Greatest Hits 2009

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commercially released: January 13, 2009 (American edition) / June 1, 2009 (European edition)
Label: Columbia
Produced by Bruce Springsteen, Mike Appel, Jon Landau, Steven Van Zandt, Chuck Plotkin and Roy Bittan
Recorded by Toby Scott

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Table of Contents

Overview

Released

Additional Information

Overview

Greatest Hits (2009 edition) was released by Columbia Records on January 13, 2009 in the United States, where it was sold exclusively through Wal-Mart retailers. Wal-Mart the sole rights to release a 12-track anthology of hits at the discount price of $10. Springsteen released a similar Greatest Hits album in 1995, but unlike that edition, this compilation was billed to the E Street Band instead of just "Bruce Springsteen". It contains no Springsteen material recorded between 1984 and 2002, during which period he did virtually no studio recording with the E Street Band.

Seen as controversial in liberal circles, Wal-Mart refuses to recognise unions and has been criticised by groups such as Human Rights Watch for its alleged hardline treatment of low-wage staff. Why was he helping a company that had to pay $135,540 in response to child labor law violations in 2005? Even if the disc was "a shameless Super Bowl cash-in cooked-up by his withering label, Columbia" ^{(opinion of Pitchfork.com)}, Springsteen had to sign off on it. To loyal fans, the Wal-Mart exclusive seemed like a mistake. And now Bruce agrees with them.

"It was a mistake", he told the New York Times. "We were in the middle of doing a lot of things, it just kind of came down and really, we didn't vet it the way we usually do." Admitting that he had "dropped the ball", Springsteen said that instead of handing the album to Wal-Mart, "given its labour history, it was something that if we'd thought about a little longer, we'd have done something different." He added: "Our batting average is usually very good, but we missed that one. Fans will call you on that stuff, as it should be."

On June 1, 2009, Columbia Records released a European edition of the 2009 compilation album, advertised as the "2009 Limited Tour Edition" with an alternative track listing to promote Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band's European leg of the Working On A Dream Tour. It contains 16 previously released studio tracks and 2 live bonus tracks taken from the Live/1975-85 box set.

Released

#	Song Title	Release
1.	ROSALITA (COME OUT TONIGHT)	GH09: WALMART
2.	BORN TO RUN	GH09: WALMART
3.	THUNDER ROAD	GH09: WALMART
4.	DARKNESS ON THE EDGE OF TOWN	GH09: WALMART
5.	BADLANDS	GH09: WALMART
6.	HUNGRY HEART	GH09: WALMART
7.	GLORY DAYS	GH09: WALMART
8.	DANCING IN THE DARK	GH09: WALMART
9.	BORN IN THE U.S.A.	GH09: WALMART
10.	THE RISING	GH09: WALMART
11.	LONESOME DAY	GH09: WALMART
12.	RADIO NOWHERE	GH09: WALMART

^{Total Running Time: 53:34}

#	Song Title	Release
1.	BLINDED BY THE LIGHT ²	GH09: TOUR
2.	ROSALITA (COME OUT TONIGHT)	GH09: TOUR
3.	BORN TO RUN	GH09: TOUR
4.	THUNDER ROAD	GH09: TOUR
5.	BADLANDS	GH09: TOUR
6.	DARKNESS ON THE EDGE OF TOWN ²	GH09: TOUR
7.	HUNGRY HEART	GH09: TOUR
8.	THE RIVER ²	GH09: TOUR
9.	BORN IN THE U.S.A.	GH09: TOUR
10.	I'M ON FIRE ²	GH09: TOUR
11.	GLORY DAYS	GH09: TOUR
12.	DANCING IN THE DARK	GH09: TOUR
13.	THE RISING	GH09: TOUR
14.	LONESOME DAY	GH09: TOUR
15.	RADIO NOWHERE	GH09: TOUR
16.	LONG WALK HOME ²	GH09: TOUR
17.	BECAUSE THE NIGHT ^1 2	GH09: TOUR
18.	FIRE ^1 2	GH09: TOUR

Additional Information

^{© All credits to the original photographer. If you want your photo to be removed, let us know, and we will remove it.}

ROSALITA (COME OUT TONIGHT) - V1	7:17	US5 / ET / ETRJ / ROOI / SA914
ROSALITA (COME OUT TONIGHT) - V2	7:00	WIESS / ESSENTIAL / GH09

Note According to Diane Lozito, his girlfriend from 1971 to 1975, Bruce "wrote "Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)" in bits and pieces and didn't have a title for it. My mom is Rita Lozito. Then he met my grandma. So I assume that's where he put it together." Diane's grandmother's full name was "Rose Lozito"; In that part of Jersey, it's pronounced Lazita, so "Rose Lazita". Also according to Diane, and confirmed independently by her sister, Carol Lisa Lozito, though the song name came from her grandmother, the song was about Diane. Carol also said her sister was Crazy Janey in "Spirit In The Night", Sandy in "4th Of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)", Terry in "Backstreets", and the girl in "Thundercrack". This has never been refuted by Springsteen. In an interview for Mojo published in January, 1999, Springsteen told Mark Hagen that he wrote "Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)" as a live showstopper, just as he had written "Thundercrack" before it. The song was performed for the first time on February 14, 1973 at Richmond, Virginia, fully-formed musically, with plenty of lyrics too, though some were unfamiliar, e.g. "with her chiffon reigns" and "soft sweet samurai tongue." According to roadie and baritone sax player "Albany" Al Tellone, the song's layered sound was recorded over numerous sessions at 914 Sound Studios, culminating on Bruce's birthday, September 23, 1973, also the last known date of the Wild & Innocent sessions. The final album mix and an instrumental backing track (V1) are all that is in general circulation.

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.

DARKNESS ON THE EDGE OF TOWN - V1a	4:26	DO-3 / DDO / UP / DDOC
DARKNESS ON THE EDGE OF TOWN - V1b	4:43	RTT / DDITV
DARKNESS ON THE EDGE OF TOWN - V2a	4:23	ODM / HOD / UP / AM
DARKNESS ON THE EDGE OF TOWN - V2b	4:23	DARKNESS / ESSENTIAL: 2003 / GH09

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 rumored that band rehearsals during 1976 at Bruce's home at Holmdel, NJ included versions of "Darkness On The Edge Of Town". With music and some lyrics written by February 1976, the song was subtitled "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. Bruce then 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 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.

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."

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.

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.

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.

THE RISING

4:50

RISING / ESSENTIAL / GH09 / CHAPTER

Note: Song composed post-9/11, November 2001–February 2002. Recorded at Southern Tracks, Atlanta, during February–March, 2002. Soozie Tyrell contributes violin and background vocals, Jane Scarpantoni plays the cello.

LONESOME DAY - V1a	4:08	RISING / GH09
LONESOME DAY - V1b	3:34	promo CD

Note: It remains unclear if this composition was written before or after 9/11. Recorded at Southern Tracks, Atlanta, during February–March, 2002. Soozie Tyrell contributes violin and background vocals, Larry Lemaster and Jere Flint play the cello. V1b is a shorter radio edit issued on a US-only 1-track promotional single in 2002.

RADIO NOWHERE - V1		uncirculating
RADIO NOWHERE - V2	3:18	MAGIC / ESSENTIAL: 2015 / GH09

Note: V1 was recorded in late 2006 in New Jersey. V2 was recorded March 2007 at Southern Tracks studio and released as a single ahead of the album, after it had leaked out the previous week, resulting in several cease and desist letters to radio stations. On August 28, 2007, it was officially released by Sony as a free limited-time download on iTunes, to go with pre-orders of Magic.

BLINDED BY THE LIGHT - V1a	5:03	GREETINGS / ESSENTIAL: 2003 / GH09
BLINDED BY THE LIGHT - V1b	3:58	1973 Single

Note: According to Springsteen in Songs, both "Blinded By The Light" and "Spirit In The Night" were written to order after Clive Davis told him in mid-August 1972, there was nothing on Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J. which could get radio play. Bruce's response was to go home with a rhyming dictionary, which is what he used to write "Madman’s Bummers", which he changed to "Blinded By the Light", and without delay, "Spirit In The Night" and "Blinded By The Light" were both recorded on September 11, 1972.

After the Greetings sessions were completed, and the master submitted on August 10, most of the not-yet-called The E Street Band had dispersed to other obligations; David Sancious and Danny Federici were in Virginia, and Miami Steve was playing with the Dovells. Bruce found his drummer, Vini "Mad Dog" Lopez, special guest star Clarence Clemons, who had not played in the June sessions, and Harold Wheeler to play piano; he played the rest of the instruments. It is not known how many takes were needed to finish "Blinded By The Light", but it was completed in one day. Before it was released as a single on February 23, 1973, coupled with "The Angel", the engineers at Columbia edited out a verse, reducing the time below four minutes. It was given an extremely limited commercial release in the United States. The lyrics on the back of the 7" picture sleeve are also missing a verse. A stereo fold down mono version is available as the b-side of the white label promo 45.

DARKNESS ON THE EDGE OF TOWN - V1a	4:26	DO-3 / DDO / UP / DDOC
DARKNESS ON THE EDGE OF TOWN - V1b	4:43	RTT / DDITV
DARKNESS ON THE EDGE OF TOWN - V2a	4:23	ODM / HOD / UP / AM
DARKNESS ON THE EDGE OF TOWN - V2b	4:23	DARKNESS / ESSENTIAL: 2003 / GH09

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.

I'M ON FIRE - V1a	2:42	private cdr
I'M ON FIRE - V1b	2:58	LM-20 / THLRR / UH / 1984AC
I'M ON FIRE - V1c	2:32	BITUSA / GH09

Note: Rumored to have been initially recorded at The Hit Factory in January 1982, but the Born In The U.S.A. track was completed on May 11, 1982 at Power Station Studios. V1a and 1b have slightly different vocals and arrangements, and longer fade-outs than the officially released V1c.

LONG WALK HOME - V1		uncirculating
LONG WALK HOME - V2	4:34	MAGIC

Note: Song written by Springsteen during 2006. Studio recording history is uncertain – this was not recorded during any of the three Seeger Sessions, although Bruce is likely to have recorded a solo home studio demo in the months that followed. Bruce premiered the song live as "Gonna Be A Long Walk Home" on November 11, 2006 during the Seeger Sessions Tour. The song was later studio recorded in Atlanta during March–April 2007 by Springsteen & The E Street Band and released on Magic. Patrick Warren adds Chamberlin and tack piano.

BECAUSE THE NIGHT (Belongs To Lovers) - V1	3:17	DO-3 / UP / AM
BECAUSE THE NIGHT - V2 - fade in	2:32	LM-3 / UP / AM
BECAUSE THE NIGHT - V3	3:19	DO-2 / DDO / DDOC / ESR / O711S
BECAUSE THE NIGHT - V4	3:22	PROMISE / 2010 SINGLE

Note: First appeared on pre-Darkness sessions song list as "The Night Belongs To Lovers". V1, "Because The Night (Belongs To Lovers)", was recorded at Atlantic Studios, New York on June 1, 1977 with the lyrics not finished. The instrumental backing tracks were used on V4. V2 was recorded July 1, 1977 at Atlantic Studios, and is less embryonic but still with some unfinished lyrics. Springsteen cut his last take on September 27, 1977, V3. It is not clear if this was a demo for Patti Smith. The transfer of the song was orchestrated by Jimmy Iovine, who, in his own words, "was engineering Darkness and producing Easter at the same time. This is confirmed by Assistant Engineer Thom Panunzio, who sincerely claims that he was an assistant only on rare occasions, which is well known by Bruce, Jon and the band. According to Iovine, "Bruce was understanding and flexible, because he realized this was my first real break as a producer. Anyway, one night whilst we were lounging around the Hotel Navarro in New York, I told Bruce I desperately wanted a hit with Patti, that she deserved one. He agreed. As he had no immediate plans to put 'Because The Night' on an album, I said why not give it to Patti. Bruce replied, If she can do it, she can have it." Iovine brought Smith the September 27 demo of the song, and Patti added her own lyrics, recording it at the Record Plant for her album Easter, and scoring her first and biggest hit single. On December 30, 1977 at CBGB Second Avenue Theatre, New York City, NY, Patti Smith premiered her new song, with Bruce Springsteen on guitar and background vocals. With his own lyrics, Bruce played the song almost every night of the 1978 Darkness Tour. The officially released V4 uses Smith's lyrics, the June 1977 backing tracks, and a new vocal take, recorded June 25, 2010 in the Record Plant Studio truck parked on his Colts Neck, NJ property.

FIRE - V1	5:14	LM-2 / DDO / DO-2 / MT1 / AM
FIRE - V2	4:05	PROMISE
FIRE - V3	2:39	GUEST: FISH

Note: Written in May 1977, a few days after Bruce and Steve attended an Elvis Presley concert in Philadelphia. V1 (which is not a final take) comes from June 17, 1977 at Atlantic Studios. Introducing the song on November 20, 1978 in Champaign, IL, Bruce said "This is a song I wrote, oh, we jammed it up in the studio one night in twenty minutes." Allegedly (and this may be myth) a finished demo take was sent to Elvis Presley in July or August 1977, shortly before his death, with the hope that Elvis might cover it. Bruce ended up donating the song to Robert Gordon, who recorded his cover (V3, with Bruce on piano) in early December 1977 (released June 1978). The Pointer Sisters then quickly covered Gordon's released version and had a major international hit in early 1979. The officially released V2 was partly recorded in 1977, and partly recorded in 2010.

^{Studio Sessions: None}

Media	Song Title	Recording Date	Location
17.	Because The Night ¹	December 28, 1980	Nassau Coliseum, Uniondale, New York
18.	Fire ¹	December 16, 1978	Winterland Ballroom, San Francisco, California

13 2009 brucespringsteen g info january live r_gh09 retail studio

European Limited Tour Edition	Count	American 'Walmart' Edition	Count
Blinded By The Light	81	Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)	814
Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)	814	Born To Run	1727
Born To Run	1727	Thunder Road	1451
Thunder Road	1451	Darkness On The Edge Of Town	701
Badlands	1205	Badlands	1205
Darkness On The Edge Of Town	701	Hungry Heart	739
Hungry Heart	739	Glory Days	552
The River	683	Dancing In The Dark	1060
Born In The U.S.A.	1025	Born In The U.S.A.	1025
I'm On Fire	292	The Rising	3792
Glory Days	552	Lonesome Day	381
Dancing In The Dark	1060	Radio Nowhere	181
The Rising	896
Lonesome Day	381
Radio Nowhere	181
Long Walk Home	282
Because The Night	504
Fire	262

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