Bruce Springsteen signed Bob Dylan to the same label a decade earlier. Despite the expectations of Columbia Records' executives that Springsteen would record an acoustic album, he brought many of his New Jersey-based colleagues into the studio with him, thus forming the E Street Band (although it would not be formally named for several months). His debut album "Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J.", released in January 1973, established him as a critical favorite though sales were slow. Because of Springsteen's lyrical poeticism and folk rock-rooted music exemplified on tracks like "Blinded by the Light" and "For You", as well as the Columbia
Asbury Park, New Jersey a number of grand hotels were built, including the Plaza Hotel. Uriah White, an Asbury Park pioneer, installed the first artesian well water system. As many as 600,000 people a year vacationed in Asbury Park during the summer season in the early years, riding the New York and Long Branch Railroad from New York City and Philadelphia to enjoy the mile-and-a-quarter stretch of oceanfront Asbury Park. By 1912, "The New York Times" estimated that the summer population could reach 200,000. The "country by the sea" destination experienced several key periods of popularity. The first notable era was the 1890s, marked