Roy Bittan is So Much More Than Just Springsteen’s Piano Man
The Professor will see you now
When you think of Roy Bittan (if you think of him at all), you probably assume he is simply the piano player for Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band. That’s a lot like saying someone is simply the third baseman for the New York Yankees, but it’s not inaccurate. It is, however, incomplete.
Let’s start with some obvious facts about the man Bruce dubbed “The Professor” and who has been tickling the ivories for E Street Nation since 1975. First, as great as David Sancious (the pianist on Bruce’s first two records) was, Roy Bittan taking over just in time for the Born to Run album was an immense upgrade. This is especially true when you consider that Born to Run is actually a piano driven album (I wrote about that here). If Roy had never done anything but the piano parts on “Thunder Road,” “Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out,” “Jungleland,” and “Backstreets” he would be a legend; he did those and so much more over the past 48 years.
