BBC Four

BBC 4

Bruce Springsteen: The Promise - The Making of Darkness on the Edge of Town

Documentaries

Factual

Music: Classic Pop & Rock

15/01/2011

BBC Four - Bruce Springsteen: The Promise - The Making of Darkness on the Edge of Town

Film exploring the three years it took to make Bruce Springsteen's fourth studio album.

Film exploring the three years it took to make Bruce Springsteen's fourth studio album. Includes interviews with Springsteen, the E-Street Band, Jon Landau and Jimmy Lovine.

Thom Zimny's film, The Promise - The Making of Darkness on the Edge of Town, explores the three years it took to make Bruce Springsteen's fourth studio album, 1978's Darkness on the Edge of Town. 

Struggling with newfound stardom brought on by 1975's Born To Run and locked in a legal struggle for control of his own career with his manager Mike Appel, Springsteen was determined to make an album that would do justice to the dreams and struggles of working-class America. The 'Boss' and the E-Street Band worked tirelessly to make a profound, mature work tinged with what Springsteen calls 'American noir'. In the process, he wrote and recorded nearly 70 songs, gave away potential hits like Because The Night and nearly drove his band and his producers around the twist. 

Zimny's film is driven by in-depth interviews with Springsteen, the E-Street Band and producers Jon Landau and Jimmy Lovine and features extensive black-and-white archive footage of the process from the time, shot in Springsteen's home studio and at New York's Record Plant.

Knowledge, arts, music and culture from the UK and the world.

BBC Four reflects arts, music and culture with an ambitious range of intellectually and culturally enriching programmes, taking an expert and in-depth approach to its subjects.

Accessibility links

Programme Index

Bruce Springsteen: The Promise - The Making of Darkness on the Edge of Town

Genres

Formats

BBC Four

About BBC Four