E Street Shuffle Archive

Listen to the never-released “Sell It and They Will Come,” first performed on this day in 1996, an E Street Radio interview from 2014, and more.

Set the wayback machine for 1971 to hear Bruce Springsteen and Steel Mill cover one of the seminal R&B classics.

It’s a bit of a mess on its own merits, but this early Steel Mill song paved the way for a Born to Run classic years later.

Tucked into the end of Steel Mill’s set-closing cover of Richie Havens’ “Run, Shaker Life” is this very under-the-radar Springsteen original.

It’s a muddy recording, but this early rocker has a self-deprecating “I’m Goin’ Down” charm that wins us over.

Bruce Springsteen, guitar hero. Don’t laugh, just listen.

One of the first songs Bruce ever recorded in a studio featured one heck of a plot twist.

Bruce wasn’t Steel Mill’s only songwriter. Co-lead vocalist Robbin Thompson contributed his own song to the band’s set lists, but their version was a far cry from Mercy Flight’s original.

When Bruce’s early band Steel Mill needed a palate cleanser during their heavy sets, they often turned to this drunkenly loose and sassy lark.

This remarkable (and remarkably clear) 1970 blues is marred only by Bruce’s cringe-y (but historically significant) on-stage story.