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.
Please note that this page covers Springsteen's studio activity from February 1993 to the end of January 1995.
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
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© All credits to the original photographer. If you want your photo to be removed, let us know, and we will remove it.
- 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 - 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 | BORN TO RUN / ESSENTIAL / GREATEST / CHAPTER |
| 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."
| 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 | BORN TO RUN / ESSENTIAL / GREATEST |
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.
| 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 take 23 | 3:59 | DARKNESS / ESSENTIAL / GREATEST |
Note: Unfortunately, very few outtakes circulate of "Badlands", although given Springsteen's recording methods at the time far more likely exists in the vault. The title came from Terrence Malick's 1973 movie Badlands (though Bruce 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 lyric "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" borrowed from "Iceman", about which Bruce later 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: "Poor man wanna be rich, rich man wanna be king, and a king ain't satisfied till he rules everything." 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 "Breakout".
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's 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 "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 take 5 | 4:48 | TTTBR / TTTBJ / RIVER: SINGLE / PYP / LEK / ATMF |
| THE RIVER - V6 | 5:01 | RIVER / ESSENTIAL / GREATEST / TTTB: RIVER / CHAPTER |
| THE RIVER - V7 | 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.
"The River" was first recorded at Power Station studios on August 26, 1979, with the completed take 5 (V5) selected for The Ties That Bind and mixed by Bob Clearmountain. Bruce changed his mind in October, and the single album 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 single album mix. For instance, ooo-ooos by Bruce and Steve were added (possibly on January 21, 1980), and later overdubbed on either April 12 or 24, and was sequenced as the final track on the first LP 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. V7 is a brief snippet 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.
| 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 / ATMF |
| HUNGRY HEART - V2c | 3:31 | private cdr |
| HUNGRY HEART - V2d take 2 | 3:21 | TTTBR / TTTBJ / RIVER: SINGLE |
| HUNGRY HEART - V3 | 3:15 | RIVER / 1980 Single / ESSENTIAL / GREATEST |
Note: "Hungry Heart"" was supposedly penned after Joey Ramone asked Bruce to write a song for the Ramones, after he attended a show at The Fast Lane, Asbury Park, in March 1979. Springsteen has confirmed that it was written with the Ramones in mind, and he was considering giving the song away, but after he played it for Jon Landau, Jon convinced Bruce to keep it for himself. Engineer Neil Dorfsman recalls "Hungry Heart" was recorded "live" in the studio, on June 14 and again on June 21, 1979. Flo & Eddie (Mark Volman and Howard Kaylan of the Turtles) contributed backing vocals during one of these sessions. V2c has heavy echo added to Springsteen's vocal. Mixing by Bob Clearmountain for The Ties That Bind single album took place in September, and there is a session logged on September 5, but it is not clear what occurred on that date. Additional sessions took place on March 24 and April 10, 1980, but it is confirmed that Clearmountain's mix from 1979 was not tampered with, making it the first of many Springsteen releases he would go on to mix. However, "Hungry Heart" was pitch adjusted, raising the pitch of Springsteen's vocal to achieve a more radio friendly sound. That is why The River track is slightly shorter than The River: Single Album version.
| 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 |
Note: Two demos (V1 & V2) were recorded in April 1981, under the title "Fist Full Of Dollars", 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. Some lyrics would remain for "Atlantic City", including the opening lines "Well they blew up the chicken man in Philly last night / Now that town sets in for a fight."
The story continues in late 1981, still at Colts Neck with V3. The lyrics are getting into shape; The rest is Bruce trying variations of the chorus. V4, V5 and 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 1, V4 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." And indeed, Bruce went into the studio for two weeks from late April 1982 and spent the first day working on "Atlantic City", and a number of takes were cut at the Power Station over three days on April 26–28, 1982. However these recordings remain unheard; information from various sources suggests this was with the band, but we can't confirm.
| 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 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. Six takes were cut on February 14, 1984 at The Hit Factory, but not completed until March 8, after 58 mixes. 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 Power Station Studios 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 seller in the U.S.A. that year.
| BORN IN THE U.S.A. - V1 | 2:22 | FFOD / HNWB / MT2 |
| BORN IN THE U.S.A. - V2 | 0:30 | FFOD / HNWB |
| BORN IN THE U.S.A. - V3 | 4:45 | FFOD / HNWB |
| BORN IN THE U.S.A. - V4 | 3:10 | FFOD / HNWB |
| BORN IN THE U.S.A. - V5 | 2:55 | FFOD / HNWB |
| BORN IN THE U.S.A. - V6 | 4:00 | FFOD / HNWB |
| BORN IN THE U.S.A. - V7a (take 1) | 3:06 | LM-1 / HNWB |
| BORN IN THE U.S.A. - V7b (take 1 mix 2) | 3:06 | TRACKS |
| BORN IN THE U.S.A. - V8 (take 2) | TS - Mexico April 2022 | |
| BORN IN THE U.S.A. - V9 (take 3) | TS - Mexico April 2022 | |
| BORN IN THE U.S.A. - V10 (take 4) | TS - Mexico April 2022 | |
| BORN IN THE U.S.A. - V11 (takes 5-8) | uncirculating | |
| BORN IN THE U.S.A. - V12 (take 9) | 8:09 | THLBB / UH / GS / BUERM / MI |
| BORN IN THE U.S.A. - V12a (take 9 edit 1) | 4:34 | BITUSA / ESSENTIAL / GREATEST |
| BORN IN THE U.S.A. - V12b (take 9 edit 2) | 4:52 | LM-19 / THLBP |
| BORN IN THE U.S.A. - V13 (take 10) | 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 |
Note: Writing and recording began at Springsteen's house in Colts Neck, NJ during the fall of 1981 with a set of acoustic demos. V1 evolved, both musically and lyrically, from the bluesy demo "Vietnam". V1 includes the chorus "born in the USA" that Springsteen lifted from the title of a script of a Paul Schrader movie given to him by Jon Landau, as well as many lyrical elements that would remain in the final released version. The demo begins its transition with V2, a brief snippet of the "Born In The U.S.A." riff, the opening verse, and then the sardonic chorus "Born baby in the USA / I believe in the American way". V3-V6 were all recorded soon after, and see Springsteen developing the lyrics with every take. V7 was recorded between December 17, 1981 and January 3, 1982 on the TEAC Portastudio that Mike Batlan had set up in Bruce's home, and was included on the demo cassette tape 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 via Batlan and was pressed on 'Lost Masters I' in 1996, before V7b was mixed in 1998 and officially released on Tracks.
When Bruce and the E Street Band entered Power Station on April 26, 1982, the aim was to re-record the songs on his demo tape in a professional studio environment. Logs indicate that work on "Born In The U.S.A." began on the second day, and continued on April 28 and May 3. What work was done on what day is unclear, but it appears that the bulk of the song was recorded across ten takes on a single night, most likely May 3. A Power Station mixsheet dated to May 3 exists, which supports this position. We know that Springsteen initially attempted to re-record his demo tape alone, which may have occurred on April 27 and 28.
On May 3, Springsteen and the band cut a number of takes of a rocking electric reimagining of that original acoustic demo. In take 2 Bruce sung the first verse over his electric guitar, before bass and drum joined in. Take 3 sees Max accompanying Bruce right from the opening, yet the famous organ riff is nowhere to be found. Take 4 begins with Springsteen singing the first verse a cappella, before the band join in. We now skip ahead to take 9, where the riff is now in place alongside other new elements, some of which did not make the final track. Brief audio of the opening verse of takes 2, 3, 4, and the multitracks of take 9 first emerged in April 2022, played by Toby Scott at a public event in Mexico City. Recollections vary as to the origin of the riff; Roy Bittan remembers Springsteen demonstrating the song on acoustic guitar before he improvised the organ riff on a new Yamaha CS-80 synth, and the first take evolved from there. Max Weinberg, however, recalls the first recording was as "a country trio" with a country beat (Max may have been referring to the arrangement found in takes 2-4 above), and the main riff came from Springsteen's guitar. Weinberg doesn't dispute Bittan's memories though.
The eight minute V12 is the full length of take 9. With some edits, including using all or parts of take 10 (V13) for the ending, this take eventually became the first song on side one of Born In The U.S.A (V12b). V12c continues where V12b fades out with an extended synthesizer ending. Toby Scott recalls a total of eight to ten takes, with take six (or nine, recollections seem to vary) as the master. V14a-V14c are 12" dance remixes by Arthur Baker that were recorded at Shakedown Studios in New York City in September 1984. Toby Scott was the recording engineer for the remixes (which include additional vocals by The Latin Rascals), and all were mixed by Bob Clearmountain. The remixes were first released in December 1984. Baker utilised several aspects of the original mixes that were removed for the final album take.
| 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 solo acoustic demo recorded sometime between September 1981 and April 1982. It includes an early version of the verse about Springsteen's father that was cut from the final album version but appears in most circulating bootlegs. V2 is a Colts Neck band rehearsal that can be dated to around the same period, but after V1. The verse about his father is there, Bruce can be heard calling out instructions occasionally, there are minor lyrical variations throughout, and it lacks the entire call-and-response ending. V3 is recorded at 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 | uncirculating | |
| BRILLIANT DISGUISE - V3 | 4:12 | TUNNEL / GREATEST / ESSENTIAL |
Note: Released as a single ahead of the Tunnel Of Love album on September 17, 1987. Began life as "Is That You?", recorded February 5, 1987, but became "Brilliant Disguise" by the end of that 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). The video was filmed on October 8, 1987 at Fort Hancock, Sandy Hook, New Jersey.
| 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 registered at the U.S. Copyright office on August 27, 1993. Released on December 30, 1993, as part of the Philadelphia soundtrack, then issued as a single in the U.S. on February 2, 1994. However, this is a song with a complex recording and release history. All recordings were co-produced by Springsteen and Chuck Plotkin.
The base track, V1a, was recorded during August 1993 at Bellevue Studios (the house next to the residence) at Thrill Hill Recording, 40 Bellevue, Rumson, New Jersey. Springsteen was on vocals, guitar, bass, synthesizer, and drum machine. V1b added background vocals and bass by Tommy Sims, and in December would become the album soundtrack version. V1c, the single mix, only adds Sims's vocals to V1a, and is trimmed to under four minutes. V1d is a significantly edited (one minute shorter) version of V1b, mixed for Greatest Hits, released on February 28, 1995. 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-and-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 | BB / YBNT2 |
| SECRET GARDEN - V3a | 4:10 | BB / RT / YBNT2 |
| SECRET GARDEN - V3b | 2:12 | BB / YBNT2 |
| SECRET GARDEN - V4 | 4:15 | DDITV / GT |
| 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 Maguire 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 | 4:03 | MI / GS / MILM / LM-19 / TDB / UH |
| MURDER INCORPORATED - V1b | 4:27 | RTT |
| MURDER INCORPORATED - V1c | 4:22 | RTT / THLBP / THLBB |
| MURDER INCORPORATED - V1d | 4:13 | private cdr |
| MURDER INCORPORATED - V1e | 3:59 | MI / GS / MILM / UH |
| MURDER INCORPORATED - V1f | 3:52 | GREATEST / ESSENTIAL: 2015 / 1995 SINGLE |
Note: Recorded at Power Station Studios by Toby Scott on May 3–4, 1982. All of the above are different mixes of the same core recording. V1a has been in circulation for many years, and is the most commonly bootlegged version. V1b is the full recording, with hard stop ending. When compensated for speed and empty space, the recording found on track 3 of the LP 'This Hard Land' (Boss Productions) is V1c, found at correct pitch on 'Roll the Tracks', with no backing vocals in the first verse. V1d deletes the saxophone solo after the second verse. V1e is an alternate mix, featuring Roy Bittan on piano. The officially released V1f was remixed by Bob Clearmountain in 1994 for the Greatest Hits album. It includes the saxophone solo, but fades out earlier than the outtakes, explaining the ten second difference in track length.
| BLOOD BROTHERS - V1 | 1:11 | YBNT2 / BB |
| BLOOD BROTHERS - V2a | 1:54 | YBNT2 / BB |
| BLOOD BROTHERS - V2b | 1:31 | YBNT2 / BB |
| BLOOD BROTHERS - V3a | 3:12 | YBNT2 |
| BLOOD BROTHERS - V3b | 0:47 | BB |
| BLOOD BROTHERS - V3c | 5:05 | YBNT2 / BB |
| BLOOD BROTHERS - V3d | 4:31 | GREATEST |
| BLOOD BROTHERS - V4 | 5:02 | DDITV |
| BLOOD BROTHERS - V5 | 0:50 | BB |
| BLOOD BROTHERS - V6 take 31 | 4:53 | private |
| BLOOD BROTHERS (ALTERNATE VERSION) - V7 | 3:57 | BB: EP / MT2 |
| BLOOD BROTHERS - V8 take 20 | 3:12 | private |
| BLOOD BROTHERS - V9 take 3 | 5:12 | private |
| BLOOD BROTHERS - V10 take 9 | 5:42 | private |
| BLOOD BROTHERS - V11 take 18 | 3:54 | private |
| BLOOD BROTHERS - V12 | 4:20 | private |
| BLOOD BROTHERS - V13 | 2:20 | private |
| BLOOD BROTHERS - V14 | 4:16 | O&S |
Note: Written the night before the Greatest Hits sessions, all the above takes were recorded in early January 1995 at The Hit Factory, New York City with the E Street Band. "Blood Brothers" has 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) was issued in 1995 on Greatest Hits. V4 is an alternate arrangement, and V5 is a rocking variation on the V3 arrangement. V6 (take #31) is very similar to the V3, slightly slower with small lyrical variations. V7 is the stirring "rock" version that many consider superior to V3 and was officially released as "Blood Brothers (Alternate Version)" in November 1996 on the Blood Brothers EP that was packaged with the Blood Brothers VHS.
V8 is an early work-in-progress take of the "rock" arrangement with some lyrical variation and an upfront accordion accompaniment. This arrangement does not have the a capella introduction, but instead opens with the full band and is take #20. V9 is the earliest complete take and is a different 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" - a small variation that can be found in several of these versions. V10 features a quiet, downbeat arrangement and is take #9. V11 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. V12 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. V13 is a cut work-in-progress of the Greatest Hits arrangement in a different key (D) with Bruce providing instruction and direction to the band. V14 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 | uncirculating | |
| THIS HARD LAND - V4 | 1:57 | YBNT2 / BB |
| THIS HARD LAND - V5 | 4:40 | DDITV |
| THIS HARD LAND - V6 | 4:48 | GREATEST |
| THIS HARD LAND - V7 | 5:40 | private |
Note: V1 and V2 recorded at the Power Station (not The Hit Factory, as the Tracks liner notes suggest) on May 11, 13, and 14, 1982. Springsteen returned to it with more takes recorded on January 3 and 15, 1983 at his home studio in Los Angeles, designated V3. Re-recorded in January 1995 at The Hit Factory, New York City during the Greatest Hits sessions. Frank Pagano guests on percussion instruments. V4 is the brief snippet shown in the Blood Brothers video that accompanied Greatest Hits. V5 and V6 are two different recordings, though very similar, and V7 is a full take marked as take #3, with mandolin, accordion, and an extended coda. After all these rerecordings, a 1982 Born In The U.S.A. studio session version was issued on Tracks a few years after the Greatest Hits sessions concluded.
Studio Sessions: Greatest Hits
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Count |
| Born To Run | 1727 |
| Thunder Road | 1451 |
| Badlands | 1205 |
| The River | 684 |
| Hungry Heart | 739 |
| Atlantic City | 365 |
| Dancing In The Dark | 1060 |
| Born In The U.S.A. | 1025 |
| My Hometown | 567 |
| Glory Days | 552 |
| 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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