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Down Thunder Road: The Making of Bruce Springsteen
The book 'The Boss' hoped would never be published — an explosive unauthorized biography written with the help of Mike Appel, Springsteen's former producer/manager. Based on exclusive interviews and previously unreleased material, including depositions from the lawsuit that prevented him from recording for over a year, Down Thunder Road traces Springsteen's rise to fame and reveals the man behind the myth. Originally published in 1992, this title is now available for the first time in the United States.
384 pages, Paperback
First published July 23, 1992
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
January 24, 2021
This book is frustrating. On the one hand, it is well written and, if you're as interested in the subject matter as I am, it is intensely interesting. I found myself speeding through it, unable to put it down. The verbatim transcripts from the Springsteen depositions make for compelling reading and show us an understandably aggressive and petulant side to Springsteen that is very rare.
Ultimately, where the book fails is in the author's own bias. He complains of the unfairness Mike Appel has suffered from by being made the villain in pop culture, but rather than tell a balanced narrative, the author flips and dedicates much of the book to be a character assassination on Jon Landau. Just as Mike Appel refused to believe his relationship with Springsteen was over, so too does the author refuse to see that Landau was simply a better fit for Springsteen-- a personal and professional relationship that is thriving to this day.
Ironically, Mike Appel comes off pretty badly. His interviews reveal a cunning and slippery nature, and an attitude that is full to the brim with jealousy and resentment. He was no doubt absolutely vital to getting Bruce to the big time (to Born to Run, at least), but it is chiefly Springsteen's talents and hard work that have kept him there.
The other drawback to this book is not the fault of the writer. It was released in the early 90s and, with a significant and impressive chunk of Bruce's career still to come, it makes predictions that we now know do not come true. The author writes about the dissolution of the E Street Band like he was casting them into the streets. Today they are back with Bruce and better than ever. He talks about how Bruce may never work again since he is content with his family. His album output and touring schedules have never been as prolific as they have been in the 21st century.
I do highly reccomend the book, just watch out for the undercurrent of cynicism and envy that laces the writing.
Ultimately, where the book fails is in the author's own bias. He complains of the unfairness Mike Appel has suffered from by being made the villain in pop culture, but rather than tell a balanced narrative, the author flips and dedicates much of the book to be a character assassination on Jon Landau. Just as Mike Appel refused to believe his relationship with Springsteen was over, so too does the author refuse to see that Landau was simply a better fit for Springsteen-- a personal and professional relationship that is thriving to this day.
Ironically, Mike Appel comes off pretty badly. His interviews reveal a cunning and slippery nature, and an attitude that is full to the brim with jealousy and resentment. He was no doubt absolutely vital to getting Bruce to the big time (to Born to Run, at least), but it is chiefly Springsteen's talents and hard work that have kept him there.
The other drawback to this book is not the fault of the writer. It was released in the early 90s and, with a significant and impressive chunk of Bruce's career still to come, it makes predictions that we now know do not come true. The author writes about the dissolution of the E Street Band like he was casting them into the streets. Today they are back with Bruce and better than ever. He talks about how Bruce may never work again since he is content with his family. His album output and touring schedules have never been as prolific as they have been in the 21st century.
I do highly reccomend the book, just watch out for the undercurrent of cynicism and envy that laces the writing.
February 6, 2021
This book is quite biased and has a few factual errors. Also, the author obviously has an agenda against Bruce. Now I'm all for deconstructing the myth of a public figure, but please don't print lies. Also the author regarded "Darkness on the Edge of Town" as Bruce's worst album and that it was a disappointment for everyone involved. Most fans disagree.
October 16, 2025
very interesting! fun to see all of the sides... can't wait to read other povs
June 3, 2009
This was not what I was looking for. I was looking for a biography and I got mostly a dissection of the lawsuit between Bruce and his former manager. This book is VERY light reading (I read it on a plane from Hartford to Phoenix), and not really insightful at all, except where the lawsuit is concerned. If you're interested in the lawsuit and the legal mumbo jumbo this book is AWESOME. If you're not, this is barely ok.
May 8, 2026
I feel at a loss trying to review this book in 2026. It's still an important book, but its real significance is as a portrait of a hostile takeover in the music business in a level of detail that you will almost never see. Mike Appel had been a thorn in CBS's side from the day he shouted his way into John Hammond's office, so while the conflict between Appel, Springsteen, and Landau was real, it also seems some fires were stoked in CBS's interest. Bruce's success in some ways a testament to how difficult Mike was for CBS, since several key steps on the road to Born to Run (including the Time/Newsweek covers) were done against direct orders from CBS. Their new breakout star feuding with his old manager cause he wants a well connected rock critic producing him instead is such an easy recipe for enlarging their slice of the pie as soon as it comes out of the oven. Most of the business claims made in the rock press at the time are fully contradicted by the court documents that Eliot uses to great effect in this book. Appel certainly deserved better than the blackballing he was put through, so I'm glad this book gives him his dues and offers this unique view into the business side of showbiz.
As a biography of Springsteen this book is still not without merit. It suffers from being out of date, Marc Eliot did not have access to key texts like Peter Aimes Carlin's "Bruce" or Craig Statham's "Saint in the City" and it shows in some factual errors, but Eliot also illuminates a side of Bruce I haven't seen depicted elsewhere. Confident yet inarticulate, lashing out for reasons that are understandable but in ways that are hard to justify. I find him fundamentally sympathetic, a man who wanted to reach a wide audience without the trappings of The Biz who remains ignorant to the scale of the game even several years into playing it, but it's certainly uncomfortable at times. This book also features more about his romantic life than any other biography and I wish later scholars had built on it more. Bruce's treatment of women could be cruel in ways I never knew, but he's still batting well above the 70s Rock Star average, and there's a unique insight into how the Boss/Big Man dynamic developed you can only get by learning why Louis Lahav moved back to Israel when Born to Run released.
I find it entertaining how many of the reviews here accuse Eliot of bias, since his presence in this book is minimal. There are entire chapters where his prose is just a paragraph here and there stringing together lengthy excerpts from primary sources. It's over-representation of Appel's perspective is simply due to Springsteen et al's refusal to provide comment for the book, and given how much effort Eliot puts into compensating for that silence accusing him of bias is like complaining that a compilation of Roman Senate speeches is biased against Caesar.
As a biography of Springsteen this book is still not without merit. It suffers from being out of date, Marc Eliot did not have access to key texts like Peter Aimes Carlin's "Bruce" or Craig Statham's "Saint in the City" and it shows in some factual errors, but Eliot also illuminates a side of Bruce I haven't seen depicted elsewhere. Confident yet inarticulate, lashing out for reasons that are understandable but in ways that are hard to justify. I find him fundamentally sympathetic, a man who wanted to reach a wide audience without the trappings of The Biz who remains ignorant to the scale of the game even several years into playing it, but it's certainly uncomfortable at times. This book also features more about his romantic life than any other biography and I wish later scholars had built on it more. Bruce's treatment of women could be cruel in ways I never knew, but he's still batting well above the 70s Rock Star average, and there's a unique insight into how the Boss/Big Man dynamic developed you can only get by learning why Louis Lahav moved back to Israel when Born to Run released.
I find it entertaining how many of the reviews here accuse Eliot of bias, since his presence in this book is minimal. There are entire chapters where his prose is just a paragraph here and there stringing together lengthy excerpts from primary sources. It's over-representation of Appel's perspective is simply due to Springsteen et al's refusal to provide comment for the book, and given how much effort Eliot puts into compensating for that silence accusing him of bias is like complaining that a compilation of Roman Senate speeches is biased against Caesar.
June 30, 2020
This is a wildly uneven book, observant in places and lazy in others (one picture says that Southside Johnny is playing guitar behind Bruce when it's obviously Nils), but I'm glad it exists, if only to serve as a corrective to Dave Marsh's stenographic biographies.
At the time this book was published, Mike Appel had been all but airbrushed out of the Bruce Springsteen narrative, considered an incidental figure at best, when in truth he is likely the most important person in the whole enterprise. As Eliot makes clear, before Born to Run came out, Bruce had scant support from his label or AM radio, and Appel singlehandedly bought him enough time to create the album that changed everything. Very simply: no Appel, no Springsteen as we know him.
Anyone who's heard Bruce give an interview up to about 1980 understands that he saved all his insight for the music, and that comes to a head in the depositions, where Bruce alternates between not knowing what the lawsuit is even really about and berating opposing counsel because he didn't realize his testimony would be used against him in court.
In the end, this isn't the hammer blow to Springsteen's reputation that the book jacket suggests, but it is a sad excavation, one of a million such sad stories in the music business, of a relationship probably destined to fail.
At the time this book was published, Mike Appel had been all but airbrushed out of the Bruce Springsteen narrative, considered an incidental figure at best, when in truth he is likely the most important person in the whole enterprise. As Eliot makes clear, before Born to Run came out, Bruce had scant support from his label or AM radio, and Appel singlehandedly bought him enough time to create the album that changed everything. Very simply: no Appel, no Springsteen as we know him.
Anyone who's heard Bruce give an interview up to about 1980 understands that he saved all his insight for the music, and that comes to a head in the depositions, where Bruce alternates between not knowing what the lawsuit is even really about and berating opposing counsel because he didn't realize his testimony would be used against him in court.
In the end, this isn't the hammer blow to Springsteen's reputation that the book jacket suggests, but it is a sad excavation, one of a million such sad stories in the music business, of a relationship probably destined to fail.
October 5, 2017
Much of the book is "lawyers dwelling on small details". Clearly Eliot is in cahoots with Appel- as the book is chock full of anti Bruce. But Eliot's simplistic critique and put down of Springsteens late 70's and 80's music is just downright moronic. Published in 92, the book hasn't aged well, but it's a compelling look at the early rag tag days of the Boss and Appel.
May 24, 2021
Interesting revelations
Well researched descriptive account of a broken down 1979s artist/manager relationship.
The author has done a good job in laying out the facts and avoiding assumptions and unfounded comments or opinions proffered by writers of other Springsteen biographies.
Well written too which was a relief.
Well researched descriptive account of a broken down 1979s artist/manager relationship.
The author has done a good job in laying out the facts and avoiding assumptions and unfounded comments or opinions proffered by writers of other Springsteen biographies.
Well written too which was a relief.
February 9, 2026
Enjoyable, informative & interesting read about Springsteen's early years & rise to rock superstardom. All the details of the knock down, drag it out dispute between The Boss & his original manager Mike Appel are here.
June 14, 2026
This book is fine, it’s strength is in the transcripts of events as they happened. The author has no objectivity whatsoever. Still, a fairly interesting, easy read if you are interested in the subject matter, which I very much am.
November 19, 2017
reread 11/20/17
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 1, 2026
Love the topic but didn’t care for how the book was written. A bunch of quotes with some interpretations didn’t make for smooth reading.
November 15, 2016
It's a Shakespearian tragedy. The broke musician who signs with an inexperienced manager and manages to get him signed with the biggest record company in the world AND the covers of Time and Newsweek in the same week, when that still meant something. They try to paint Landau as the bad guy, but the skill set to break an act and grow an act are distinctive skill sets and it was probably time for him to move on. It's too bad Springsteen didn't take care of him. Appel has been painted as the bad guy, and he clearly isn't the bad guy. No one comes off great, least of all Springsteen. If you love Bruce, you might want to avoid this; you'll never feel the same way about him. Sad, compelling, tragic.
January 17, 2017
A bit salacious and caught up in legal issues. Still, you get some insights here on Bruce Springsteen that you won't be finding in his recent autobiography. It definitely helps to round out the full picture of this rock legend behind the scenes.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews