Note: Unfortunately, very few outtakes circulate of "Badlands", the anthem he opened concerts with for years, although there must be some good stuff waiting in the vaults. Remember, title, music, lyrics, the Springsteen method of songwriting. The title came from Terrence Malick's 1973 movie, Badlands (he had not seen the movie). In late June, the music had been composed, and was first played by the E Street Band on June 27, 1977 at Atlantic Studios. The song's opening riff, Springsteen revealed years later, is a major-key twist on the minor-key intro to the Animals' 1965 hit 'Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood'. V1 is an instrumental backing track; Max Weinberg said his opening drum part was suggested by Steve Van Zandt, and inspired by Motown. Bruce had a routine with his engineers to create 'Ruffs' tapes for him, so he could take instrumental or early recordings home and write lyrics. V2 had to be recorded on June 27, 30, or on July 11 or 13 at Atlantic Studios. Springsteen was working at Atlantic Studios on July 13, 1977, when the twenty-five-hour-long New York City blackout began; soon after, the opening line "Lights Out Tonight", came into being. New takes, with developing lyrics, were recorded on August 24 and 30, 1977, but contrary to Lost Masters liner notes and many other sources, no outtakes circulate from these sessions.
It wasn't until November 1977, that Badlands was re-written with new lines, including, "I wanna go out tonight, I wanna find out what I got" from 'Iceman', about which he later honestly recalled, "That whole record was a record where I felt like I was going to have to test myself, and that was what I wanted to know, so that line ended up in a few different songs"—Los Angeles Times interview, 1998. Next, from a song by Elvis Presley from the 1962 movie, Kid Galahad, King Of The Whole Wide World: "A poor man wants to be a rich man, A rich man wants to be a king, But the man who can sing when he hasn't got a thing, He's the king of the whole wide world". Bruce translated this to these Verse 2 lines: "You better get it straight, darling, Poor man wanna be rich, rich man wanna be king, And a king ain't satisfied till he rules everything, I wanna go out tonight, I wanna find out what I got". Verse 3 was strengthened by, "For the ones who once had a notion, it ain't no sin to be glad you're alive" from Break Out.
V3 was recorded, perhaps on December 12, 1977 at the Record Plant, with many new pieces in place. Bruce is still yelling at 'the man on the TV', but "Badlands" has started to take shape. The vocals for V4, the album version, were dubbed in during a three-day mixing marathon on February 22, 24 and 25, 1978. V4b has less double-tracked vocals than V4c, a last moment dubbing of Clarence Clemons' sax solo on April 11, which was pressed to acetate on April 12, 1978. Springsteen's initial excuse for almost leaving it off was that he believed the instrument evoked the city, leaving it out of place on an album set in something more like "the heartland"; he later admitted, "that would have been a major error".
Note: Only one outtake of "Adam Raised A Cain" circulates, and the 'Lost Masters III' liner notes say tracks 1-5 are all from August 1977, but this information is likely incorrect since Sony logs say track 5, "Prove It All Night" was first cut September 12, 1977, track 3, "Factory", was not even called "Factory" until 1978, and according to studios logs and a "Ruffs" tape label reproduced in The Promise facsimile book, "Adam Raised A Cain" was not recorded until November at the earliest.
The aforementioned tape label shows a single take dated November 11, 1977, with the engineer perhaps mishearing the lyrics and writing "Daddy Raised A Cane". Meanwhile, studios logs indicate that takes were recorded on November 9 and December 15, 1977 - V1 could date from either. The lyrics are very similar to the final version, with only the lines "She knows you didn't come back to join their little games" and "Now he haunts these empty rooms rattling these chains" altered. The final album take, V2, resulted from three consecutive days dubbing, mixing and editing on February 15, 16 and 17, 1978. Before his death in 1998, Doug Springsteen was asked which of his son's songs he liked best. "The ones about me", he answered.
Note: "Something In the Night" was written in 1976, rehearsed in the barn at his new rental in Holmdel, New Jersey, and premiered live on August 1, 1976. It was played 31 of 54 shows on the Lawsuit Tour 1976-1977, which gave Springsteen opportunities to revise lyrics and modify arrangements. The tour featured a full-time horn section, the Miami Horns, and they were also used in several arrangements. When the Darkness sessions began on June 1, 1977, several cuts of "Something In the Night" were recorded that evening, and the album take was chosen from these. According to Sony logs, there were two subsequent recording sessions on June 14 and 16, and that was it, until mixing sessions began in 1978. There are five circulating versions, four of which which are based on the June 1 take, and one, that could have been recorded on any of the June dates. Godfatherecords release G.R. BOX 01, 'The Unbroken Promise: Lighting Up The Darkness Sessions', a 6 CD compilation of outtakes from the Darkness sessions, describes in it's extensive liner notes that "Something In The Night" appears in three versions, with one version recorded in June-July 1977 at Atlantic Studios and two during September-October 1977. Unfortunately, the Sony logs specify only three days in 1977 when sessions were held. The final notation is mix take #42 (V2d), from February 27, 1978, was pressed to metal acetate on April 12, 1978, and became track three on Darkness On the Edge of Town.
Note: "God's Angels", alternately named "The Fast Song", was a fast-paced melody written over several months, starting in Spring 1977. For many nights on the last legs of the Lawsuit Tour, Bruce interpolated the lyrics of "God's Angels" into "Backstreets". When he got to Atlantic Studios, New York on June 1, he had music and additional lyrics written. Though studio logs show the first take was on June 6, evidence exists that it was recorded on June 1, the first day of sessions (see 'Star Wars' tape below). Instrumental track V1 was worked on in early June. The lyrics heard in V2a can only be found in very poor quality on 'Darkness Outtakes Volume 3 (The Promise)', but features an incredible searing guitar solo, strangely never to be heard again. "I wish God's Angels would tear this town down, blow it into the sea, and that's okay with me because I don't care" stayed with the song, perhaps until the final takes and mixing of "Candy's Room" in March 1978, but it was deleted, and now only heard in bootlegs. V1, 2a-2d were worked on June 6, 9, 10, 13, 14, 20 and 24, and again on August 24, September 1 and 2, 1977, and lyrics slightly change, such as God's Angels alternate "man that's alright with me I don't care anymore". The only song he worked on harder was "Racing In the Street". All of the lines were blown into the sea, starting with changes at the end of September 1977.
The evidence is a bit confusing, but it is not hard to conclude that "Candy's Room" was around since at least May 1977, and was connected to "The Fast Song", as evidenced by the Ampex cassette jacket ('The Star Wars' tape), dated June 1, 1977. Springsteen's mind at this point was turning faster than ever with song ideas; an early concept album, Badlands was set to be released in October 1977, but he postponed it until June 1978. Nothing illustrates his process as well as "Candy's Room". After September 2, 1977, the last time "The Fast Song" and "Candy's Boy" would appear on the logs, Bruce decided to re-organize them into a new 'Fast Song', giving his obsession (Candy) the home she deserves. On September 27, "The New Fast Song" V3 appeared for the first time on studio logs; we don't have an outtake, but we do have the words, on a handwritten lyric sheet titled "The New Fast Song (Candy)". He took the first verse of "Candy's Boy", the second verse from the "Fast Song", lines from "Frankie", and fresh lyrics (i.e. "we kiss", instead of "I got caught" at the start of Max's drum roll). The third verse was mainly adapted from "The Fast Song". The lyrics contain several lines that did not survive to the album track V5. "I get visions of avenging angels of eden with their white horses and flaming swords can blow this whole town into the sea" is from "God's Angels-Fast Song", and "they cant touch Candy and me, our love they cannot destroy, I will forever be Candy's boy" is mostly from "Candy's Boy". According to author Clinton Heylin, the band worked on this extensively over the next two days. Of great interest is the film clip shot by Barry Rebo from September 30, 1977, which appeared on the Thrill Hill Vault DVD/Blu-ray of The Promise: The Darkness On The Edge Of Town Story box set. It is a short segment, with Bruce and Jon Landau at the Record Plant, as Bruce plays for Jon new lyrics he has written for "Candy's Room Demo" V4; these are entirely different, and describe a magical house at the edge of town, with Candy waiting for him in the window. The date here is also from Sony Archives, which shows another take on December 12, 1977, and then a marathon overdub-mixing session, from March 3 to March 5, 1978, which finally concluded when take 42 (v5b) was selected for Darkness On The Edge Of Town.
Note: Springsteen started writing "Racing In The Street" in 1976, and working titles included "'32 Ford" (found in a document titled "New Songs", reproduced in The Promise facsimile book), and "Dying In The Street", according to author Clinton Heylin. The latter phrase appears twice in the earliest known circulating recording (V1), a slow solo piano arrangement from July 2, 1977 at Atlantic Studios, verified in Sony's studio logs. This take uses an incomplete version of the alternate "Got a '32 Ford, she's a 318…" lyrics, and is also missing verse three, perhaps not yet written, alongside the Darkness On The Edge Of Town album melody. After a two week break, sessions resumed on August 1, with four consecutive days working on "Racing." Sessions continued on August 10, 12, 29-30, 1977, at either Atlantic Studios or Record Plant. Which arrangement(s) were worked on during this period is unknown. However, V2a (the first known take with the album arrangement) was likely from one of these sessions, as indicated in the 'Lost Masters III' liner notes, and this take would eventually be utilized for the album (V2c), with a vocal overdub in the second verse. Heylin recounts it's "transfer to a 'comp.' reel at August’s end", which, according to studio logs, was possibly August 30, 1977. Mixing and overdub sessions were held March 21-23, 1978, and mix take 46 went on Darkness On The Edge Of Town.
According to the only source we have, the 'Lost Masters II' liner notes, the earliest known version of the 'alternative' "Racing In The Street" (V3a) with wailing harmonica and tremendous vocal, was also recorded in August 1977 at Atlantic Studios. It is perhaps most likely that this arrangement was worked on during the early part of August, before Springsteen refined the lyrics and settled on the Darkness album arrangement at month's end.
Record Plant logs show Springsteen returned to "Racing" later in the sessions, on November 28-30 and December 6 and 9, 1977. Very little is known about what was undertaken at this time. In any case, the officially released V3b, titled "Racing In The Street ('78)" on The Promise, uses the same 1977 vocal take from V3a apart from one small overdub, replacing a bluffed/slurred line in the third verse (that ends "…just to make it alright") with a modern vocal. David Lindley plays violin, perhaps on December 9, 1977, the same day as a known take for "Come On (Let's Go Tonight)", which he also played on.
Bruce adapted the lines "summer's here and the time is right / for goin' racing in the street" from Martha and the Vandellas' 1964 hit, "Dancing In The Street", as well as The Rolling Stones' "Street Fighting Man". He has also acknowledged the Beach Boys' "Don't Worry Baby", also from 1964, and it has been said the instrumental break is a tribute to the earlier song.
| THE PROMISED LAND - V1 |
|
uncirculating |
| THE PROMISED LAND - V2 |
|
uncirculating |
| THE PROMISED LAND - V3a |
4:14 |
ODM / HOD / UP |
| THE PROMISED LAND - V3b |
4:25 |
DARKNESS / ESSENTIAL |
Note: One of the last songs written and recorded for the album, it's genesis was from a short trip taken by Bruce, Steve Van Zandt and photographer Eric Meola on August 17, 1977, two days after breaking from recording for a week. Their plan was to fly into Salt Lake City, Utah, rent a vintage American car, and drive to Reno, Nevada, by way of the Utah and Nevada wilderness. The fruits of their journey were "Rattlesnake speedway in the Utah desert", "the dogs on Main Street howl because they understand" (based on real dogs howling on a Main Street), and Eric's photographs, which appeared throughout The Promise: The Darkness On The Edge Of Town Story box set. Upon returning, Bruce composed "The Promised Land", and introduced it to the band on September 30, 1977, with three takes attempted (V1). Recording resumed on October 27 at the Record Plant with twenty takes, V2 take 19, marked "long ending". V3 take 5 was completed on December 1 or 27, 1977, and pressed to metal acetate on April 12, 1978. V3a was the final version without the guitar solo. On or about May 10, Bruce decided a guitar intro was needed before Clarence Clemons's powerful sax solo. After Steve Van Zandt recorded it in New York, Side 2 was mastered for a second time, at The Mastering Lab, Los Angeles, which briefly delayed the album release to June 2.
| COME ON (LET'S GO TONIGHT) - V1 |
|
uncirculating |
| COME ON (LET'S GO TONIGHT) - V2 |
2:07 |
DO-3 / UP / SC / LUTHER |
| COME ON (LET'S GO TONIGHT) - V3 |
2:12 |
LM-3 / LMEC2 / AM / UP |
| COME ON (LET'S GO TONIGHT) - V4 |
2:09 |
DDO / DO-1 / UP / DDOC / LES |
| COME ON (LET'S GO TONIGHT) - V5 |
|
uncirculating |
| THE FACTORY SONG - V6a |
2:15 |
ODM / HOD / UP / AM |
| FACTORY - V6b |
2:15 |
DARKNESS |
| COME ON (LET'S GO TONIGHT) - V7 |
2:16 |
PROMISE |
Note: "Come On (Let’s Go Tonight)" was written in the Spring of 1977, and V1 was cut on June 1, 1977, complete with Vox [organ], at Atlantic Studios, on the first night of the Darkness sessions. V2 is the earliest take we have in circulation, a rough workout, probably from either July 2 or 13 at Atlantic Studios, but further progress was needed on the lyrics. At this point, Bruce had written, "Everybody wants heaven, but nobody wants to die, Come on, come on, lets go tonight". Two out of three verses had "death in their eyes". V3 represented a sudden shift as the song began its metamorphosis into "Factory"; though it retained it's original name (Sony logs show all sessions to the end of 1977 under this name), the lyrics were radically rewritten to the story of Douglas Springsteen, Bruce's father, who worked at a machine factory under harsh conditions. An interview quoted Bruce, "I remember my old man was working in this plastics factory… and all I remember, when we used to go in that place, was him standing near 'em loud fucking machines". Now he sang "Factory takes his hearing, but he understands", but the third verse was the outcome of working under these conditions, "somebody's gonna get hurt tonight". It is possible that Bruce worked with both ideas for a while, but after September, all energies went toward "The Factory Song", though it was not named this until January 2, 1978.
Sessions took place on August 23, 24 and 30, and September 8, 1977 at the Record Plant. Roy Bittan played his piano Floyd Cramer style to give it a Chet Atkins produced-country feel, and an organ was not in the mix at this point. Further work was undertaken on November 2, 7, and 8, and December 9, 27, 1977 - a violin overdub by David Lindley was added, possibly on December 9. V7, released on the The Promise: The Darkness On The Edge Of Town Story box set in 2010, is the finished take of "Come On (Let's Go Tonight)". The vocal is vintage, but the recording date has not been determined. V6 was the result of overdub/mixing sessions on March 10 and 14, 1978, all at the Record Plant. The 1978 sessions were under the name "The Factory Song". Danny recorded new organ tracks, which featured prominently in the final album V6b. Bruce recorded new vocals over the "Come On (Let's Go Tonight) backing track and changed, "Factory takes his hearing, but he understands" to "Factory takes his hearing, factory gives him life". V6c is mix take 28 from April 3, 1978, and it was pressed to metal acetate with the title "Factory Song" on April 12, 1978. By the time the album was released however, the title was simply "Factory".
What ever happened to "Come On (Let's Go Tonight)"? In March 1981, Bruce wrote new music and recorded a demo at his home in Colts Neck, NJ with the original name. However, he decided to rearrange it once more, combining several lines with new verses, and the first two lines from Chuck Berry's 'Bye Bye Johnny', to create "Johnny Bye-Bye".
Note: According to Jimmy Iovine and Jon Landau, "Streets of Fire" was nailed early in the sessions in a live performance on June 24, 1977, with only minor overdubs added later. The logs show that the song was also worked on at either Atlantic or Record Plant on August 24 and 30. It was sequenced as track two on side one for the aborted "Badlands" release in October. There are no alternate versions, but the guitar solo and the vocals for the final verse and outro were overdubbed on December 6, 12 and 29, 1977 at the Record Plant, with work completed in 28 takes. Mixing was completed on April 5, 1978 by Chuck Plotkin. Of the ten final tracks, only "Something In the Night" (June 1) and "Prove It All Night" (September 16) were completed before "Streets of Fire". "The Promised Land" gave up it's spot when Bruce had Steve Van Zandt add his guitar solo in May 1978. Mixes without the December overdubs make up version 1. Note that V1b from 'Lost Masters Vol. III' and 'The Unbroken Promise' were both clocked at 3:36, because both faded in 14 seconds into the track, while V1c, 'Original Darkness Mixes' and it's clone, 'Heart of Darkness' both had a seven second double count-in deducted, while 'Luther' only had one second of it included.
Note: Springsteen has said that "Prove It All Night" was adapted from "It's A Shame" aka "Jon's Jam", which was written, recorded and set aside in June. He later said (live as an introduction to the song) that he got the idea from a cabbie in New York City while he was making the album. The cabbie was "raving about how all day long you gotta prove it to your boss driving around in a cab and all night you gotta go home and prove it to your wife, on the weekends you gotta prove it to your kids". The earliest circulating take from 'Lost Masters III' has an overdubbed sax solo and double tracked vocals, but the lyrics are a fusion of both "Prove It All Night" and "Something In The Night". Studio logs show takes were recorded on September 12, and over three straight days from September 14-16. It's likely that V1 is from one of those dates, but could potentially be earlier.
"Prove It All Night" never failed to be included on tentative album sequences, from October 1977 thru May 1978. The song was completed with V2 (take 49), mixed in spring 1978 by Toby Scott, Chuck Plotkin's Chief Engineer. V2a is an alternate mix that runs to a hard stop ending, with Max's energetic performance and Danny's organ dominating. V2b features the vocal track above the organ and drums and runs shorter. while the final mix, V2c, was also released as the first single ahead of the album, on May 23, 1978 in the United States.
Note: Bruce began writing "Darkness On The Edge Of Town" right after Born To Run, according to a 1978 interview. Indeed, the title can be found in two lists of songs that were penned some time in 1976, supporting his recollection. It is rumoured that band rehearsals during 1976 at Bruce's home at Holmdel, NJ included versions of "Darkness On The Edge Of Town". Music and some lyrics written by February 1976, was sub-titled "The Racer" for a time.
Though it is listed on the 'Star Wars' demo tape of June 1, 1977, pictured below, V1a was not cut until June 6. V1b is the full length, speed corrected version. Sony logs show takes recorded on June 8, 9, 20 and 23, 1977 at Atlantic Studios. Work on the lyrics was needed. Then, after putting forth such a good effort, Bruce put "Darkness On The Edge Of Town" aside for the rest of the year. It was not included on the 'Badlands' album sequence from October, nor the January 16, 1978 sequence. On March 8, he suddenly called his forces together, and over three days, they re-recorded "Darkness" from scratch and completed what would become the title track of the album. The March takes were cut in a studio with bare concrete walls, after the room was gutted prior to renovation. V2a and V2b are the album track recording, with a slight difference. V2a can be identified by the addition of the word "ready" to the line "I'll be there on time ready to pay the cost". V2b is mix take #28 from March 30, 1978, and was pressed to metal acetate on April 12.
Studio Sessions: Darkness On The Edge Of Town
