VARIOUS ARTISTS Bruce Springsteen's Jukebox: The Songs That Inspired The Man CD

Before Springsteen was The Boss, he was just a kid from New Jersey with a record collection bigger than his ambitions, which is saying something. This compilation digs into the source material, the folk, country, rock and roll, and raw Americana that went into the machine and came out as Born to Run and Nebraska.

If you've ever wondered why Springsteen writes the way he does, the answer is in here. Chuck Berry's highways, Hank Williams' loneliness, the kind of working-class poetry that doesn't age because the conditions that produced it haven't either. It's a document of influence as much as a listen, the kind of thing that makes you go back to the original albums with fresh ears.

CD compilation. Full length album. International release. Available now at ALT CVLT. Fans of: Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, Woody Guthrie, Rolling Stones.