To suggest that it merely was a “transitional” year would be to understate the significance of 1975 in the Bruce Springsteen story. The New Jersey-born musician thus far had been making headway — slowly. His first two records, Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. (Jan. ‘73) and The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle (Nov. ‘73) both generated modest sales and the tracks “Blinded by the Light,” “Spirit in the Night” and “Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)” were oft-played FM album cuts. However, the 25-year-old songwriter had yet to achieve bona fide breakout success. Springsteen began work on his third record in the spring of ‘74 with longtime producer, Mike Appel. But the creative process soon stalled and Springsteen’s relationship with Appel became splintered. However, based on the buzz g...