Commercially released: February 27, 1995
Label: Columbia
Produced by Bruce Springsteen, Mike Appel, Jon Landau, Steven Van Zandt, Chuck Plotkin, Roy Bittan
Recorded by Toby Scott, assisted by Carl Glanville and Pete Keppler at The Hit Factory, and Thrill Hill West
Mixed by Bob Clearmountain, assisted by Jay Militscher, Ryan Freeland and Tony Duino-Black
Mastered by Bob Ludwig and Brian Lee, Remastered by Bob Ludwig
Design by Sandra Choron
Photography by Eric Meola, Annie Leibovitz, David Gahr, David Rose, Jim Marchese and Pam Springsteen
Overview
Greatest Hits is Bruce Springsteen's first compilation album. It is a collection of some of Springsteen's hit singles and popular album tracks through the years along with four new songs at the end, mostly recorded with the E Street Band in 1995. The latter constituted Springsteen's first (albeit very partial) release with his backing band since the late 1980s. Some of the songs are shorter versions of the original album releases.
The incorporation of the "new" tracks was portrayed in the 1996 documentary Blood Brothers. "Murder Incorporated" and "This Hard Land" were, in fact, unused 1982 songs from the Born in the U.S.A. sessions, with the latter being re-recorded here more than a decade later, and both subsequently became Springsteen concert staples. "Blood Brothers", on the other hand, was played only as the final closing song of both the 1999–2000 Reunion Tour and 2002–2003 Rising Tour, both times with an extra verse added. "Secret Garden" achieved notoriety via the soundtrack of the 1996 film Jerry Maguire. Alternate versions of several of these new tracks were released on the 1996 Blood Brothers EP.
Released
| # | Song Title | Running Time | Release |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | BORN TO RUN | 4:31 | BORN TO RUN / GREATEST |
| 2. | THUNDER ROAD | 4:49 | BORN TO RUN / GREATEST |
| 3. | BADLANDS | 4:03 | DARKNESS / GREATEST |
| 4. | THE RIVER | 5:01 | RIVER / GREATEST |
| 5. | HUNGRY HEART | 3:20 | RIVER / GREATEST |
| 6. | ATLANTIC CITY | 3:57 | NEBRASKA / GREATEST |
| 7. | DANCING IN THE DARK | 4:03 | BITUSA / GREATEST |
| 8. | BORN IN THE U.S.A. | 4:41 | BITUSA / GREATEST |
| 9. | MY HOMETOWN | 4:13 | BITUSA / GREATEST |
| 10. | GLORY DAYS | 3:49 | BITUSA / GREATEST |
| 11. | BRILLIANT DISGUISE | 4:16 | TUNNEL / GREATEST |
| 12. | HUMAN TOUCH 2 | 5:10 | HUMAN / GREATEST |
| 13. | BETTER DAYS | 3:45 | LUCKY / GREATEST |
| 14. | STREETS OF PHILADELPHIA | 3:17 | 1994 single / OST: PHILADELPHIA / GREATEST |
| 15. | SECRET GARDEN 1 | 4:28 | GREATEST / 1995 single / OST: MAGUIRE |
| 16. | MURDER INCORPORATED 1 | 3:58 | GREATEST / EP: BB |
| 17. | BLOOD BROTHERS 1 | 4:34 | GREATEST / EP: BB |
| 18. | THIS HARD LAND 1 | 4:51 | GREATEST / EP: LR |
Total Running Time: 1:16:45
1: Recordings that were officially unreleased prior to their appearance on "Greatest Hits".
2: An edited/shortened version of the album track that was previously only available as a promotional item issued to radio stations.
Additional Information
© All credits to the original photographer.
- Bruce Springsteen: Guitar, Vocals, Harmonica
- Roy Bittan: Piano, Synthesizer, Backing Vocals
- Ernest "Boom" Carter: Drums, Backing Vocals
- Clarence Clemons: Saxophone, Percussion, Backing Vocals
- Danny Federici: Organ, Synthesizer, Accordion, Backing Vocals
- Nils Lofgren: Guitar, Backing Vocals
- Frank Pagano: Percussion
- Patti Scialfa: Vocals, Backing Vocals
- Garry Tallent: Bass Guitar, Backing Vocals
- Steven Van Zandt: Guitar, Mandolin, Backing Vocals
- Max Weinberg: Drums, Backing Vocals
See the original releases-page for additional personnel.
- All Versions
- Other
- Philadelphia (Music From The Motion Picture) (1993)
- Jerry Maguire (Music From The Motion Picture) (1996)
- Blood Brothers EP / DVD (1996)
- Greatest Hits (2009)
- Single
- Streets Of Philadelphia (February 2, 1994)
- Murder Incorporated (February 24, 1995)
- Hungry Heart (March 1, 1995)
- Secret Garden (April 11, 1995)
- Missing (Bonus)(April 19, 1996)
| BORN TO RUN - V1 | uncirculating | |
| BORN TO RUN - V2a | 4:24 | ESRR / BTRS |
| BORN TO RUN - V2b | 4:28 | BTRS |
| BORN TO RUN - V3 | 4:27 | BTRS |
| BORN TO RUN - V4a | 4:40 | BIS / BTRS |
| BORN TO RUN - V4b | 4:38 | WAR / BTRS |
| BORN TO RUN - V4c | 4:34 | ETRJ / BWNH / BTRS / BTRCS / BIS / ROOI / WAR |
| BORN TO RUN - V4d | 4:30 | BIS / ROOI / ETRJ / ETRV / BTRS / BTRCS |
| BORN TO RUN - V4e | 4:23 | BTRS |
| BORN TO RUN - V4f | 4:21 | BTRS |
| BORN TO RUN - V4g | 4:30 | BTRS |
| BORN TO RUN - V4h | 4:23 | BTRS |
| BORN TO RUN - V4i | 4:21 | BIS / BTRCS |
| BORN TO RUN - V4j | 4:21 | BTRS |
| BORN TO RUN - V4k | 3:20 | Ktel-CBS |
| BORN TO RUN - V5a | 4:28 | BORN TO RUN / ESSENTIAL / GREATEST / CHAPTER |
| BORN TO RUN - V5b | 4:28 | ETRJ / ETRV / BTRS |
| BORN TO RUN - V5c | 5:27 | RTT |
| BORN TO RUN - V6 | 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' V1 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.
V2a is the original backing track recorded on May 21, 1974, after rehearsal in prior sessions. V2b is from June 26, 1974, dubbing Bruce's vocal to the V2a track. Work continued, adding lyrics and overdubs, at 914 Sound Studios, both in June and then after starting a week's residency at the studio on August 1, 1974. Finally, on August 6, 1974, seventy-two tracks were mixed down to the sixteen available by engineer Louis Lahav. The core backing track is V3. The variants of V4 are numerous test mixes and arrangements, with backing vocals, double-tracked vocals and strings: V4a has a double tracked vocal, strings and hard organ stop; V4b has double tracked vocals. swirling strings, female chorus, and hard organ stop; V4c has a female chorus and delayed organ end. V4d has a female chorus that does not start until third verse, with funky dead stop. V4e is an alternative mix with only basic instrumental backing; V4f has only guitars in the instrumental backing; V4g does not have a drum track. V4h is Bruce's vocal without any backing instruments; V4i features string and enhanced high end; V4j has less overdubbing; V4k 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, over-dubbing 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 V5a. In late October 1974, an advanced tape release of the official version (V5b) was sent to selected radio stations by Mike Appel and Springsteen. V5c is a live recording from WMMR Studios in Philadelphia on November 3, 1974, with Ed Sciaky and Bruce playing v5b on the air. The tape was broadcast by several USA radio stations from November 1974 to July 1975. There is little difference between V5a and V5b, except v5b is pre-brickwalled for radio broadcast. V6 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".
| CHRISSIE'S SONG - V1 | uncirculating | |
| WINGS FOR WHEELS - V2 | uncirculating | |
| THUNDER ROAD - V3a | 4:39 | BIS / WAR / ET / BWNH / BTRCS / UBTROC |
| THUNDER ROAD - V3b | 5:12 | BTRS / BTRO |
| THUNDER ROAD - V4 | 4:35 | BIS / WAR / ET / BWNH / BTRS / BTRCS / UBTROC |
| THUNDER ROAD - V5 | 5:03 | ESRR / BTRS |
| THUNDER ROAD - V6 | 5:22 | WAR / BWNH / BTRS / BTRCS / UBTROC |
| THUNDER ROAD - V7 | 4:45 | BORN TO RUN / ESSENTIAL / GREATEST |
Note: Started out as a 1972 song called "Angelina", then after further development, Bruce played V1, a solo recording in October 1974 at 914 Sound Studios, Blauvelt NY of "Chrissie’s Song", including the line "Leave what you’ve lost, leave what’s grown cold, Thunder Road". Sometime between November 1974 and January 1975, Bruce took 'Chrissie' and the following lyrics from "Walking In the Street", and combined them into a new composition, coined "Wings For Wheels" by bootleggers. V2, recorded in February. 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 "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 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", a major change. 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.
| BADLANDS - V1 | 4:07 | LM-2 / DDO / DDOC / DO-3 / AM / UP |
| BADLANDS - V2 | 3:47 | LM-3 / DDO / DDOC / DO-2 / UP |
| BADLANDS - V3 | 3:40 | LM-3 / UP / AM / LMEC1 |
| BADLANDS - V4a | 3:57 | ODM / HOD / AM |
| BADLANDS - V4b | 3:59 | uncirculating |
| BADLANDS - V4c | 3:59 | uncirculating |
| BADLANDS - V5 take 23 | 3:59 | DARKNESS / ESSENTIAL / GREATEST / CHAPTER |
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, recorded on June 27 and 30. 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 in late June, 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 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 is an alternate, with less double-tracked vocals than the Darkness version, and V4c was the final mix from April 11, which was pressed to acetate on April 12, 1978. V5 take 23 was a last moment dubbing, on May 5, 1978, of Clarence Clemons' sax solo. 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".
| OH ANGELYNE - V1 | 1:35 | LM-6 / DROC1 / RRR |
| OH ANGELYNE - V2 | 0:47 | LM-6 |
| OH ANGELYNE - V3 | 2:52 | LM-6 |
| OH ANGELYNE - V4 | 2:13 | LM-6 / MT2 |
| THE RIVER - V5 | uncirculating | |
| THE RIVER - V6 take 5 | 4:48 | TTTBR / TTTBJ / RIVER: SINGLE / PYP / LEK / ATMF |
| THE RIVER - V7 | uncirculating | |
| THE RIVER - V8 | uncirculating | |
| THE RIVER - V9 | 5:01 | RIVER / ESSENTIAL / GREATEST / TTTB: RIVER / CHAPTER |
| THE RIVER - V10 | 0:36 | TTTB: DOCUMENTARY |
Note: Springsteen kicked around the verses of "Oh Angelyne" for six months, until he received inspiration from "Long Gone Lonesome Blues" by Hank Williams (1950), and wrote the chorus in August 1979. The original inspiration had been the economic situation his sister Ginny and her husband found themselves in, during the late 1970s. Thanks to 'Lost Masters', we have four takes of a solo demo recorded by Bruce at home in February-May, 1979. V5, now known as "The River", was recorded at Power Station studios on August 26, 1979, with the completed take 5 (V6) selected for The Ties That Bind album. Bruce reconsidered in October, and that plan fell through. But in September, he performed "The River" live twice at Madison Square Garden, New York, to great response by fans and critics, including Ginny, his special guest. The version finally released on The River double album had a number of embellishments to the TTTB version. For instance, ooo-ooos by Bruce and Steve were recorded on January 21, 1980 (V7), later overdubbed on either April 12 (V8) or April 24 (V9), and was sequenced as the final track of Disc 1 of The River. Studio logs give us those three dates in 1980, but don't specify what was done. In an interview, engineer Neil Dorfsman says he recalls cutting several versions of the song, trying out different tempos and a more embellished rock 'n' roll arrangement. None of these alternative arrangements circulate, and it is not known whether they exist in the vaults. V10 is brief snippets of an acoustic demo heard in Thom Zimny's documentary about the making of The River, included in the The Ties That Bind (The River Collection) box set, and including some well-known verses, like "is a dream a lie that don't come true, or is it something worse".
| HUNGRY HEART - V1a | 2:53 | DROC2 / PYP |
| HUNGRY HEART - V1b | 3:30 | LM-6 |
| HUNGRY HEART - V1c | 3:32 | LM-6 |
| HUNGRY HEART - V2a | 3:28 | LM-6 / RRR |
| HUNGRY HEART - V2b | 3:47 | DROC2 |
| HUNGRY HEART - V2c | 3:31 | private cdr |
| HUNGRY HEART - V2d take 2 | 3:21 | TTTBR / TTTBJ / LEK |
| HUNGRY HEART - V2e take 2 | 3:21 | RIVER: SINGLE |
| HUNGRY HEART - V3 | 3:15 | RIVER / 1980 Single / ESSENTIAL / GREATEST |
Note: "Hungry Heart"" was apparently penned after Joey Ramone asked Bruce to write a song for the Ramones after he attended a Ramones show at The Fast Lane in Asbury Park in March 1979; this may be apocryphal. In any case, Springsteen has confirmed that it was written with the Ramones in mind, and was considering giving the song away. He played it for Jon Landau, who convinced Bruce to keep it for himself. The mixes listed above show the progression from backing track v1a to completed track v2. V2c has heavy echo added to Springsteen's vocal. Recorded at Power Station on June 14 and 21, 1979, with mixing for The Ties That Bind single album by Bob Clearmountain, v2d on September 5, 1979. Dubbing and mixing sessions for the mix found on The River v3 took place on March 24 and April 10, 1980. The version released on The River has been pitch adjusted, raising the pitch of Springsteen's vocal to achieve a more radio friendly sound. Flo & Eddie (Mark Volman and Howard Kaylan of the Turtles) contributed backing vocals during one of those sessions.
| FIST FULL OF DOLLARS - V1 | 3:44 | FFOD / HNWB / MT2 |
| FIST FULL OF DOLLARS - V2 | 2:24 | FFOD / HNWB |
| ATLANTIC CITY - V3 | 1:40 | FFOD / HNWB |
| ATLANTIC CITY - V4 take 1 | uncirculating | |
| ATLANTIC CITY - V5 - take 4 | 4:00 | LM-1 |
| ATLANTIC CITY - V6a - take 3 | 3:56 | NEBRASKA / ESSENTIAL / GREATEST |
| ATLANTIC CITY - V6b - take 3 | 3:43 | NEBRASKA (stereo mix) |
| ATLANTIC CITY - V7 | uncirculating | |
| ATLANTIC CITY - V8 | uncirculating | |
| ATLANTIC CITY - V9 | uncirculating | |
| ATLANTIC CITY - V10 | uncirculating |
Note: Before he writes the music, and lastly the lyrics, the first thing Bruce Springsteen does is choose a title! This is how he writes many of his songs, and he chose Fistfull of Dollars from the Clint Eastwood movie. The two demos (V1 & V2) he recorded in April 1981, had the title in them, but they also had quite a few verses written, all about Atlantic City. You can hear him turning pages of his notebook as he worked on them. FFOD never went anywhere, but as for Atlantic City…..
The story continues in late 1981, still at Colts Neck, V3 lines are getting into shape; The rest is Bruce trying variations of the chorus. V4, V5 V6 were recorded on his Portastudio at Colts Neck during a two-week period, December 17 to January 3, 1982, with V6 take 3 chosen for Nebraska. Take 5 v5 is the only outtake from this session. In a letter to Jon Landau, Springsteen noted that "this song should probably be done with the whole band really rockin' out". V7 was cut at The Power Station on April 26-28, 1982, with the band during the 'Electric Nebraska' sessions. Landau insisted on releasing the solo version, "No way was it as good as what he had goin' on that demo tape". The three days working on the full-band arrangement, however, paid off handsomely for years after taking it on the road.
| DANCING IN THE DARK - V1a | 4:31 | BUERM / 1984AC |
| DANCING IN THE DARK - V1b | 3:57 | BITUSA / ESSENTIAL / GREATEST |
| DANCING IN THE DARK - V2a - blaster mix | 6:09 | 1984 EP |
| DANCING IN THE DARK - V2b - radio mix | 4:50 | 1984 EP |
| DANCING IN THE DARK - V2c - dub mix | 5:30 | 1984 EP |
Note: The last song on Born In The U.S.A. to be recorded. Written in no time at all after Jon Landau convinced Bruce that the album needed a single. According to Dave Marsh in Glory Days, Bruce was not impressed with Landau's approach. "Look", he snarled, "I've written seventy songs. You want another one, you write it." Despite this reaction, Bruce sat in his hotel room and wrote the song in a single night. It sums up his state of mind, his feeling of isolation after the success of The River, and his frustrations of trying to write a hit-single. Six takes were cut on February 14, 1984 at The Hit Factory, then 58 mixes, completed on March 8. V1a contains a longer sax solo at the end that was shortened (cut) for the official album version. V2a thru V2c are dance/disco remixes done at The Power Station in April or early May 1984 by Arthur Baker. The recording engineer for the remixes was Chris Lord-Alge. These remixes were released on June 29, 1984. The 7" and 12" singles were released on May 9, 1984, and the 12" finished as the biggest selling in the U.S.A. that year.
| VIETNAM - V1 | 3:15 | FFOD / HNWB / MT2 |
| VIETNAM BLUES - V2 | 2:00 | FFOD / HNWB / MT2 |
| BORN IN THE U.S.A. BLUES - V3 | 2:22 | FFOD / HNWB / MT2 |
| BORN IN THE U.S.A. - V4 | 0:30 | FFOD / HNWB |
| BORN IN THE U.S.A. - V5 | 4:45 | FFOD / HNWB |
| BORN IN THE U.S.A. - V6 | 3:10 | FFOD / HNWB |
| BORN IN THE U.S.A. - V7 | 2:55 | FFOD / HNWB |
| BORN IN THE U.S.A. - V8 | 4:00 | FFOD / HNWB |
| BORN IN THE U.S.A. - V9a take 1 | 3:06 | LM-1 / HNWB |
| BORN IN THE U.S.A. - V9b take 1 mix 2 | 3:06 | TRACKS |
| BORN IN THE U.S.A. - V10 take 2 | 8:09 | THLBB / UH / GS / BUERM / MI |
| BORN IN THE U.S.A. - V11a take 4 mix 1 | 4:34 | BITUSA / ESSENTIAL / GREATEST / CHAPTER |
| BORN IN THE U.S.A. - V11b take 4 mix 2 | 4:52 | LM-19 / THLBP |
| BORN IN THE U.S.A. - V12 | uncirculating | |
| BORN IN THE U.S.A. - V13 take 9 | uncirculating | |
| BORN IN THE U.S.A. - V14a freedom mix | 7:20 | 1984 EP |
| BORN IN THE U.S.A. - V14b radio mix | 6:10 | 1984 EP |
| BORN IN THE U.S.A. - V14c dub mix | 7:36 | 1984 EP |
“I’m a long gone daddy I don’t need you anyhow. ”
—Hank Williams 1948
Note: Writing and recording began at Springsteen's home in Colts Neck, New Jersey during October 1981 as the demo, "Vietnam" or "Vietnam Blues". V3 is now titled "Born In the U.S.A. Blues", re-titled after Jon Landau sent Springsteen a Paul Schrader script called "Born In the U.S.A.". V4 is a taken from November 1981, with the lyrics "Born baby in the USA, I believe in the American way". V5 thru V8 were recorded in December, and V9 was recorded on the portastudio Mike Batlan had setup on January 3, 1982. Bruce included it on the "Nebraska demos" cassette tape he sent to Jon Landau. In his notes to Landau, Bruce described the song as a "little ditty. should be done very hard rockin". A copy leaked to bootleggers from Batlan, then V9b was mixed in 1997 and officially released on Tracks in 1998. V10 and V11 were recorded in just four takes (two complete), at The Power Station with the E Street Band, on April 27, 1982. V10 is the 8 minute+ extended jam ending, where Max Weinberg takes his shot at the title, as Bruce would say. V11a (take 4) became the first song on side one of the album, "Born In the USA". V11b continues where 11a fades out, with an extended synthesizer ending; it was leaked out of the sessions, and released unofficially on the bootleg, 'This Hard Land'. V12 represents takes 5-8 on April 28, 1982, and V13 is take 9 on May 3, 1982. V14a thru V14c are dance remixes of V11, undertaken by Arthur Baker, and recorded at Shakedown Studio in New York City in September 1984. Toby Scott was the recording engineer for the remixes (which include additional vocals by The Latin Rascals), which were first released in December 1984.
| YOUR HOMETOWN - V1 | 3:30 | LM-17 / MT1 |
| YOUR HOMETOWN - V2 | 3:14 | LM-17 |
| YOUR HOMETOWN - V3 | 3:23 | LM-17 / GS#1 |
| YOUR HOMETOWN - V4 | 3:16 | LM-17 / GS#2 |
| MY HOMETOWN - V5 take 1 | 6:47 | uncirculating |
| MY HOMETOWN - V6 take 2 | 6:22 | uncirculating |
| MY HOMETOWN - V7 take 3 | 4:25 | BITUSA / GREATEST |
| MY HOMETOWN - V8 take 4 | 4:54 | LM-19 |
Note: Written in late 1982 as a rockabilly song called "Your Hometown", with many of the album version lyrics finished by late January 1983. V1-V4 were early takes recorded by Bruce and Toby Scott at his new home, at 7965 Fareholm Drive, Los Angeles, California 90046, on January 29 and 30, and February 9 and 17, 1983. The demos are of good quality, probably prepared to aid in teaching the song to the band. Instead, Bruce set it aside for a few months, and came back with a new title, "My Hometown", and an arrangement for the band. On June 29, 1983 at The Hit Factory, four complete takes were recorded, but the first two were discarded because they both exceeded six minutes. Takes 3 and 4, which both featuring Ruth Jackson (wife of sound engineer Bruce Jackson) on background vocals, were the finalists, with take 3 V7 chosen for Born In The U.S.A..
| GLORY DAYS - V1 | 1:59 | LM-10 |
| GLORY DAYS - V2 | 4:24 | private |
| GLORY DAYS - V3a | 4:54 | THLBP / THLBB |
| GLORY DAYS - V3b | 5:18 | LM-19 / UH / GS / MI / BUERM / TDB / RTT |
| GLORY DAYS - V3c | 5:05 | private cdr |
| GLORY DAYS - V3d | 4:11 | BITUSA / ESSENTIAL / GREATEST |
Note: V1 is a very early demo from January-April 1982, includes the "my dad" verse that was cut from the final album version, but appears in most circulating bootlegs. V2 is a Colts Neck band rehearsal from April 1982. It seems the song was fairly well developed and rehearsed at this point. Some minor lyrical variations throughout, and it lacks the entire call-and-response ending. V3 is recorded at The Power Station on May 5, 1982; four different mixes are known. V3a only appears on 'This Hard Land' issues and 'Roll The Tapes', and is unique because of the serious audio distortion that runs throughout. V3b is unedited and contains the extra verse cut from the officially released version. The wild variations in track length appear to be due to tape speed, and there are two variations in the count-in. An alternative source of V3b includes an engineer identifying the take as #11.
| IS THAT YOU? - V1 | uncirculating | |
| BRILLIANT DISGUISE - V2 | 4:12 | TUNNEL / GREATEST / ESSENTIAL / CHAPTER |
Note: Released as a single ahead of the album on September 17, 1987. Began life as "Is That You?", recorded February 5, 1987, but became "Brilliant Disguise" by the end of the month. Recorded at Springsteen’s home studio in Rumson, New Jersey, with overdubs in April by Roy Bittan (keyboards), Danny Federici (organ) and Max Weinberg (percussion).
| HUMAN TOUCH – V1a | 6:41 | private cdr |
| HUMAN TOUCH – V1b | 6:28 | HUMAN / 1992 single |
| HUMAN TOUCH – V1c | 5:09 | GREATEST / ESSENTIAL / promo cd |
Note: Written in the Spring of 1990. Springsteen handles guitar and vocals and his three-man backing band on this recording is Randy Jackson (bass), Roy Bittan (keyboards) and Jeff Porcaro (drums). Additional background vocal overdub by Patti Scialfa. All of the above are different mix/edits of the same core recording. V1a features an extended intro and an extra guitar break mid song. V1c is merely an edited version of V1b and was officially released as a promo single in some countries and later on the official Greatest Hits and Essential packages.
| BETTER DAYS | 4:04 | LUCKY / ESSENTIAL: 2015 / GREATEST / 1992 Single |
Note: Recorded sometime from July to December 1991 at A&M Studios, Los Angeles. Springsteen handles all guitars, keyboards and lead vocals and his 2-man backing band on this recording is Randy Jackson (bass) and Gary Mallaber (drums). Female background vocalists are Patti Scialfa, Lisa Lowell and Soozie Tyrell.
| STREETS OF PHILADELPHIA - V1a | 4:13 | uncirculating |
| STREETS OF PHILADELPHIA - V1b | 4:11 | BACK / ASOBS / OST: PHILADELHPIA |
| STREETS OF PHILADELPHIA - V1c | 3:49 | 1994 single |
| STREETS OF PHILADELPHIA - V1d | 3:17 | GREATEST / ESSENTIAL |
| STREETS OF PHILADELPHIA - V1e | 2:53 | DDITV / 1994 b-side |
| STREETS OF PHILADELPHIA - V1f | 4:13 | promo-only cd |
| STREETS OF PHILADELPHIA - V1g | 3:43 | TOTP video mix |
| STREETS OF PHILADELPHIA - V2 | uncirculating |
Note: Written in mid-1993 and first registered at the US Copyright office on August 27. 1993. First issued on December 30, 1993 as part of the Philadelphia soundtrack CD, then issued as a single in February 1994. However, this is a song with a complex recording and release history. All recordings were co-produced by Springsteen and Chuck Plotkin. V1a was recorded during August 1993 at Thrill Hill Recording, Beverly Hills, California, and features only Springsteen – on vocals, guitar, bass, synthesizer and drum machine. V1b appeared on the album soundtrack, V1c the single, both the same as V1a, except for the added background vocals by Tommy Sims. V1d is a significantly edited version of V1b that was released on the Greatest Hits album. V1e is the version used for the commercially released video – it is the same base recording as V1b except that it features an alternate (“live”) Springsteen vocal. V1f was released as a promotion-only single in the UK and Austria and this is allegedly yet another slightly different mix of V1b. V1g is the audio released as part of a black & white video shot in early 1994 at CBS TV Soundstage studios in New York and originally broadcast on the UK TV show ‘Top Of The Pops’. It is alleged this is yet another slight, but unique, mix variation. V2 is a different recording of the song made in October 1993, apparently at A&M Studios in Los Angeles. It features Bruce on lead vocal, instrumentation provided by Springsteen and jazz virtuoso Ornette Coleman, bass and background vocals by Tommy Sims and additional background vocals by Little Jimmy Scott. V2 was allegedly scheduled to be the officially released version up to early December 1993, when it was nixed at the last second, even after the song’s video (which featured Little Jimmy extensively) was shot. The video had to be re-shot. A brief snippet of V2 (including the tell-tale vocals of Little Jimmy Scott) is actually heard about halfway through the movie (but it’s V1b that is heard in the opening sequence of the movie).
| SECRET GARDEN - V1 | uncirculating | |
| SECRET GARDEN - V2 | 0:53 | YBNT2 |
| SECRET GARDEN - V3a | 4:10 | YBNT2 |
| SECRET GARDEN - V3b | 2:12 | YBNT2 |
| SECRET GARDEN - V4 | 4:15 | DDITV |
| SECRET GARDEN - V5a | 4:27 | GREATEST |
| SECRET GARDEN - V5b | 4:32 | BB: EP |
| SECRET GARDEN (Jerry Maguire Mix) - V5c | 4:31 | Promo cd single |
Note: V1 was recorded for "Human Touch" but not utilized. In January 1995, Bruce re-recorded it at The Hit Factory, New York, during his reunion with the E Street Band. V2 is a combination of two brief snippets that was shown in the Blood Brothers video. V3 is a complete, alternate take, and V4 is prefaced by recording "take #1". V5a was released as a single, and included on the album, Bruce Springsteen: Greatest Hits, released February 28, 1995. V5b features strings (courtesy David Kahn) added to V5a, and released November 19, 1996, on the official Blood Brothers EP, as well as a single b-side in some countries. V5c, known as "the Jerry McGuire Remix", was produced by Matt Jones at Portland, Oregon radio station Z-100 (with permission from Springsteen/Sony), as part of a spring 1997 listener contest promotion exclusive to that station. It features dialog excerpts from the movie added on top of the instrumental sections of the regular commercial version of the song. There are also additional, brief radio station plug spots before and after the song that are heard on this promo-only CD released June 26, 1997.
| MURDER INCORPORATED - V1a | 4:05 | MI / GS / MILM / LM-19 / TDB / UH |
| MURDER INCORPORATED - V1b | 4:13 | private cdr |
| MURDER INCORPORATED - V1c | 4:22 | THLBP / THLRR / RTT |
| MURDER INCORPORATED - V1d | 4:31 | THLBP / RTT |
| MURDER INCORPORATED - V1e | 4:47 | THLBB |
| MURDER INCORPORATED - V1f | 3:57 | SFEM |
| MURDER INCORPORATED - V1g | 4:02 | GREATEST / ESSENTIAL: 2015 |
| MURDER INCORPORATED - V2 | 4:03 | MI / GS / MILM / UH |
Note: Recorded at The Power Station May 3-4, 1982. Different mix permutations of the same core recording. The recording found on track 3 of the LP 'This Hard Land' (Boss Productions) could be another different mix but runs very slow. Track 5 from the aforementioned LP is V1c, which lacks a "woo" before the opening line as well as some backing vocals. V1a deletes the saxophone solo after the second verse. The officially released V1e includes the saxophone solo but fades out earlier than the outtakes, explaining the ten second difference in track length V2 is a mix so different it gets it's own version number. Different instruments and sound.
| BLOOD BROTHERS - V1 | 1:11 | YBNT2 |
| BLOOD BROTHERS - V2a | 1:54 | YBNT2 |
| BLOOD BROTHERS - V2b | 1:31 | YBNT2 |
| BLOOD BROTHERS - V2c | 3:12 | YBNT2 |
| BLOOD BROTHERS - V2d | 5:05 | YBNT2 |
| BLOOD BROTHERS - V2e | 5:02 | DDITV |
| BLOOD BROTHERS - V3 | 4:31 | GREATEST |
| BLOOD BROTHERS - V4 | 4:53 | private |
| BLOOD BROTHERS - V5 | 3:57 | BB: EP |
| BLOOD BROTHERS - V6 | 3:12 | private |
| BLOOD BROTHERS - V7 | 5:12 | private |
| BLOOD BROTHERS - V8 | 5:42 | private |
| BLOOD BROTHERS - V9 | 3:54 | private |
| BLOOD BROTHERS - V10 | 4:20 | private |
| BLOOD BROTHERS - V11 | 2:20 | private |
| BLOOD BROTHERS - V12 | 4:16 | O&S |
Note: Recorded in January 1995 at The Hit Factory, New York City. There are many different arrangements, and it's clear that Springsteen was uncertain about which to use. V1 is a brief snippet shown in the video. V2a and V2b are slightly different mixes of the official video take. V3 (with session player Frank Pagano guesting on percussion instruments) and V5 are different recordings, both of them officially issued. V4 (take #31) is very similar to the V3, slightly slower with small lyrical variations. V5 is the stirring "rock" version that many consider superior to V3, while V6 is an alternative take (#20) of the "rock" version with some lyrical variation and an upfront accordion accompaniment. V7 is the earliest complete take and an alternative arrangement of the "rock" version with a melody very close to that of the Greatest Hits version. This take (#3) also has some lyrical variations, including "out on west end" rather than ".out on the end". V8 features a quiet, downbeat arrangement and is take #9. V9 is performed by Bruce, Max, and Roy (on keyboards). This take (#18) features some lyrical variations and can perhaps be described as "Secret Garden-ish". V10 is fascinating, and the arrangement can only be described as heavily Dylan-inspired with an organ riff that is very reminiscent of "Like A Rolling Stone". There's also plenty of harmonica and some lyrics that are unique to this arrangement. At the conclusion, Bruce says "well that's the idea anyway!". This is the same arrangement found in V1. V11 is a cut work-in-progress of the Greatest Hits arrangement in a different key (D) and Bruce providing instruction and direction to the band. V12 is a stunning solo acoustic performance that is deserving of an official release.
| THIS HARD LAND - V1 | 4.46 | THLRR / TRACKS / UH / SQBI / MI / GS |
| THIS HARD LAND - V2 | 4.50 | THLBP / THLBB / MAT / CAST |
| THIS HARD LAND - V3 | 4:43 | VA |
| THIS HARD LAND - V4 | uncirculating | |
| THIS HARD LAND - V5 | uncirculating | |
| THIS HARD LAND - V6 | uncirculating | |
| THIS HARD LAND - V7 | 4:33 | YBNT2 / BB |
| THIS HARD LAND - V8 | 4:40 | DDITV |
| THIS HARD LAND - V9 | 4:48 | GREATEST |
| THIS HARD LAND - V10 | 5:40 | private |
Note: V1-V4 recorded at the Power Station (not The Hit Factory, as the Tracks liner notes suggest) on May 11 and 13-14, 1982. Springsteen returned to it with two demos (V5 and V6) recorded on January 3 and 15, 1983. Re-recorded in January 1995 at The Hit Factory, New York City, for the Greatest Hits sessions. Frank Pagano guests on percussion instruments. V7 is a brief snippet shown in the video. V6 and V8 are two different recordings, though very similar. Neither is as good as the original 1982 Born In The USA studio session version that is available on Tracks. V9 is take #3 with mandolin and accordion and an extended coda.
Studio Sessions: Greatest Hits
 |
Count |
| Born To Run | 1721 |
| Thunder Road | 1413 |
| Badlands | 1203 |
| The River | 683 |
| Hungry Heart | 738 |
| Atlantic City | 364 |
| Dancing In The Dark | 1025 |
| Born In The U.S.A. | 992 |
| My Hometown | 536 |
| Glory Days | 549 |
| Brilliant Disguise | 437 |
| Human Touch | 126 |
| Better Days | 122 |
| Streets Of Philadelphia | 91 |
| Secret Garden | 7 |
| Murder Incorporated | 272 |
| Blood Brothers | 6 |
| This Hard Land | 272 |
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