With the release of his 2007 album, Magic, Bruce Springsteen again proved his status as one of the greatest songwriters in American history. For over three decades, Springsteens musicwith his trademark poetic lyrics and his ability to find glory in the struggles of everyday lifehas attracted fans and critics from across the globe. In this book, author Jeffrey Symynkywicz shows that a large part of Springsteens enduring popularity is the deep sense in which his music connects to something essential to human experience. Springsteens music, Symynkywicz suggests, helps make sense of the many threads of our livesincluding our experiences of sin and redemption and of faith and hope. With a clear and inviting style, Symynkywicz treats each of Springsteens albums as a chapter, exploring the history and context of Springsteens music and the ways in which his songs express these spiritual themes.

Using postcards from the late 1800s on, Asbury Park recounts the history of one of New Jersey's most popular summer resorts. Here are more than two hundred spectacular views of Asbury Park as a thriving city for both businesses and vacationers. Shown are hotels of all descriptions, unforgettable downtown shops, and the beachfront--a beautiful city carved out of sand dunes and pine forests.

Asbury Parks Early History James A. Bradley James A. Bradley was born on Valentines Day, 1830, at the Old Blazing Star Inn in Rossville on Staten Island in New York. He was the son of Adam and Hannah Bradley. He was baptized a Catholic. When he was only five, his father died from alcohol related problems. Two years later, his mother married Charles Smith and moved to Cherry Street in the Bowery. In those years before the Civil War, the citys population was exploding. The lower east side was the first stop for tens of thousands of immigrants to America. The original buildings had no heat, light, or running water and few windows until the late 1960s when the state enacted laws that forced landlords to improve living conditions. On hot nights, you could see tenants sleeping on fire escapes to get relief from summer heat. In 1837, the year they moved, a general economic panic had taken over the city. In that year over 100 firms went under, railroads fell, banks collapsed and building construction stopped. The citys working class crowded into tiny tenement apartments. The poor sewer system and primitive health services led to massive outbreaks of typhus and cholera. Bradleys stepfather set up a notions store selling groceries, meat, clothing, shoes and other items. Bradley was only seven years old at the time. He and his stepfather had a peddlers wagon, their favorite spot was down on Catherine Street outside the new specialty store, Lord & Taylor. Bradley obtained his early education in the New York public school system, and in later life continued his education through self-directed reading. At twelve, Bradley worked as a laborer at William Daviss Paper Mill in Bloomfield, New Jersey. As a teenager, Bradley hung with a rowdy immigrant crowd. He soon developed a fondness for wine. By the early 1840s the Bowery became more of a pleasure zone. Small hotels offered free vaudevilles to attract customers including ventriloquism, dancing, circus acts and comics. Young Bradley loved the shows, he tried to attend at least three a week. At thirteen, he witnesses the development of one of the most popular styles of the day; the minstrel show. They played reels, jigs and told down-home plantation jokes. Negros were barred from Bowery theaters, but minstrel shows became the rage. Bradleys mother decided that her teenage son was learning too much too last. She sent him to Bloomfield, New Jersey where a friend from her childhood owned a farm. He spent a year in Jersey milking cows and feeding chickens. He disliked it intensely. Twice he ran away and was caught trying to catch a ferry back to the city. Finally, at age sixteen, he returned to the lower East Side. Upon returning, he apprenticed as a brushmaker in Francis R. Furnolds factory in New York City. He was made foreman at age twenty-one and remained for seven years. It was hard work in a cramped space that stunk of hog bristle and glue. The animal hair had to be washed by hand, dried in a hot room, bleached, sorted for length, shaped, tied, glued and inserted into a handle. Depending on the type of brush, a man might make six to eight dozen a day. The hours were long and when work was over, Bradley had to return to his crowded, narrow tenement apartment. During this period, Bradley married Helen M. Packard, daughter of Lewis Packard from Boston. Helen was an educated Rutgers student and a staunch Methodist. The two of them resolved to start their own business and through self-discipline, managed to save one thousand dollars. In 1857, they completed payment on a lot uptown. Then, borrowing the capital, the twenty seven year old Bradley launched his own brush company, Bradley and Smith, located in Pearl Street in New York City. It became a very successful enterprise. Bradley was a vigorous, large built man, rough in appearance, but full of energy. While his wife kept shop, he was upstairs cutting, shaping and gluing brushes. Later in life, Bradl

This revised and expanded edition of Daniel Wolff's classic study of Asbury Park, New Jersey tells the tale of the city's first 150 years, guiding us through the development of its lavish amusement parks and bandstands, the decay of its working-class neighborhoods, the spread of its racially-segregated ghettos, and the effects of recent gentrification.

A colorful history of Asbury Park, New Jersey, provides a chronicle of the evolution of the seaside resort town from its founding as a religious commune through 130 years of social, cultural, and musical development, offering tidbits of local history, profiles of the celebrities who passed through, its decline into blight, and the potential for its future. Reprint.

Bruce Springsteen's career has been covered many times over, yet many of the complexities and apparent contradictions of his music remain unresolved. Rob Kirkpatrick provides a comprehensive and coherent look at the work of this thoroughly complex and persistently captivating artist. After a brief biographical treatment, Kirkpatrick considers all of Springsteen's significant albums in chronological order. These include Born to Run, which was voted the most popular album of all time in a recently published Zagat survey; Born in the U.S.A., which sold more than 20 million copies; and The Rising, regarded by many as the most poignant artistic reaction to 9/11. In addition to a probing musical analysis, the book offers a guide to Springsteen's lyrical themes and motifs, allowing readers insight into the complicated nature of the artist's underlying concerns, influences, and ideas. Rounding out the volume is a consideration of The Boss's legacy as a songwriter and musician, as well as appendices including a bibliography and a complete discography. The Words and Music of Bruce Springsteen provides a comprehensive and coherent look at the work of a thoroughly complex and persistently captivating artist. Springsteen enjoys a popularity that has transcended generations. His 1975 album Born to Run was voted the most popular album of all time in a recently published Zagat survey; his 1984 album Born in the U.S.A. spawned seven Top Ten singles while selling more than 20 million copies; and his 2002 album The Rising was regarded by many critics as the most poignant artistic reaction to 9/11. Springsteen, now in his 50s, has evolved from an over-hyped version of the next Bob Dylan, to the future of rock and roll in the mid-1970s, to a pop culture icon in Reagan America, to a 21st-century populist voice. His career has been covered many times over, yet many of the complexities and apparent contradictions of his music remain unresolved. These include his hard-rock influenced musical background; his movement from themes of rebellion and isolation in his early work to those of a more populist complexion later on; and his contribution in the 1980s to a conservative patriotism—despite his albums' close association with the music and ideas of Woody Guthrie. After a brief biographical treatment, Kirkpatrick considers all of Springsteen's significant albums in chronological order. In addition to this probing musical analysis, he offers a guide to Springsteen's lyrical themes and motifs, allowing readers a coherent insight into the complicated nature of the artist's underlying concerns, influences, and ideas. Rounding out the volume is a consideration of The Boss's legacy as a songwriter and musician, as well as appendices including a bibliography and a complete discography. In sum, The Words and Music of Bruce Springsteen provides a comprehensive and coherent look, previously unavailable in a single volume, at the work of a thoroughly complex and persistently captivating artist.