Bruce Springsteen 's groundbreaking album, Born to Run , came out 50 years ago this month, marking a turning point for rock and roll — and for Springsteen.

Before he recorded that album, Springsteen's record label, Columbia, was on the verge of dropping him because his first two albums, though critically acclaimed, had sold poorly. Biographer Peter Ames Carlin describes the creation of Born to Run as an "existential moment" for Springsteen.

"If this didn't work, he was done," Carlin says. "And if he was done, who was he? What was he? Music was the only thing that he had really projected himself into. And it was everything to him. And the prospect of losing his career was terrifying."

Carlin revisits the making of Born to Run in his new book, Tonight in Jungleland , which ta

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