Springsteen released his #1 album The River and hits the road on a sold-out tour

Bruce Springsteen : The Ties That Bind

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On October 17 1980 Bruce Springsteen released  the double album The River, a #1 LP that would sell more than 2 million copies. The first single, "Hungry Heart", would be Springsteen's first Top 10 hit. If Born To Run was an album for dreamers hitting the highway, The River is for those who stayed home and resigned themselves to lives of quiet despair. Or maybe it's not so quiet. The album kicks off with four straight rockers, including the Byrdsy "The Ties That Bind", which may be my favorite song on The River.

Work began on the album in April of 1979 and went on for a year and a half, during which Springsteen appeared on stage only twice. It was at this time that Dave Marsh released his book Born To Run: The Bruce Springsteen Story so the legend of The Boss was firmly established when Springsteen finally hit the road again on The River Tour that crisscrossed the United States twice. The band also played 20 dates in Europe. Every show as a marathon lasting between 3 to 5 hours. The band tried out something new on the tour. Springsteen would invite a female member of the audience to come on stage and dance with him during "Sherry Darling", track two from the new album. (Wouldn't you know it doesn't happen on the live version I found).

Paul Nelson of Rolling Stone called The River a rock n roll version of The Grapes of Wrath, writing:

What makes The River really special is Bruce Springsteen’s epic exploration of the second acts of American lives. Because he realizes that most of our todays are the tragicomic sum of a scattered series of yesterdays that had once hoped to become better tomorrows, he can fuse past and present, desire and destiny, laughter and longing, and have death or glory emerge as more than just another story. By utilizing the vast cast of characters he’s already established on the earlier LPs – and by putting a spin on the time span – Springsteen forces his heroes and heroines into seeing themselves at different and crucial periods in their lives. The connections are infinite (and, some would say, repetitious).

David Hepworth scored the album a 9.5 out of 10 writing 

The E Street Band couldn't put a foot wrong if they tried and Springsteen has rarely sung better, approaching each composition as if it were his last --an object lesson in drama, conviction and involvement. Soul? Everybody talks about it but Springsteen's got it. 

From Robert Christgau a grade of A-:

These are the wages of young romantic love among those who get paid by the hour, and even if he's only giving forth with so many short fast ones because the circles of frustration and escape seem tighter now, the condensed songcraft makes this double album a model of condensation--upbeat enough for a revery there, he elaborates a myth about the fate of the guys he grew up with that hits a lot of people where they live.

As a special bonus here's Howard Kaylan of Flo and Eddie talking to me about "Hungry Heart":

We had been recruited to sing with Bruce Springsteen on stage the first day we met him in Cleveland Ohio. He brought us up to sing with Ronnie Spector and we sang "Baby I Love You" and "Walking in the Rain" . We had a great time. He remembered that blend--Mark and me --when we sing together have this specific sound. He brought us into the studio with Jon Landau. We recorded the song "Hungry Heart". It was the only song on The River that we sang on. And when we left the studio, Mark and I looked at each other and went "This is not going to work" This is the most anti-Springsteen song we'd ever heard. There's no Thunder, . There's no Night. There's no Cars. There's no Screen Door Slamming. It doesn't sound like Bruce. What does he mean "every body's got a hungry heart" What does that even mean? 

 And then we heard from Max Weinberg: "I think its going to make the album" and then we heard its definitely on the album. And then we heard it was coming out as the first single and we went "Oh no Oh no . We're gonna be responsible for the end of Bruce Springsteen, and then it was a #5 record! I still don't hear it to be quite honest with you compared to every other brilliant thing Bruce has run past these ears.

 

I still listen to that song and I don't hear it. To me its like the #3 hit "She'd Rather Be With Me" for the Turtles. I understand it was a hit. I understand it was a bigger international hit than "Happy Together" even but i don't hear it. I didn't hear it when we cut it and I don't hear it 47 years later I don't hear it and "Hungry Heart" is one of those songs. I will take the gold records. we went on tour with this guy all over the world for the better part of a year trying to get a good live version of it in Amsterdam and in London and in New York and in LA. So we had a great time but I don't get it.