Born To Run (30th Anniversary Edition)

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Commercially Released: November 15, 2005
Label: Columbia
Produced by Barbara Carr, Bruce Springsteen, Jon Landau, Mike Appel and film by Thom Zimny, William Rexer and Barry Rebo
Recorded by Jimmy Iovine and Louis Lahav, assisted by Thom Panunzio, Ricky Delena, Angie Arcuri and Corky Stasiak
 at The Record Plant, New York City, NY and 914 Sound Studios, Blauvelt, NY (January 1974-July 1975)
Mixed By Jimmy Iovine and Bob Clearmountain, assisted by Thom Panunzio, Dave Thoener, Andy Abrams and Corky Stasiak 
Mastered by Greg Calbi, Remastered at Gateway Mastering, Portland, ME by Bob Ludwig
Design by John Berg and Andy Engel
Photography by Eric Meola

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Table of Contents

Overview

Released

Additional Information

Overview

The Born to Run 30th Anniversary Edition boxset, released on November 15, 2005, includes three discs: "Hammersmith Odeon, London '75," a film of Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band's November 18, 1975 concert; the documentary film "Wings For Wheels: The Making of Born to Run;" and the 1975 album in remastered CD form. The package offers approximately four hours of previously unseen footage. Personally supervised by Bruce Springsteen and Jon Landau, the set includes a 48-page photo album of previously unpublished photographs, with an introduction written by Springsteen.

More....

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Disc 1 Remastered Born To Run
Plangent Processes specialized in transferring analogue tape only to high resolution digital files.
BTR finally remastered using this process 2014, before that 2005 remaster was on top.

"Don't expect a BTR overhaul, though. By the time of his 2005 remaster for the 30th Anniversary of Springsteen's masterpiece, Ludwig had it nailed to the point where he received "the ultimate compliment" from Springsteen: "When I got to remaster Born to Run for the anniversary box set, I saw Bruce backstage, and he told me that he was listening while driving in his car and that he heard Born to Run as he’d originally intended it to sound for the first time!… So I wasn’t about to change the approach. Yet, to me, the new transfers gave it even more life than before, and thus there are some subtle differences to the way something would be EQ'd. There would be less EQ now, as the originals sounded that much better from the get-go." The same goes for Darkness on the Edge of Town. "
^{From backstreets.com: (after 2005 remaster)}

Disc 2 - Hammersmith Odeon, London '75
This the first full-length concert film ever released of Bruce and the E Street Band's first 25 years. The multiple-camera film presents the complete concert in its entirety and its original sequence, as newly edited by Emmy Award Winner Thom Zimny. Zimny's production team painstakingly cleaned the original negatives and digitally restored the footage, ultimately presenting this concert in vibrant color and detail. Producer Bob Clearmountain remastered and remixed the DVD in both stereo and 5.1 surround sound. Spanning roughly two hours and ten minutes, the 11/18/75 concert contains 16 tracks. A Hammersmith Odeon, London '75 audio-only version was released February 28, 2006.

Here is a review of the technical quality:
As for the Odeon concert, it was a tough picture to rate because of the original elements. At best, it was never going to be very attractive, as the film was shot on 16mm film and done under dark conditions. That said, Odeon was consistently watchable and looked better than I initially expected. Sharpness was erratic. Shots varied from acceptably concise to fairly soft. The best defined images were never particularly tight, but at least the looser bits stayed reasonably distinctive. Definition was mediocre but not a real problem. I noticed no jagged edges or shimmering, and I saw no signs of edge enhancement. Print flaws were pleasantly minor. Grain was the main distraction, but that will never change; it’s inherent in the original film, especially since they shot the flick in such poor lighting conditions. Otherwise, I noticed occasional specks, a few blotches and a couple of small hairs, but these weren’t a distraction. This was a pretty clean presentation, especially considering its age and source. Colored lighting heavily dominated the palette of Odeon. Those tones were passable at best as they shaded everything in the image. The tones could have been brighter and more dynamic, but they stayed acceptable. At least they never became overwhelming or runny. Blacks were quite deep and firm, which came as a nice surprise. Low-light shots tended to be rather opaque, a fact compounded and caused by the filming conditions. A 16mm film made in a small venue with no accommodations for lighting will look dark, and that’s what we got from Odeon. Objectively, this is a problematic image due to the source materials, but I thought it was more than fine given its origins.

No such qualifiers and excuses come when I rate the Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack of the Odeon DVD. This was a consistently strong auditory presentation. The show offered a nicely open and spacious soundfield. Across the front, instrumentation spread appropriately and distinctly. Elements popped up in the right spots to match the musicians’ stage locations, though things may have been a little too localized at times. It made sense to anchor the left with Danny Federici’s keyboards and to plunk Roy Bittan’s piano in the right, but I didn’t think it made much sense that some other instrumentation also focused strongly on those side speakers. Clarence Clemons’ sax and Steve Van Zandt’s guitar should have popped up between the sides and the center instead of their hard localization in the different speakers. This wasn’t a real distraction, but I’d have liked somewhat more appropriate placement. Bruce’s vocals stayed centered and didn’t bleed to the sides. His guitar came from the left instead of from the center, which would have been more accurate. However, I didn’t mind this, as it made sense to take that liberty to separate Bruce’s playing from Steve’s. The music sounded nicely integrated and airy, as the songs meshed together well and demonstrated a solid stereo image. Surrounds mostly served to reinforce the forward audio. A lot of stereo crowd noise cropped up back there, and the rear speakers provided a sense of concert hall ambience as well. The mix avoided gimmicky material and it stuck with an involving stereo presentation. The DVD presented very good sonics. Bruce’s vocals always came across as natural and accurate. I noticed no edginess or distortion as his singing appeared lively and distinct. Guitars crunched appropriately while drums snapped. Bass response sounded good. Low-end could have been a little deeper, but those elements always remained acceptably tight and lively. Across the board, I heard a lot to like in this fine soundtrack.

Disc 3 - Wings For Wheels
The ninety-minute documentary "Wings For Wheels: The Making of Born To Run" chronicles the story of the creation of 'Born To Run,' from songwriting to production and beyond. "Wings For Wheels" boasts archival film never shown publicly, including substantial footage of Springsteen and the E Street Band recording the album, 1975 concert film and other footage shot between 1973 and 1975. The film also features exclusive footage of Springsteen playing solo piano and guitar versions of songs from 'Born To Run.'

Bonus footage on the Wings for Wheels DVD was "Live at the Ahmanson Theater, Los Angeles, 1973". A three-song segment, the 21-minute and 56-second piece includes renditions of “Spirit In the Night” “Wild Billy’s Circus Story” and “Thundercrack”. This set is kind of an odd addition to this package since none of the songs maintain any connection to Born to Run. That said, it is excellent. The tracks offer a nice glimpse of Bruce circa 1973 and provide a fine presentation of the songs, although we lose the ending of “Thundercrack”.

Released

Remastered

#	Song Title	Running Time	Release
1.	THUNDER ROAD	4:50	BTR: 30 / BTR
2.	TENTH AVENUE FREEZE-OUT	3:12	BTR: 30 / BTR
3.	NIGHT	3:02	BTR: 30 / BTR
4.	BACKSTREETS	6:32	BTR: 30 / BTR
5.	BORN TO RUN	4:30	BTR: 30 / BTR
6.	SHE'S THE ONE	3:31	BTR: 30 / BTR
7.	MEETING ACROSS THE RIVER	3:19	BTR: 30 / BTR
8.	JUNGLELAND	9:35	BTR: 30 / BTR

^{Total Running Time: 39:30}

#	Song Title	Release
Video-1 - Hammersmith Odeon London - BLU-RAY / DVD
2.1.	THUNDER ROAD	BTR: 30
2.2.	TENTH AVENUE FREEZE-OUT	BTR: 30
2.3.	SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT	BTR: 30
2.4.	LOST IN THE FLOOD	BTR: 30
2.5.	SHE'S THE ONE	BTR: 30
2.6.	BORN TO RUN	BTR: 30
2.7.	THE E STREET SHUFFLE	BTR: 30
2.8.	IT'S HARD TO BE A SAINT IN THE CITY	BTR: 30
2.9.	BACKSTREETS	BTR: 30
2.10.	KITTY'S BACK	BTR: 30
2.11.	JUNGLELAND	BTR: 30
2.12.	ROSALITA (COME OUT TONIGHT)	BTR: 30
2.13.	4TH OF JULY ASBURY PARK (SANDY)	BTR: 30
2.14.	DETROIT MEDLEY	BTR: 30
2.15.	FOR YOU	BTR: 30
2.16.	QUARTER TO THREE	BTR: 30
2.17.	SO YOUNG AND IN LOVE ^{(Credits )}	BTR: 30

#	Song Title	Release
Video-1 - Wings for Wheels (the Making of Born to Run) - BLU-RAY / DVD
3.1.	The Journey	BTR: 30
3.2.	Third Album Pressure	BTR: 30
3.3.	"Born To Run"	BTR: 30
3.4.	A New Band	BTR: 30
3.5.	The Studio	BTR: 30
3.6.	The Mix	BTR: 30
3.7.	The Record Release	BTR: 30
3.8.	The Hype	BTR: 30
3.9.	End Of The Journey	BTR: 30
3.10.	Credits	BTR: 30
Video-2 - Live At The Ahmanson Theater, Los Angeles, 1973 - BLU-RAY / DVD
3.11.	SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT	BTR: 30
3.12.	WILD BILLY'S CIRCUS STORY	BTR: 30
3.13.	THUNDERCRACK	BTR: 30

Additional Information

^{© All credits to the original photographer. We do not monetize a photo in any way, but if you want your photo to be removed, let us know, and we will remove it.}

Song Title	Running Time	Release

BACKSTREETS - V1a	6:44	WAR / BTRS / BTRCS / UBTROC / ROOI
BACKSTREETS - V1b	3:12	private cdr
BACKSTREETS - V1c	6:26	ESR / BTRS
BACKSTREETS - V2a	6:33	DDITV / BWNH / BTRS / UBTROC / ROOI
BACKSTREETS - V2b	6:02	BTRCS
BACKSTREETS - V3a	6:32	URT1 / BTRS / BTRCS
BACKSTREETS - V3b	6:42	UBTROC
BACKSTREETS - V3c	6:05	WAR / BWNH / ROOI
BACKSTREETS - V4	6:27	BTR / BTR: 30

Note: The story that the song "Born To Run" took six months to complete is well known, but "Jungleland", "Thunder Road", and "Backstreets" all took longer. Early drafts of "Backstreets" from 1974 were called "Hidin' On The River". After Roy Bittan and Max Weinberg joined the E Street Band in August 1974, the new version of the band attempted to record the song at 914 Sound Studios. Clinton Heylin reports that they "made stabs at" the "late-night betrayal song" on October 17, 1974. These sessions did not go well, and after several months of slow progress, Bruce asked Jon Landau to come aboard in March 1975. One of Landau's first moves was to relocate the sessions to the Record Plant.

On April 25, their second week there, V1 was recorded. The second verse starts with the line "Running in the dark" and includes mostly unwritten lyrics to the bridge, although it included the line "save yourself a new guitar string to get you around by"; however, the third verse and the ending are present. V1b is a short take, and circulates in some private CDR sources; this is the same take and mix as V1a. V1c, released on E Street Radio, has guitar overdubs. V2, the "strings version," was cut May 19 or 23. Lyric changes now include "St. Johns" in the second verse and a still-incomplete bridge, with the placeholder lyric "the heroes in the funhouse ripping off the fags." V2a and 2b are vastly different mixes, but share the same lyrics, and were probably cut on the same day. V3 was recorded May 23 or July 6; the source quality is poor (V3b is pitch correction remastered by Fanatic Records, V4c is 30 seconds short), but what stands out is the second verse lyrics are now complete. However, the bridge remained incomplete. It appears Bruce envisioned the bridge containing a confrontation of great emotional power, but the words are still not there. The strings are dropped from all future versions. The final album sequence of July 2, 1975, had "Backstreets" as the album closer, but this was revised to the current configuration (ending Side 1) on July 7. V4, which is the album take and final mix, was completed on July 18, 1975, with a vocal overdub of the bridge.

BORN TO RUN - V1a	4:24	ESR / BTRS
BORN TO RUN - V1b	4:28	BTRS
BORN TO RUN - V2	4:27	BTRS
BORN TO RUN - V3a	4:40	BIS / BTRS
BORN TO RUN - V3b	4:38	WAR / BTRS
BORN TO RUN - V3c	4:34	ETRJ / BWNH / BTRS / BTRCS / BIS / ROOI / WAR
BORN TO RUN - V3d	4:30	BIS / ROOI / ETRJ / ETRV / BTRS / BTRCS
BORN TO RUN - V3e	4:23	BTRS
BORN TO RUN - V3f	4:21	BTRS
BORN TO RUN - V3g	4:30	BTRS
BORN TO RUN - V3h	4:23	BTRS
BORN TO RUN - V3i	4:21	BIS / BTRCS
BORN TO RUN - V3j	4:21	BTRS
BORN TO RUN - V3k	3:20	Ktel-CBS
BORN TO RUN - V4a	4:28	BTR / GREATEST / ESSENTIAL / BTR: 30 / GREATEST: 2009 / CHAPTER / BESTOF
BORN TO RUN - V4b	4:28	ETRJ / ETRV / BTRS
BORN TO RUN - V4c	5:27	RTT
BORN TO RUN - V5		uncirculating

Note: In his 2012 biography, Bruce, Peter Ames Carlin wrote that "While on the road in the Mid-South late in 1973, Springsteen awoke suddenly one morning, grabbed his notebook, and inked in the title "Born To Run". A few weeks later, Bruce, the band, and Appel got back to work at the 914 Sound Studios on January 8, 1974, spending a couple of days fiddling with rudimentary versions of both "Born To Run" and "Jungleland"." According to Springsteen, the entire writing and recording process for the song took six months, while he was living at a rented cottage at 7½ West End Court in West Long Branch, New Jersey. Though recordings from early 1974 have never surfaced, early lyric sheets of "Glory Road" contain many lines that would be used in "Born To Run", including the title.

V1a is the original backing track recorded on May 21, 1974, after rehearsal in prior sessions. V1b is from June 26, 1974, dubbing Bruce's vocal to the V1a track. Work continued, adding lyrics, overdubs, and layer upon layer of sound, at 914 Sound Studios, both in June and then after starting a week's residency at the studio on August 1, 1974. Finally, on or about August 6, 1974, "Born To Run" was completed. 72 tracks were down-mixed to 16 by engineer Louis Lahav. "We only had 16 tracks to work with and they were packed, because he had had so much going on in the songs," Lahav remembers. "I had to ping-pong between tracks all the time to get everything in. Clarence Clemons's sax solo on "Born to Run" was recorded in different parts and I had to edit them to make it a whole solo. It was a really long voyage on that song."

The core backing track is V2. The variants of V3 are numerous test mixes and arrangements, with female choir vocals, double-tracked lead vocals, strings, and hard stop organ endings. Some items listed here may have been created by AI software that separates elements like vocals from the music. V3a has a double tracked vocal, strings and hard organ stop; V3b has double tracked vocals, swirling strings, female chorus, and hard organ stop; V3c has a female chorus and delayed organ end. V3d has a female chorus that does not start until third verse, with funky dead stop. V3e is an alternative mix with only basic instrumental backing; V3f has only guitars in the instrumental backing; V3g does not have a drum track. V3h is Bruce's vocal without any backing instruments; V3i features string and enhanced high end; V3j has less overdubbing; V3k does not include the middle verse and the sax solo and was released by Ktel-CBS in Australia-only in early 1976 on a multi-artist LP called Supersounds.

In a 2006 interview, Louis Lahav described the mixing process: "Springsteen kept changing the lyrics and the song got finished only when he was pleased with the text. But we weren't working only on the vocals that entire time. We were tweaking, overdubbing and pre-mixing until the last moment. In addition to the rhythm section there were strings, glockenspiel, piano, electric guitars, brasses, about four or five acoustic guitars, there are probably thousands of parts and instruments in it. For example, the sax solo was edited from about seven different solo tracks…it took me hours punching in and out what you can do these days in seconds." The final mix chosen for release is V4a. In late October 1974, an advanced tape release of the official version (V4b) was sent to selected radio stations by Mike Appel and Springsteen. V4c is a live recording from WMMR Studios in Philadelphia on November 3, 1974, with Ed Sciaky and Bruce playing V4b on the air. The tape was broadcast by several USA radio stations from November 1974 to July 1975. There is little difference between V4a and V4b, except V4b is pre-brickwalled for radio broadcast. V5 is a studio log entry for March 17, 1975, an attempted mix session at Columbia Studios, 49 East 52nd Street, New York. Jon Landau is quoted in Down Thunder Road: "Sometime later Bruce…decided to go in and attempt to remix [the single] "Born To Run". Bruce called me and told me. He asked if I would be able to drop by. They were doing this work at CBS Studios in Manhattan." Bruce similarly wrote in his autobiography, "We took it to a New York studio one evening and in a half hour realized the impossibility of our task. We would never corral that sound again."

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."

THE HEIST - V1	2:54	ESR / BTRS
THE HEIST - V2 - take 14	0:13	BTRCS
THE HEIST - V3 - take 15	0:33	BTRCS
THE HEIST - V4 - take 16	3:11	WAR / ROU / BWNH / BTRCS
THE HEIST - V5 - take 18	0:11	BTRS / BTRCS
THE HEIST - V6 - take 19	3:16	WAR / ROU / BTRCS
MEETING ACROSS THE RIVER - V7	4:21	BTR / BTR: 30

Note: Not written until late April or May 1975; the working title was "The Heist", the name used even on test pressing of the album. V1 contains just piano and vocal, features some different words and may be Bruce's original guide demo. V2 (take 14), V3 (take 15), and V5 (take 18) are short, aborted takes. V4 (take 16) and V6 (take 19) are work-in-progress versions with alternate horn arrangements. All were recorded on May 28, 1975 as "The Heist" with top session musician Randy Brecker on trumpet. Included on July 2 final and July 7 revised-final album sequences, thanks to Mike Appel, who fought tooth and nail to keep it on the album; Bruce wanted "Linda Let Me Be The One". The final album mixing sessions were on July 18, 1975.

THE NIGHT - V1	4:00	uncirculating
NIGHT - V2	2:55	ESR / BTRS
NIGHT - V3	2:51	WAR / VAFH / BWNH / BTRS
NIGHT - V4 - take 8	2:57	BTR / BTR: 30

Note: V1 of "The Night" was recorded at 914 Sound Studios, Blauvelt, NY from August–October 1974, and included in a possible album sequence in late 1974. V2 has a core rhythm track, guide vocal and guitar; V3 includes double-tracked vocals. Both possibly recorded 1974–75 at 914 Sound Studio, or at the Record Plant on May 10, 1975. Take 8 of 10 recorded that day was marked 'Great - Hold,' which suggests that one was the recording used for Born To Run, as no further recordings of the song are known. The first line of the song was re-used from Springsteen's 1970 Steel Mill composition "Oh Mama".

SHE'S THE ONE - V1	6:17	BIS / WAR / ET / BTRS / BTRCS
SHE'S THE ONE - V2a	4:22	ESR / BTRS
SHE'S THE ONE - V2b	4:15	ESR
SHE'S THE ONE - V3		uncirculating
SHE'S THE ONE - V4	3:36	BTR / BTR: 30

Note: "She's The One" debuted at Avery Fisher Hall in New York on October 4, 1974, and the lyrics remained consistent right up to the end of the tour in March 1975. V1 was probably recorded some time between October 1974 and April 1975. In his book E Street Shuffle, The Glory Days Of Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band, Clinton Heylin believes it was recorded October 16, 1974, but the evidence for such a claim is unknown. This take includes some lyrics that would later be used in "Backstreets", and conversely imports "French cream won't soften those boots" from "Santa Ana".

V2 was recorded some time after V1, maybe around April or May 1975 at the Record Plant, New York. This take is shorter, with only the first two verses and adds a guitar solo. Bruce then vocalizes the saxophone solo, which suggests the Big Man was off that day. After all the tracks for Born To Run had been completed, and the tour had begun, Springsteen drove back to the studio two nights in a row (July 24 and 25), to finish dubbing vocals of a new second verse and bridge for V3, "and just one kiss she fills them long summer nights with her tenderness, that secret pact you made, back when her love could save you from the bitterness." The new lyrics changed the song from a fight with his girlfriend to a magical love song. The track was finally completed on July 25 for the album.

TENTH AVENUE FREEZE-OUT - V1	0:34	private cdr
TENTH AVENUE FREEZE-OUT - V2	3:25	BTRS
TENTH AVENUE FREEZE-OUT - V3a	3:08	BTR / ESSENTIAL: 2015 / BTR: 30 / BESTOF
TENTH AVENUE FREEZE-OUT - V3b	3:18	private

Note: Work on this song began May 5, 1975. V1 is a brief snippet of the tail section of what appears to be a unique performance. V2 is an early, complete take that was originally broadcast on E Street Radio in late 2005; this take has some considerable lyrical differences to the released version and has Springsteen vocalizing the horn parts during the opening. V3a was recorded on July 13, 1975 at the Record Plant, featuring Randy and Michael Brecker on horns, in a last-minute arrangement by Steven Van Zandt. V3b has a cold ending (no fadeout) and includes only bass, drums, horns and vocal. A stereo fold down mono version is also available as the b-side of the white label promo 45.

CHRISSIE'S SONG - V1		uncirculating
ANGELINA - V2		uncirculating
THUNDER ROAD - V3a	4:39	BIS / WAR / ET / BWNH / BTRCS
THUNDER ROAD - V3b	5:12	BTRS / BTRO
THUNDER ROAD - V4	4:35	BIS / WAR / ET / BWNH / BTRS / BTRCS
THUNDER ROAD - V5	5:03	ESR / BTRS
THUNDER ROAD - V6	5:22	WAR / BWNH / BTRS / BTRCS / UBTROC
THUNDER ROAD - V7	4:45	BTR / GREATEST / ESSENTIAL / BTR: 30 / GREATEST: 2009 / BESTOF

Note: According to Backstreets: Springsteen, The Man And His Music by Charles R. Cross, a 1972 song called "Angelina" contains the first two lines of "Thunder Road". This may have been the basis of a solo recording from October 1974 at 914 Sound Studios of "Chrissie's Song" (or this was a new composition), which includes the line "Leave what you’ve lost, leave what’s grown cold, Thunder Road." Some time between November 1974 and January 1975, Bruce took "Chrissie", lyrics from "Walking In The Street", and combined them into "Angelina" V2, possibly also known as "Wings For Wheels", the bootleg title of contemporary performances. Sometime after March 9 (the last time "Wings" appeared on a set list), Bruce took the music he had written for "Walking In The Street", and patched it on to the end of "Angelina"/"Wings For Wheels"; now his new lyric "this is a town for losers, I'm pulling out of here to win" was followed by the new instrumentral outro. The lines "the night's bustin' open, these two lanes will take us anywhere" and a poster for a 1958 Robert Mitchum movie in the lobby of a movie theater, provided the final ingredients for "Thunder Road".

April 13, 1975 was the day Jon Landau officially joined the album #3 production team. Louis Lahav, chief engineer, and his wife Suki, the violin player, quit and returned to their native Israel in late March. Jimmy Iovine reported to work at the Record Plant on April 18, after Landau was instructed to find better accommodations. "Thunder Road" and "Jungleland" were the first two songs recorded that day, and three versions of "Thunder Road", recorded over April 18–19 and 23, 1975, would later leak out on bootlegs. V3a is a full-band version, the girl is now Chrissie, and ends with the build up, instrumental outro, two refrains led by Clarence, to a full ending with no fadeout. V3b has two extra refrains for an extra long ending. The lyrics are getting there, but the guitar is not yet talking, and "Leave what you've lost, leave what's grown cold, Thunder Road" from "Chrissie's Song" is still there. V4 is a haunting acoustic solo version, the girl is now Christina, but otherwise no lyrical changes. V5, released on E Street Radio, is from April 23, starts with Roy Bittan's piano, base rhythm and Bruce's vocal and guitar (no organ or sax). "Leave what you've lost, leave what's grown cold" now replaced with "Sit tight, take hold." The final refrain is led by piano, with Bruce's overdubbed guitar. V6, recorded, or at least overdubbed, on July 15 or 16, and is almost ready to open Born To Run. This take opens with saxophone and Roy's piano, the latter which is featured in the first two minutes, Bruce's now awesome vocal, introduces us to Mary, and dominated by guitar. The long outro mixes guitar, sax and piano just like the album, and has seven refrains, though one variation only has five. V7 now has piano and harmonica opening without sax, glock, the talking guitar and Mary, and after twelve hours mixing and dubbing guitars, was completed on July 16, 1975, with Mike Appel on background vocals.

^{Studio Sessions: Born To Run}

Media	Song Title	Recording Date	Location
D2.	ALL	November 18, 1975	Hammersmith Odeon, London, England
D3.	Clipping in 'Wings For Wheels' Documentary	July 23, 1975	Music Inn, Stockbridge, Massachusetts
D3.	B&W footage of Jungleland in 'Wings For Wheels' Documentary	August 3, 1974 ?	Wollman Skating Rink Theater, New York City, New York
D3/11.	Spirit In The Night	May 1, 1973	Ahmanson Theatre, Los Angeles, California
D3/12.	Wild Billy's Circus Story	May 1, 1973	Ahmanson Theatre, Los Angeles, California
D3/13.	Thundercrack	May 1, 1973	Ahmanson Theatre, Los Angeles, California

ALBUMS	USA Sales	Non-USA Sales	TOTAL Sales
BTR 30TH ANNIVERSARY PACK (2005)	275,000	365,000	640,000
LIVE HAMMERSMITH '75 (2006)	100,000	175,000	275,000
BORN TO RUN (1975)	6,450,000	2,650,000	9,100,000
Compared to album #1
BORN IN THE USA (1984)	15,825,000	11,880,000	27,705,000

15 2005 b brucespringsteen info live november r_btr30 retail studio

	Count
Thunder Road	1553
Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out	1233
Night	264
Backstreets	608
Born To Run	1843
She's The One	737
Meeting Across The River	72
Jungleland	640

	Count
Thunder Road	1553
Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out	1233
Spirit In The Night	612
Lost In The Flood	84
She's The One	737
Born To Run	1843
The E Street Shuffle	224
It's Hard To Be A Saint In The City	199
Backstreets	608
Kitty's Back	262
Jungleland	640
Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)	873
4th Of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)	280
Detroit Medley	423
For You	234
Quarter To Three	214

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