Bruce Lundvall

When the final notes of the Born to Run album rolled and Bruce Lundvall, president of Columbia Records. Looked over at Bruce and said, “You just made a hit record”, Bruce shrugged it off and walked away. As I delve deeper into Springsteen, it is apparent that he was hard on himself. This could be from his women troubles, his awareness of a divide in the E street band, or his abandonment issues stemming from his father or a concoction of these factors. One might think that sweeping praise from the top executive in his record company would have eased the make-or-break burden that Bruce lugged with him. That was not the case. This was because when he listened to the first two albums, all Bruce could hear were the things he wished he'd done differently.

As the problems persisted, Bruce and Bittan got increasingly frustrated until Bruce decided something needed to change. Landau’s words already propelled him towards more recognition, so he picked up the phone and called him. Landau quit his job and came to Bruce to help him. First thing Landau said as he heard Bruce record in 914 studios was “You're a world-class artist, you deserve a world-class studio!” When the recording sessions picked up again, the action moved to the Record Plant in midtown Manhattan. Even though Appel wasn't convinced they needed another expert in the studio, Bruce's word still ruled, and Appel was forced to make space for the album's third co-producer: Jon Landau. The ensuing tension between Appel and Landau was attractive to Bruce because he learned how to function while being the pivot point between conflicting forces as a boy living with two pairs of parents. While Landau and Appel fought for his ear, Bruce took advantage of his partners' strengths, turning to Landau for structural advice, while depending on Appel's eye and ear for detail to make sure every note sounded perfect. With Appel and Landau behind him, Bruce’s Born to Run rocketed him to stardom and he became a success. Shortly after the success of Born to Run, Appel offered to renegotiate contracts with Bruce by presenting a tempting offer: giving half of Laurel Canyon stock. As Bruce was considering this, Landau brought to light that the contract Bruce originally signed with Appel-owned Laurel Canyon records had some clauses Bruce did not know about. Landau brought to light that these clauses were “Laurel Canyon could make any changes to Bruce’s work that it wanted without his permission. In other words: Bruce didn’t own his music” (Springsteen Lore). As tensions were already heightened, Bruce was furious and notified Appel that he wants the old contracts