New York City Serenade

A track from Springsteen's second album, "New York City Serenade" is a disjointed tale of life in New York City; the "serenade" coming from the street musician playing the vibraphone. Many of Springsteen's early songs contain a barrage of characters who travel about New York - in this one you'll find Billy in his Cadillac, the fish lady and the junk man. Springsteen would often visit New York City for both work and pleasure, taking in images that later showed up in his lyrics. Since he didn't live there, he could keep a certain detached perspective when he used it as the setting.

David Sancious played piano on this track. An original member of the E Street Band, he left after this album to form a jazz group called Tone with drummer Earnest "Boom" Carter. Sancious and Carter played on one last song before they left: "Born To Run."

This was the last Springsteen song with a major jazz influence. After David Sancious left the band, his piano was replaced with a second guitar - Steven Van Zandt.