The River

The River

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Disc 1 track 11 of The River, 1980.

The River (1980)
- Bruce Springsteen: vocals, guitar, harmonica
- Roy Bittan: piano, backing vocals
- Clarence Clemons: percussion, backing vocals
- Danny Federici: organ, glockenspiel
- Garry Tallent: bass
- Steven Van Zandt: guitar, backing vocals
- Max Weinberg: drums, percussion

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	RIVER: SINGLE / TTTBR / TTTBJ / PYP / LEK / ATMF
THE RIVER - V6	5:01	RIVER / GREATEST / ESSENTIAL / TTTB: RIVER / GREATEST: 2009 / 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.

^{Studio Sessions: The River}

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