This is the recording of "Bishop Danced" that ended up on the official Tracks box set, although the liner notes mistakenly list the broadcast date as the recording date. Mike Appel also utilized these recordings of "Bishop Danced" and "Thundercrack" for copyright/publishing purposes. In doing so the long, 11:30 recording of "Thundercrack" was professionally edited to a slicker, more focused 6:50 running time. The song is cut in a couple of places, with the major edit completely eliminating the middle 'comedy break' routine. It is this edited version that was distributed (on tape or acetate) to select industry people during the period.
D.I.R. Broadcasting Corp was on hand to gather performance recordings of Bruce for use on its upcoming new syndicated radio program called "The King Biscuit Flower Hour." The only song from this performance that made it on air was "Bishop Danced". "Bishop Danced" would be included in future KBFH shows, and in 1984, "Mary Queen Of Arkansas" and "Spirit In The Night" as recorded from this performance featured in a 500th Broadcast celebration for the program. DIR was the company responsible for the broadcast of 1988's "Hello World" Stockholm recording, and you can hear this version of "Spirit in the Night" as part of the pre-show broadcast.
Note: D.I.R. Broadcasting Corp/King Biscuit Flower Hour still retains a master tape of the entire January 31 show in its archives. The company has repeatedly sought (and been declined) permission to commercially release what they have as part of its ongoing archive CD reissue series.
The entire performance from the early show can be found on the CD boot 'Live At Max's Kansas City' (Swingin' Pig). The edited version of "Thundercrack" was one of the earliest booted Springsteen recordings and can be found on the mid-70s LP boot 'Fire On The Fingertips' (Unknown). Enhanced sound specimens of this long-circulating edited version of "Thundercrack" can be found in more recent times on CD boots 'Forgotten Songs', 'The Unsurpassed Springsteen Vol 2 Max's Kansas City 1972-1973' and 'Deep Down In The Vaults' (which falsely credits the performance as January 5, 1974 at Joe's Place). The 2008 CD 'Max's Kansas City Night' (Crystal Cat) has all the mentioned songs plus "Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)" from June 6, 1973 at the Spectrum in Philadelphia. One final point of interest, a 1972 studio demo of "Vibes Man" with audience applause crudely dubbed onto it by a 1970s bootlegger often circulates identified as from this date. There is no genuine live performance of "Vibes Man" known. The recording of "Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)" (available on the boot CD 'Deep Down In The Vaults') is often claimed to be from one of the Max's Kansas City shows, but is actually from June 6, 1973 at Philadelphia's Spectrum arena. Recently, the full show has been made available on Wolfgang's Vault, in much clearer quality than previously known. There are no additional tracks however.