‘I knew it would happen for Bruce’: David Sancious on walking away from Springsteen’s E Street Band
He inspired their band name and played on Born to Run but left before it turned his bandmates into superstars. As the album turns 50, does the musician – who went on to tour with Sting and Eric Clapton – have any regrets?It was a late spring night in 1971 and David Sancious had walked from his home on E Street in Belmar, New Jersey to the Upstage club in Asbury Park. He was 17 and he had been playing piano and guitar with local bands for four years. “I had walked to the Upstage because I wanted to play,” he says, “and as I’m coming in I see Garry Tallent, a bass player who I already knew from other gigs.” Tallent was with a fellow New Jersey musician, a 21-year-old guitarist called Bruce Springsteen, “the local guitar hero”, says Sancious, “very famous locally.” Springsteen told Sancious he was having a jam session and invited him to play. “I said: ‘Absolutely.’”The band played until 5am. As they were walking out of the club, Springsteen told Sancious he was breaking up his current band Steel Mill to form a new one: would he be interested in joining? Sancious said yes. He went on to record with Springsteen on his first three albums, but left the group before Born to Run transformed Springsteen and his bandmates into superstars. As that album approaches its 50th anniversary next month, I have wondered whether Sancious regrets walking away. Continue reading...
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