auto Spa, told photographer Peter Carr the other day. "People come from L.A. just to take pictures here."

The image of guys out in the hot sun shining the chrome wheels on their fuel-injected chariots is fitting for the place where Bruce once sang, "The highway's jammed with broken heroes on a last chance power drive."

Robert Brum is a columnist and editor of The Rockland Angle, a nightly email newsletter exclusively for Rockland County news, features and other essential information. To sign up for The Angle, visit http://lohud.com/newsletters, check the "Rockland Angle" box and submit your email address.

Twitter: @Bee_bob