Chicago, IL – August 17, 2014
Ever since Bruce Springsteen released his unique “High Hopes” collage earlier this year, I’ve been listening to more of the Springsteen catalog. I’ve been a fan since I saw Bruce live at the SIU (Arena Carbondale, IL) in December 1978 on the “Darkness on the Edge of Town” tour. The E Street Band classic lineup was in rare form; they performed the long jam version of “Prove it All Night,” and they did “Spirits in the Night” and “Santa Claus is Coming to Town.” It was what you might call a life-changing concert event, out of maybe 3 or 4 for me. It’s one of those Elvis or the Beatles on Ed Sullivan “now I know what I want to do” kind of things. Seeing Clarence “Big Man” Clemons for the first time will do that to a person.
I’m thinking to myself, “This High Hopes album never would have seen the light of day in the 70s when Bruce was at his most obsessive.” It’s a giddy grab bag of covers, re-recordings of previously released live tracks, and new songs. The E Street Band has changed as life and death intervene, other players added and new recording techniques explored, so consequently this record sounds different than anything before.
So, I’m going back and watching “The Promise DVD,” the documentary about the making of “Darkness on the Edge of Town.” It’s something like no other artist besides maybe Bob Dylan. For “Born to Run” they wrote and recorded 10 songs and released 8. For “Darkness,” they recorded maybe 75 songs and painstakingly narrowed it down to 10. That’s where this “Tracks” box set mostly comes from (along with early demos and pre-“Greetings…” band/fan favorites).
I received the “Tracks” box set as a gift, but I think the original cost was around $100. I also received the “Songs” lyrics book the same Christmas. I was thrilled, and listened to it several times. But I have not continuously listened to these 66 songs, and only a few of them are in rotation on my iPhone. I jokingly refer to this box set as “Tracks” (Shit Wasn’t Good Enough to Make it on My Real Albums).” But that would have been too long.
That’s all fine and good. A hundred bucks for 66 songs, most of which you’ve never heard before, is not a bad bargain. I didn’t feel cheated or pissed off until only six months later, when the “18 Tracks” CD was released. It’s not so bad that they repackaged songs from the big expensive box set onto a single disc. But they included “The Fever” and “The Promise,” two of Springsteen’s most famous songs, which were NOT in the box set. Bootleggers have been making do on concert recordings of these songs for decades. This is an outrage. My wife spends $100 bucks, and I have to spend another $12 to get the whole thing? No thank you, I never have.
Trust me, a post-Mike Appel lawsuit Bruce has control over how his music is packaged. It’s ironic how Bruce is lying down on the job in the cover photo. Even he characterizes the 90s as his “lost period.” I’ll say. I can see how a fellow would become depressed and alienated, ripping off loyal fans in this way.
Bruce Springsteen – Tracks
Released November 1998
http://brucespringsteen.net/albums/tracks
Bruce Springsteen – 18 Tracks ($11.99 on Amazon.com)
http://brucespringsteen.net/albums/18-tracks
Released April 1999
– David Joost, August 17, 2014, Chicago, IL
Acknowledgements: Thanks to Greg Kot for friendship and advice. Thanks to Terrin Krantz for finally convincing me to do this. Thanks to Margaret for being the love of my life. Thanks to Kathryn for being the music. Thanks to Daniel for being my little Jesus. Thanks be to the Lord for Music!
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