Nils Lofgren’s life changed with the invite to go play some guitar with a friend. It was Bruce Springsteen on the phone, and he was wondering if Lofgren could come over.
“‘Jam with the band,’ is how Bruce phrased it,” said Lofgren, speaking to Guitar World in 1988. “I thought it was a little funny, really, ‘cause it was only four weeks or so until the start of the tour. And, you know, the E Street Band has something like a million songs at their instant recall.”
The call could not have come at better time. This was a tough time for Lofgren. His life was in retreat.
“I didn’t have any money and I was forced to stay with my parents in D.C., my hometown,” he said.
It was also a little spooky that the Boss would be on the phone calling him. They were friends, so it was not unusual. But it was all Lofgren heard at home over the kitchen table.
“My mother was funny, saying, ‘You’re friends with Bruce Springsteen, why don’t you play with him?!’” said Lofgren. “And I was going, ‘Aw, Mom, he’s got a band, he doesn’t need me.’”
Sometimes a mom’s straightforward logic is just what you need to hear. Mom always knows best. Because this was 1984. There were changes afoot in the E Street Band. Steve Van Zandt was on his way out. Not that Lofgren was to know, and either way he could not bring himself to get his hopes up.
“When I heard ‘Jam with the band’ ...well, what was I to think? The first thing you do is think nothing,” he said. “I tried not to take it too seriously, ’cause you can be pretty crushed when something you want doesn’t turn out the way you planned.”
Springsteen did not give him much information to go on. This was just an invite. But even so, Lofgren’s mind started racing – with the possibilities, yes, but also with the realization that the E Street Band repertoire was already pretty formidable, and Springsteen was liable to call a tune from any record.
“Bruce called and asked me to come to Jersey and jam with the band. Real low-key, nothing big was said, but I, of course, don’t let go of an idea,” said Lofgren. “So I contacted a local bootlegger who had all of these live Bruce tapes – he even had a tape of Born In The US.A. before it was released – and I studied pretty hard, so people wouldn’t have to call out chord changes in my ear or anything.”
Those jams, informal or otherwise, turned out to be sounding pretty good. “Real good,” was how Lofgren remembered it.
They played for a couple of days, the band getting into their groove, Lofgren familiarising himself with the changes, with the dynamics of a Springsteen set. There was no serious talk about anything. It was still casual. Until it came time for Lofgren to split.
“It was the day that I was supposed to go back home, and I guess Bruce had asked all the band when I wasn’t around what they thought of me,” recalled Lofgren. “I was all set to say goodbye and all, and Bruce asked me to come outside. There and then he asked me if I wanted to join.”
There was only going to be one answer. It was also an act of mercy from Springsteen. Lofgren’s mind could finally be at ease, or at least it could rush ahead to thinking about leaving his parents’ house.
“Thank God he did it like that, ’cause I was all prepared to spend four or five sleepless nights wondering,” he said.
Bruce Springsteen has always made good driving music. It had never sounded so sweet to Lofgren’s ears than when he got behind the wheel and headed back to Washington D.C.
“I couldn’t have been more elated,” he said. “I drove all around playing Dancing In The Dark, stopping every half-hour or so, you know, to break down sobbing with relief. It was a dream come true, right when I needed it.”
Back in 2019, Lofgren sat down with Guitar World to look back on his Springsteen days, as well as his collaborations with Lou Reed and Neil Young.
