KEY | C, SM, BSB | Demo | GFAP | WIESS | BTR | DOTEOT | 1979 Solo | River | 1981 Solo | Nebraska | BITUSA | TOL
HT | LT | 1993 Solo | GH | GOTJ | Tracks | Rising | Essential | D&D | WSO | Magic | WOAD | Promise | WB | HH | TTTB
Commercially Released: November 16, 1995
Produced by Springsteen and Chuck Plotkin
Recording Engineer: Toby Scott
Recorded from March 1995 to September 1995 at Thrill Hill West (Springsteen's Los Angeles home studio)
Part One - 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.
| HIGHWAY 29 | 3:34 | GOTJ |
| SINALOA COWBOYS | 3:46 | GOTJ |
| THE LINE | 5:11 | GOTJ |
| BALBOA PARK | 3:15 | GOTJ |
| THE NEW TIMER | 5:41 | GOTJ |
| GALVESTON BAY | 4:58 | GOTJ |
| MY BEST WAS NEVER GOOD ENOUGH | 1:57 | GOTJ |
| THE GHOST OF TOM JOAD | 4:20 | GOTJ |
| YOUNGSTOWN | 3:50 | GOTJ |
| ACROSS THE BORDER | 5:22 | GOTJ |
| DRY LIGHTNING | 3:29 | GOTJ |
| STRAIGHT TIME | 3:23 | GOTJ |
| DEAD MAN WALKIN' | 2:43 | 1995 comp / ESSENTIAL |
| BROTHERS UNDER THE BRIDGE | 4:51 | TRACKS |
| CYNTHIA | uncirculating | |
| TIGER ROSE | uncirculating | |
| I'M TURNING INTO ELVIS | uncirculating | |
| IT'S THE LITTLE THINGS THAT COUNT | uncirculating | |
| IDIOT'S DELIGHT | uncirculating | |
| I'M NOT SLEEPING | uncirculating | |
| 1945 | uncirculating | |
| CHEAP MOTEL | uncirculating |
Part Two - Details
| HIGHWAY 29 | 3:34 | GOTJ |
Note: Recorded sometime March–August 1995 at Thrill Hill West (Bruce's Los Angeles home studio). Springsteen solo.
| SINALOA COWBOYS | 3:46 | GOTJ |
Note: Recorded sometime March–August 1995 at Thrill Hill West (Bruce's Los Angeles home studio). Springsteen solo.
| THE LINE | 5:11 | GOTJ |
Note: Recorded sometime March–August 1995 at Thrill Hill West (Bruce's Los Angeles home studio). Springsteen solo.
| BALBOA PARK | 3:15 | GOTJ |
Note: Recorded sometime March–August 1995 at Thrill Hill West (Bruce's Los Angeles home studio). Springsteen solo.
| THE NEW TIMER | 5:41 | GOTJ |
Note: Recorded sometime March–August 1995 at Thrill Hill West (Bruce's Los Angeles home studio). Springsteen solo.
| GALVESTON BAY | 4:58 | GOTJ |
Note: Recorded sometime March–August 1995 at Thrill Hill West (Bruce's Los Angeles home studio). Springsteen solo.
| MY BEST WAS NEVER GOOD ENOUGH | 1:57 | GOTJ |
Note: Recorded sometime March–August 1995 at Thrill Hill West (Bruce's Los Angeles home studio). Originally slated to be a non-album b-side. Springsteen solo.
| THE GHOST OF TOM JOAD | 4:20 | GOTJ |
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 West (Bruce's Los Angeles home studio). 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). The rock arrangement was premiered live on April 7, 2008 in Anaheim, CA, performed with Tom Morello sharing lead vocals. Springsteen then recorded the rock arrangement in the studio with the E Street Band and Tom Morello in 2013 and issued it on High Hopes in January 2014.
| YOUNGSTOWN | 3:50 | GOTJ |
Note: Recorded sometime April–June 1995 at Thrill Hill West (Bruce's Los Angeles home studio). Springsteen handles guitar and vocals and his five-man backing band on this recording is Chuck Plotkin (keyboards), Jim Hanson (bass), Marty Rifkin (pedal steel), Gary Mallaber (drums) and Soozie Tyrell (violin).
| ACROSS THE BORDER | 5:22 | GOTJ |
Note: Recorded sometime April–June 1995 at Thrill Hill West (Bruce's Los Angeles home studio). Springsteen handles guitar and vocals and his five-man backing band on this recording is Danny Federici (keyboards and accordion), Jennifer Condos (bass), Marty Rifkin (pedal steel), Gary Mallaber (drums) and Soozie Tyrell (violin and backing vocals), along with Lisa Lowell and Patti Scialfa providing backing vocals.
| DRY LIGHTNING | 3:29 | GOTJ |
Note: Recorded sometime April–June 1995 at Thrill Hill West (Bruce's Los Angeles home studio. Springsteen handles guitar and vocals and his four-man backing band on this recording is Danny Federici (keyboards), Garry Tallent (bass), Gary Mallaber (drums) and Soozie Tyrell (violin).
| STRAIGHT TIME | 3:23 | GOTJ |
Note: Recorded sometime April–June 1995 at Thrill Hill West (Bruce's Los Angeles home studio). Springsteen handles guitar and vocals and his five-man backing band on this recording is Danny Federici (keyboards), Jim Hanson (bass), Gary Mallaber (drums), Marty Rifkin (pedal steel guitar) and Soozie Tyrell (violin).
| DEAD MAN WALKIN' | 2:43 | 1995 comp / ESSENTIAL |
Note: Written in spring 1995 upon request of friend-director Tim Robbins for his movie Dead Man Walking. First released on December 30, 1995 on the film's soundtrack CD and then as a single in early 1996 in some countries. Song received an Academy Award Nomination but (unlike "Streets Of Philadelphia") it didn't win. Recorded sometime April–May 1995 at Thrill Hill West (Bruce's Los Angeles home studio). Springsteen handles guitar and vocals and his 3-man backing band on this recording is Danny Federici (keyboards), Jim Hanson (bass) and Gary Mallaber (drums).
| BROTHERS UNDER THE BRIDGE | 4:51 | TRACKS |
Note: No direct relation to the 1983 Springsteen song also found on Tracks, except for the similar title. Recorded on May 22, 1995 at Thrill Hill West (Bruce's Los Angeles home studio). Springsteen handles guitar and vocals and his 5-man backing band on this recording is Danny Federici (keyboards), Garry Tallent (bass), Marty Rifkin (pedal steel, dobro), Gary Mallaber (drums) and Soozie Tyrell (violin).
| CYNTHIA | uncirculating |
Note: Recorded May 23, 1995. Studio logs show a song of this title recorded the same day as "The Ghost Of Tom Joad". It's entirely possible this is the Born In The USA outtake, reborn acoustically.
| TIGER ROSE | uncirculating |
Note: Recorded sometime during the summer of 1995 at Thrill Hill West when Garry Tallent was out in Los Angeles participating in The Ghost Of Tom Joad sessions. By late 1995 Tallent was in Nashville about to start producing rockabilly legend Sonny Burgess' new album. Garry contacted Springsteen asking if Burgess could cover the song. According to Burgess' comments Tallent taught his band the music and Springsteen supplied the lyrics over the phone. The Burgess cover was released in June 1996. Springsteen first performed the song live on October 18, 2001.
| I'M TURNING INTO ELVIS | uncirculating |
Note: Written by Springsteen during March-April 1995. First performed live in its complete form on April 12, 1995.
| IT'S THE LITTLE THINGS THAT COUNT | uncirculating |
Note: Springsteen premiered the song live on November 27, 1995 near the start the Solo Acoustic Tour. In total played 36 times on that tour.
| IDIOT'S DELIGHT | uncirculating |
Note: Co-written by Springsteen and Joe Grushecky in July 1995, with Bruce providing most of the music and Grushecky most of the lyrics. Song first released by Grushecky on his December 1997 studio album Coming Home. Springsteen first performed the song live on April 25, 2000, with Grushecky as a guest vocalist.
| I'M NOT SLEEPING | uncirculating |
Note: Co-written by Springsteen and Joe Grushecky in July 1995, with Bruce providing most of the music and Grushecky most of the lyrics. Song first released by Grushecky on his December 1997 studio album Coming Home. Springsteen first performed the song live on November 4, 2010, with Joe Grushecky and the Houserockers.
| 1945 | uncirculating |
Note: Co-written by Springsteen and Joe Grushecky in July 1995, with Bruce providing most of the music and Grushecky most of the lyrics. Song first released by Grushecky on his December 1997 studio album Coming Home. Springsteen has yet to perform the song live.
| CHEAP MOTEL | uncirculating |
Note: Co-written by Springsteen and Joe Grushecky in July 1995, with Bruce providing most of the music and Grushecky most of the lyrics. Song first released by Grushecky on his December 1997 studio album Coming Home. Springsteen has yet to perform the song live.
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