In 1995, Bruce and the E Street Band returned to the recording studio for the first time in more than a decade, cutting new material for "Greatest Hits." The sessions were filmed, and premiering 30 years ago today, the documentary "Blood Brothers" offered a rare glimpse of the band at work — reconnecting, revisiting old favorites and forging ahead on new ones. This rock arrangement of the title track emerged from those sessions. | Bruce Springsteen

Bruce played his first show overseas on this day 50 years ago, in London. Bruce later wrote that the night felt like "a movie playing in my head." Despite the angst, the music he and the E Street Band performed — later released as "Hammersmith Odeon, London ’75" — struck different notes: bold, confident and unmistakably ready for the world, prepared by years of rough gigs. After stops in Stockholm and Amsterdam, they returned to London for “a blaze of a show” — the start of a long and lasting bo

"My Hometown" gave the "Born in the U.S.A." album its sense of place, a finale that pulled the frame in close — revealing a childhood memory, social and economic hardship, and the pull between staying and going. From the '84/'85 tour to last year's Land of Hope & Dreams tour, the song became one Bruce would return to again and again. As the last of seven top 10 singles from the LP, it peaked at No. 6 on the Billboard chart 40 years ago today. | Bruce Springsteen