The first time the words “Bruce Springsteen” and “good Catholic boy from New Jersey” are known to have appeared together in print was on February 8, 1973, in the Commonwealth Times, the student-run newspaper of Virginia Commonwealth University.
The report is a 300-word preview of a show that was set for February 18 at Richmond's Mosque Theater, where Springsteen and the not-quite-yet E Street Band were opening for Dan Hicks and His Hot Licks. That date was one month after the release of Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J., Springsteen's first album, where the first recorded evidence can be found for the recurring role that his Catholic upbringing would play in his lyrics. There are mentions of Jesus and Mary, nuns and priests, angels and devils, sinners and saints, and even the Vatican.
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