Springsteen's 'Born to Run' born 40 years ago

BLAUVELT, N.Y. — Back when Rockland County owned a piece of the 914 area code, the county west of the Hudson River also owned a piece of rock 'n' roll history.

Forty years ago at 914 Sound Studios here, Bruce Springsteen laid down one of rock's most iconic tracks — Born to Run. The album of the same name was released in summer 1975.

Today, the recording studio is a car wash.

Springsteen's manager, Mike Appel, had been bringing him to the legendary recording space on NY 303 to craft his sound, away from the time and financial constraints of New York City studios.

914's founder, Brooks Arthur, nurtured them. Arthur was a hot name in the business after capturing the signature sounds of Carole King; Lieber and Stoller; Van Morrison; and the Shangri-Las, including their hits Leader of the Pack and Walking in the Sand.

Arthur was already an established name in the recording field when he partnered with famed producer Phil Ramone to open 914 Sound Studios in 1971.

Now he wanted to create an atmosphere where musicians could express themselves in a workshop environment. He found it next to the Blauvelt Coach Diner and across from Erie Street.

"I found this old garage," Arthur recalled recently from Los Angeles. "It had two sliding doors. Around the side, it had sort of a double door entrance. It had the two lifts for the cars ... We poured fresh cement, found an SSI console. ... I was creating what I as an engineer and producer thought would make a fine studio."

The control room boasted state-of-the-art 16-track recording, and the studio could fit a small orchestra, said Larry Alexander, whom Arthur hired as assistant engineer in time to begin recording Bruce Springsteen's Greetings from Asbury Park in 1972.

Among the artists who recorded at 914: Melanie, Loudon Wainwright III, Blood Sweat and Tears, Ashford and Simpson, Dusty Springfield, the Ramones and James Taylor.

Janis Ian's 1975 album Between the Lines featuring the song At Seventeen won Grammys for her, Arthur and Alexander.

"We were cranking out the hits," Arthur said.

Songs weren't the only hits being made at 914: Arthur built a football field — with goalposts — out in back so performers could unwind.

And you might find the entire E Street Band camped out in the back after a grueling late-night recording session.

"During the early albums, the guys in the band and Bruce didn't like the long drive back to Jersey so they actually pitched a tent in the backyard of the studio and slept there," Alexander said.

The 24-hour diner next door was the go-to place during breaks in recording. Springsteen is said to have liked the scrambled eggs.

"It's a delightful place to work because you're away from the rat race of the city," recalled Mike Appel, Springsteen's former manager. "You walk outside the studio and you hear the crickets. ... Blauvelt does have its charms and nobody was rushing us. You could take your time."

Joe Delia, a keyboardist, arranger and composer, remembers getting a call from the studio to show up for a midnight session with Dusty Springfield. He played the Hammond and Fender-Rhodes organs and wound up driving Springfield to the Tappan Zee Motor Inn in Nyack, N.Y. after each night's session.

Working at 914 "opened a door that otherwise wouldn't have been opened for someone who wanted to get into the recording business," said Delia, who went on to get gold and platinum albums of his own.

"The people that I met there were generous with sharing their work and allowing one to get a foot in an otherwise very closed shop," he said, referring to Arthur; Alexander; sax player Artie Kaplan of Congers, N.Y.; and bass player Don Payne of South Nyack, N.Y.

After about five years, Arthur left the studio for the West Coast, where he has worked with Neil Diamond, Carole Bayer Sager, Peter Allen, Bette Midler and Adam Sandler. 914's new owner renamed it Ultima Studios, and Alexander wound up running the place for year until leaving to work at The Power Station in New York City.

The site, which is now the Blauvelt Auto Spa, has also been home to a meat warehouse and dance studio.

"The customers, they've been telling me this place is a famous place," said Maynor Mata, owner of Blauvelt Auto Spa. "People come from L.A. just to take pictures here."

The image of guys out in the hot sun shining the chrome wheels on their fuel-injected chariots is fitting for the place where Bruce once sang, "The highway's jammed with broken heroes on a last chance power drive."