In 1949, Garry Tallent was born in Detroit, Mich., years before a move to the Jersey Shore would put him in the middle of one of rock music’s most consequential scenes.
On Oct. 27, Tallent turns 77, and the bassist has now spent an astonishing 55 years playing alongside Bruce Springsteen.
Tallent is the last remaining member of the original E Street Band lineup who is still in the band, not counting Springsteen himself. His tenure stretches back even further than the E Street Band, which came together in 1972.
Tallent first began playing with Springsteen in 1971, but their relationship didn’t exactly get off to a warm start.
During a 1980 interview with New York radio station WNEW-FM, Springsteen recalled the early days of his relationship with the bassist. He said Tallent showed up while Springsteen was playing, pulled a chair into the middle of the dance floor and sat there watching him.
Springsteen remembered Tallent giving him what he “perceived as dirty looks” and admitted, “I assumed for one reason or another we weren’t going to get along.”
Fortunately for rock fans, that first impression didn’t stick.
Tallent eventually joined Springsteen, and by 1972, he was part of the original lineup that became the E Street Band alongside Vini “Mad Dog” Lopez, Danny Federici, David Sancious and Clarence Clemons.
“The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll” recounts that Springsteen had disbanded his earlier group Steel Mill in 1971 and experimented with other configurations before putting together a band with a brass section and several singers. After slimming down the group, Springsteen eventually landed on the lineup that became the E Street Band.
Tallent was there as Springsteen’s career exploded.
He played on Springsteen’s 1973 debut album Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J. and its follow-up The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle. Then came 1975’s Born to Run, the album that turned Springsteen into a major star.
Tallent remained the steady presence on bass as Springsteen and the E Street Band went on to make Darkness on the Edge of Town, The River and Born in the U.S.A., among other albums.
Springsteen eventually gave his longtime bassist one of the more memorable nicknames on E Street: “The Tennessee Terror.”
Tallent later explained that there wasn’t much of an origin story behind the name. He moved to Tennessee in 1989 and had long been the country music fan among his New Jersey bandmates. According to Tallent, Springsteen simply liked the alliteration and began using “The Tennessee Terror” while introducing him onstage.
“The Foundation of the E Street Nation, the Tennessee Terror, Mr. Garry W. Tallent,” became one of Springsteen’s elaborate introductions for the bassist.
Tallent’s love of country and roots music became an important part of his career away from E Street as well. After the band went on hiatus, he settled in Nashville, opened MoonDog recording studio and established himself as a producer and session musician.
His credits outside the E Street Band have included work with artists such as Steve Earle, Emmylou Harris, Southside Johnny and Steve Forbert. Tallent also produced Marshall Crenshaw’s recording of “Crying, Waiting, Hoping” for the 1987 La Bamba soundtrack.
When Springsteen reunited the E Street Band in 1999 after years apart, Tallent was once again behind him on bass.
In 2014, Tallent and the E Street Band were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in the Musical Excellence category, 15 years after Springsteen’s induction as a solo artist.
Tallent was 66 when he finally released his first solo album Break Time in 2016. He followed it with More Like Me in 2019.
But for millions of Springsteen fans, Tallent will always be the quiet foundation of the E Street Band: the bassist who was there before Born to Run, before the arenas and stadiums, before Springsteen became “The Boss.”
More than half a century after Springsteen looked out onto a dance floor, saw Tallent sitting in a chair and concluded the two probably weren’t going to get along, they’re still making music together.
Not bad for a first impression.
Related: Bruce Springsteen Mourns the Loss of ‘True Friend’
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