Garry Tallent

In addition to occupying the bass position with Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band since the beginning, Garry Tallent has also produced and played with countless other artists over the years. Born on October 27, 1949 in Detroit, Michigan, Tallent and his family eventually relocated to Neptune City, New Jersey. Inspired by such bassists as Motown legend James Jamerson, Booker T & the MG's Donald "Duck" Dunn, and the Beatles' Paul McCartney, Tallent took up the instrument himself. By the late '60s, Tallent befriended two future major players in the New Jersey bar band scene -- Johnny Lyon (aka Southside Johnny) and Springsteen -- and soon after began playing alongside the latter. Subsequently, Tallent's bass playing could be heard on nearly every single Springsteen album from 1973 through 1987 -- 1973's Greetings from Asbury Park, NJ and The Wild, the Innocent, & the E Street Shuffle, 1975's Born to Run, 1978's Darkness on the Edge of Town, 1980's The River, 1984's Born in the U.S.A., 1985's Live: 1975-1985, and 1987's Tunnel of Love. Since the early '80s, Tallent played with and produced other artists (including Gary U.S. Bonds' 1981 comeback album, Dedication), and when Springsteen decided to take a break from the E Street Band by the dawn of the '90s, Tallent kept himself busy by continuing to work with others. Throughout the decade, Tallent's production/session résumé expanded rapidly, including work with Sonny Burgess, Julian Dawson, the Delevantes, Steve Earle, Steve Forbert, the Hoopsnakes, Evan Johns & His H-Bombs, Robert Earl Keen, Jr., Greg Trooper, and his old pal Southside Johnny, among others. During this time, Tallent relocated to Nashville, Tennessee, where he opened his own recording studio, MoonDog, in addition to co-forming a record label, the D'Ville Record Group. But the decade also saw Tallent appear on Springsteen's 1995 release, The Ghost of Tom Joad, which led to a full-on Springsteen/E Street Band reunion by the end of the decade, resulting in further sold-out tours and the group's first studio album in 15 years, 2002's The Rising. After The Rising, the E-Street Band was active, touring regularly and often supporting Springsteen in the studio. Tallent returned to his solo work in 2016, releasing Break Time on D'Ville Records that March.
© Greg Prato /TiVo