A photographer from Syracuse contributed the cover image for a Rock and Roll Hall of Famer’s new greatest hits collection.
“Best of Bruce Springsteen,” released on Friday, features 31 songs on its expanded digital release (now streaming on Spotify and Apple Music) and 18 tracks on physical media (CDs and vinyl). The compilation is an expanded retrospective that captures Bruce Springsteen’s career from his 1973 debut (”Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J.”) to his 2020 album, “Letter to You.”
The cover will look very familiar to fans of The Boss, as it’s taken from the “Born to Run” photo session captured by photographer Eric Meola, an Eastwood native who graduated from Syracuse University in 1968. The image used for the 1975 album cover featured Springsteen, wearing a leather jacket and holding a guitar while smiling and leaning on E Street Band saxophonist Clarence Clemons.
“I always thought it was one of those records that you didn’t have to hear,” Springsteen once said. “When you saw the cover, you said, ‘I want that one.’”
“With ‘Born to Run’ I nailed it,” Meola said.
Springsteen instead appears solo on the new greatest hits album cover, running one hand through his hair and looking off to the side. A guitar is dangling in front of him on a strap, and his black leather jacket is open so you can see a small tear in his white T-shirt.
It’s one of some 900 photos taken by Meola during that June 20, 1975, shoot in his New York City studio. Meola told The Post-Standard in 2005 that he was paid about $1,500 for the session without being guaranteed any of the photos would be used, but he knew “Born to Run” would be a huge piece of rock and roll history.
“I literally remember Clarence saying to me one day: ‘We’ll be interviewed about this 30 years from now,’” Meola said in 2005.
Eric Meola, a Syracuse native and Syracuse University graduate, photographed Bruce Springsteen and E Street Band saxophonist Clarence Clemons for the iconic “Born to Run” album cover in a June 20, 1975, photo session in New York. (Provided photo by Eric Meola)
Eric Meola, a Syracuse native and Syracuse University graduate, photographed Bruce Springsteen and E Street Band saxophonist Clarence Clemons for the iconic “Born to Run” album cover in a June 20, 1975, photo session in New York. (Provided photo by Eric Meola)
Eric Meola, a Syracuse native and Syracuse University graduate, photographed Bruce Springsteen and E Street Band saxophonist Clarence Clemons for the iconic “Born to Run” album cover in a June 20, 1975, photo session in New York. (Provided photo by Eric Meola)
Eric Meola, a Syracuse native and Syracuse University graduate, photographed Bruce Springsteen and E Street Band saxophonist Clarence Clemons for the iconic “Born to Run” album cover in a June 20, 1975, photo session in New York. (Provided photo by Eric Meola)
Eric Meola, a Syracuse native and Syracuse University graduate, photographed Bruce Springsteen and E Street Band saxophonist Clarence Clemons for the iconic “Born to Run” album cover in a June 20, 1975, photo session in New York. (Provided photo by Eric Meola)
Eric Meola, a Syracuse native and Syracuse University graduate, photographed Bruce Springsteen and E Street Band saxophonist Clarence Clemons for the iconic “Born to Run” album cover in a June 20, 1975, photo session in New York. (Provided photo by Eric Meola)
“Born to Run: The Unseen Photos” by Eric Meola (Photographer) is a book featuring more images of Bruce Springsteen with song lyrics and an introduction by Daniel Wolff.
Syracuse native and SU alumnus Eric Meola is a photographer who shot Bruce Springsteen’s famous “Born to Run” album cover. (Photo by Joanna McCarthy)
The new “Best of Bruce Springsteen” album, released April 19, 2024, features a photo by Syracuse native Eric Meola on the cover, taken from his 1975 session with Bruce Springsteen and E Street Band saxophonist Clarence Clemons for…
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