Covers the year from Springsteen's birth to 1974 - the year before his breakthrough album Born To Run. It explores both the negative factors in his life such as school and Catholicism and the positive ones such as baseball, girls and the guitar, as well as the British Invasion, the civil rights movement and, crucially, his relationship with his father. Springsteen's early bands, the Rogues, the Castiles and Earth, are examined via interviews with ex-members. Also covered are the pre-Columbia years, the audition for Mike Appel, the first two albums and the E Street Band.