| JUNGLELAND - V1 | uncirculating | |
| JUNGLELAND - V2 (August 1, 1974) | uncirculating | |
| JUNGLELAND - V3 (poss. October 16, 1974) | 1:33 | BIS / WAR / ET / BTRS |
| JUNGLELAND - V4 (early 1975) | 9:44 | ESR / BTRO |
| JUNGLELAND - V5 (probably April 1975) | 9:37 | DDITV / BTRS / BTRCS / UBTROC / WAR / URT1 / ROOI |
| JUNGLELAND - V6 (April - July 1975) | 9:14 | ROOI / UBTROC |
| JUNGLELAND - V7 (finished around July 20, 1975) | 9:32 | BTR / ESSENTIAL: 2003 / BTR: 30 |
Note: In his book Bruce, Peter Ames Carlin claims that from January 8, 1974 Springsteen and the band spent "a couple of days fiddling with rudimentary versions of both "Born To Run" and "Jungleland"" at 914 Studios. The accuracy of this statement is unverified, but we've included it here for reference. V1 above represents those sessions. The first circulating live performance of "Jungleland" is from the July 12, 1974 show at the Bottom Line in New York City, over seven months later. V2 is a complete take in the studio, cut August 1, 1974 and known from a Record Plant log sheet. It's likely that this is the January 8, 1974 recording referred to by Ames Carlin, with the day/month reversed in the European format on the worksheet (right) by Louis Lahav. V2 was recorded before David Sancious and Ernest Carter left the band, and took inspiration from "Zero And Blind Terry".
Through 1974 and early 1975, Bruce continued to play and develop "Jungleland" on stage, and worked on it the studio; V3 is a segment of Bruce and Suki Lahav recording vocals for dubbing, and the recording captures her talking to Bruce and singing the song coda with heavy echo. Suki recorded the violin intro at some point at 914 Sound Studios, later overdubbed to the final master at the Record Plant in 1975. Bootleg sources have dated this brief recording to October 16, 1974. During the second half of 1974 and the first half of 1975, lyrics included "there’s a crazy kind of light tonight, brighter than the one that sparked the prophets" which were changed in July 1975 to "the midnight gang's assembled and picked a rendezvous for the night." Similarly, the 1974/early-1975 lyrics "the street's alive with tough-kid Jets in Nova-light machines, boys flash guitars like bayonets and rip holes in their jeans" later became "the street's alive as secret debts are paid, contacts made, they vanished unseen, kids flash guitars just like switchblades hustling for the record machine."
These lyrics can be heard in V4, probably from 914 Studios. Take 16 was first heard in a memorable scene on the Wings For Wheels documentary in 2005, as Bruce hears the introduction for the first time in many years, and can be easily identified by Suki's unique, dramatic viola performance. The take was later broadcast in its entirety on E Street Radio. Aside from the introduction, the lyrics and instrumentation are almost identical to the performance at the Main Point in February 1975, potentially dating this recording to around the same time. Given Lahav's presence, it must date from before late March 1975, when she returned to her native Israel.
Jon Landau relocated the Born To Run sessions to the Record Plant on April 18, 1975, the studio from which the other circulating versions emanate. These sessions did not include Suki Lahav, but her violin overdubs survived. Much of the first day was devoted to "Jungleland", and in the first week there were more sessions on April 23 and 25. It's likely that V5 was recorded during this period, using a guide vocal by Bruce, strings and no sax. The "sparked the prophets" lyrics are still in place. According to the incomplete logs, Springsteen didn't give any more attention to "Jungleland" until July 14, with new vocal overdubs, but still lacking a lead guitar track and the sax solo (V6). Work was finally completed over two days from July 19, and it all came down to the last minute on July 20, according to Bruce: "Clarence and I finishing the "Jungleland" sax solo, phrase by phrase, in one (room), while we mixed "Thunder Road" in another, singing "Backstreets" in a third as the band rehearsed [for the tour that was to begin that evening] in a spare room upstairs."