Two of the LPs in this three-record boxed set are drawn from Bruce Springsteen's early-show performance on August 15, 1975, at the Bottom Line club in New York, a set broadcast live on WNEW-FM. Springsteen's stand at the Bottom Line, just prior to the release of Born to Run, helped to make him a national phenomenon, and you can hear why on this collection of songs drawn from his first three albums, along with such rock & roll covers as the Crystals' "Then [S]he Kissed Me," and the Searchers' "When You Walk in the Room," and Gary "U.S." Bonds's "Quarter to Three," not to mention the extended introduction to "The E Street Shuffle," in which Springsteen tells the story of how Clarence Clemons joined the E Street Band. This bootleg leaves out "Kitty's Back," performed at the show, which is included in Bruce Springsteen/Live, a two-LP version of the same concert that in turn abridges "The E Street Shuffle." But The Great White Boss includes a third bonus LP (at a 45-RPM running time) that features a version of Springsteen's "You Mean So Much to Me" (later farmed out to Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes), recorded live in July 1973, on one side, and the never-released Springsteen songs "Don't Look Back" (a powerful rocker that just missed being on Darkness on the Edge of Town) and "Action in the Streets," recorded live in March 1977, on the other. With most of the album drawn from a radio broadcast, the sound quality is excellent for a bootleg. ~ William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide