Hit-making studio legend recalls Springsteen’s breakthrough recordings

Brooks Arthur, the engineer behind hit records by Carole King, Neil Diamond, Janis Ian, and the Shangri-Las, was the founder of 914 Sound Studios. Photo by Betsy Hammer

‘The record company, Rosie, just gave me a big advance!’

The early recordings that would one day be part of a catalog that would earn Bruce Springsteen $550 million were captured in a music studio in an abandoned garage in suburban New York – not Asbury Park.