There is Bruce Springsteen, leaning against a counter in a diner, looking young and hopeful in a black-and-white snapshot taken at the Jersey Shore in 1978.
In another series of color photos, the E Street Band and friends are playing softball for a team called the E Street Kings. Bruce, wearing a yellow cap, is swinging a bat.
The hardcover book, titled “Greetings from E Street,” contains dozens of photos of the Boss and his band, mostly from the collection of Danny Federici, a band member and organ player.
Author Robert Santelli, a former music critic at the Asbury Park Press, said his favorite pictures are the softball montage.
“The sense of fun and camaraderie was always evident to me, and I think these pictures show it,” he said.
Springsteen, a Freehold native, is of course New Jersey’s most famous rocker.
He rose to fame playing in clubs around Asbury Park, and Santelli’s book tells the story of the E Street Band in photos and obscure reproductions. Those include a replica napkin from the Stone Pony and a “free pass” to a show any Friday in September 1971 at an address in Asbury Park.
The 80-page book, published by Chronicle Books, sells for $35.