“New York City Serenade” by Bruce Springsteen

"New York City Serenade" comes from The Wild, the Innocent & The E Street Shuffle, the second album Bruce Springsteen put out in 1973, released by Columbia on November 5. He cut it with the E Street Band at 914 Sound Studios in Blauvelt, New York, and this one is his from every angle: he wrote the words and music, arranged it, sang lead and played guitar, with Garry Tallent on bass, Vini Lopez on drums and Clarence Clemons' saxophone curling through it like steam off a Manhattan grate.

Mike Appel and Jim Cretecos produced, and the whole thing sways and swells with a loose, late-night feel. It belongs to the years before Born to Run made him a national name, when airplay on Northeast rock stations had turned Springsteen into a local phenomenon.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz.