The Ghost Of Tom Joad

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Commercially Released: November 16, 1995
Label: Columbia
Produced by Springsteen and Chuck Plotkin
Recorded by Toby Scott, assisted by Greg Goldman at Thrill Hill West (March 1995 - September 1995)
Mixed by Toby Scott at Thrill Hill West
Mastered by Dave Collins at A&M Mastering Studios
Design by Sandra Choron, Eric Dinyer, Harry Choron
Photography by Pam Springsteen
Research by Terry Magovern

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Table of Contents

Overview

Released

Additional Information

Overview

Springsteen's January-February 1995 Blood Brothers studio sessions and live appearances with The E Street Band seem to have triggered a burst of songwriting activity in the months that followed, although the recording sessions for this newly-written material did not include The E Street Band. The sessions however, did feature E Street Band members in Federici and Tallent (and Soozie Tyrell). Although The Ghost Of Tom Joad sessions span a short, seven-month period (March-September 1995) Bruce wrote and recorded about two albums worth of new songs. Details surrounding these sessions remain sketchy and several of the song titles have still yet to come to light. The album was never truly mastered for release, Bruce instead used the rough mixes made on the day of the recordings. "I didn't want to dress it at all, similar to Nebraska", he told Rolling Stone in 2016, "These were records that were made at the very moment the music was made".

From the scattered comments of Springsteen and other session participants it would seem the Bruce recorded over an album's worth of solo material (seven of these recordings are found on The Ghost Of Tom Joad) and over an album's worth of band material (five of these recordings are found on The Ghost Of Tom Joad). The songs Bruce recorded solo may have spanned the entire session period. The band sessions appear to have been split into two or three phases during the spring and summer of 1995. One of the session phases included several rockabilly/country swing arranged songs – nothing from this session has yet emerged, although one verified composition from this session, "Tiger Rose", has been published.

Released

The Ghost Of Tom Joad

#	Song Title	Running Time	Release
1.	THE GHOST OF TOM JOAD	4:20	GOTJ
2.	STRAIGHT TIME	3:23	GOTJ
3.	HIGHWAY 29	3:34	GOTJ
4.	YOUNGSTOWN	3:50	GOTJ
5.	SINALOA COWBOYS	3:46	GOTJ
6.	THE LINE	5:11	GOTJ
7.	BALBOA PARK	3:15	GOTJ
8.	DRY LIGHTNING	3:29	GOTJ
9.	THE NEW TIMER	5:41	GOTJ
10.	ACROSS THE BORDER	5:22	GOTJ
11.	GALVESTON BAY	4:58	GOTJ
12.	MY BEST WAS NEVER GOOD ENOUGH	1:57	GOTJ

^{Total Running Time: 50:18}

Additional Information

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

THE GHOST OF TOM JOAD - V1		uncirculating
THE GHOST OF TOM JOAD - V2	4:20	JOAD / ESSENTIAL / CHAPTER
THE GHOST OF TOM JOAD - V3		2007 compilation
THE GHOST OF TOM JOAD - V4	7:34	HOPES

Note: Written as a rock song for the Greatest Hits project, but abandoned when Springsteen couldn't find an arrangement. Re-imagined as an acoustic song, and recorded May 23, 1995 at Thrill Hill Recording, Beverly Hills, California. Springsteen handles guitar and vocals, and his four-man backing band on this recording is Danny Federici (keyboards), Garry Tallent (bass), Marty Rifkin (pedal steel, dobro), and Gary Mallaber (drums). V3 is an entirely re-recorded version, but was not recorded during any of the three Seeger Sessions. It was recorded at various stages and studio locations during mid-/late-2006. Bruce's parts (vocal, harmonica) were recorded at Thrill Hill Recording, Rumson, New Jersey in August 2006. Pete Seeger's vocals were recorded at Seeger's cabin in Beacon, NY on July 4, 2006. The backing band's individual parts were recorded at various locations around the United States during mid-/late-2006 and then everything was mixed together at Shelter Island Sound Studios in New York City by David Seitz, and produced by Springsteen, Jim Musselman, and Seitz. The recording was first released on September 11, 2007 on the Various Artists charity compilation Sowing The Seeds (Appleseed). V4 was recorded in March 2013 in Los Angeles, the day before a flight to Australia for the Australian leg of the Wrecking Ball Tour, and was produced by Ron Aniello and Springsteen.

STRAIGHT TIME