I was born right here on Randolph Street in Freehold Here right behind that big red maple in Freehold Well I went to school right here Got laid and had my first beer In Freehold
Today we have found a great “story-song” from Bruce Springsteen that has never been officially released.
This is a sweet and funny song that appeared for the first time live on 8 Nov 1996 in Freehold, NJ. Freehold/ In Freehold is never officially released and I think it has only been played live (not recorded in studio). It is a song in the same vein as Growing Up, but set at an earlier age and in a less serious tone.
The debut of the song was at The Ghost Of Tom Joad Solo Acoustic Tour (Freehold 8 Nov) and it has been played around 20 times after that. It is speculated that the song was written specifically for this event. It was a sort of homecoming show in the sense that he grew up in Freehold, but hadn’t played there since 1967. Bruce Springsteen left Freehold in 1968.
Today we present one of the best of the still unreleased tracks from the Nebraska sessions, The Losin’ Kind. The song started out as The Answer an early home demo with slightly different lyrics.
The melody is reminiscent of Highway Patrolman (Nebraska) and the story is about the same as in the song Highway 29 (The Ghost of Tom Joad), and I’m guessing that these similarities will keep the song in Springsteen’s vault.
As I said the song started out as The Answer before it became The Losin’ Kind and both versions are in circulation:
The Answer (The Losin’ kind acoustic demo) was recorded in fall 1981 (sometime between September and December), at Thrill Hill Recording in Colts Neck.
The Losin’ Kind (the “finished” version) were probably taped on 03 Jan 1982 at Thrill Hill Recording. There are records of a third version, but I’ve not heard it and I don’t think it floats around the web.
Let us hear the song.
The Losin’ Kind:
Incredibly good ! …and will hopefully be included on Tracks part 2 (if that is ever released…)
The Nebraska sessions were never conceived to result in a commercially released album. Bruce’s intention was to create a batch of multi-channel, professional sounding, finished solo demos to demonstrate to The E Street Band at sessions for the follow-up to The River album due to start in New York City in February 1982. By creating professional demos Springsteen felt the band sessions would progress faster than they had for his previous three albums.
To achieve his goal in December 1981 Springsteen asked his guitar technician, Mike Batlan, to set up a no frills “porta-studio” in a spare room of Bruce’s Colts Neck, NJ home. Some modification work was done to the room to make it more receptive to achieving a decent sound. Batlan purchased a Teac Tascam (Series 144) 4-track cassette recorder, 2 x Shure SM57 mics and 2 x mic stands. The sound was mixed through an old Gibson Echoplex and an old Panasonic boom box acted as the mix-down deck.
Springsteen recorded during the first few days of January, with the bulk of the songs recorded in one all day/night session on January 3, 1982. There were 15 songs recorded and some of them were recorded 2 or 3 times in slightly different arrangements. However two or three months later, with a few of these 15 songs by-then earmarked for coverage by the E Street Band, Springsteen recorded 2 additional songs (“My Father’s House” and “The Big Payback”) at home on the same equipment – thus making a total of 17 different songs…
I was eight years old and running with a dime in my hand
Into the bus stop to pick up a paper for my old man
I’d sit on his lap in that big old Buick and steer as we drove through town
He’d tousle my hair and say son take a good look around this is your hometown
This is your hometown
This is your hometown
This is your hometown
Bruce Springsteen released “Born in the U.S.A.” on this day – June 4 – in 1984. “My Hometown” is my favourite song from this great album. Here are 5 brilliant live versions of this beautiful song.
Parc De La Courneuve, Paris, France – June 29, 1985:
In ’65 tension was running high at my high school
There was a lot of fights between the black and white
There was nothing you could do
Two cars at a light on a Saturday night in the back seat there was a gun
Words were passed in a shotgun blast
Troubled times had come to my hometown
My hometown
My hometown
My hometown
A fabulous 2006 Seeger Sessions Show. The one I’ve watched the most from this tour.
Bruce Springsteen – The Seeger Sessions Live, a video recording of a May 9, 2006 performance in London’s St Luke Old Street church, was filmed by the BBC and also broadcast in the U.S. by PBS. (wikipedia)
Recorded at St. Luke’s in London’s East End, Bruce Springsteen performs an intimate concert of songs selected from his new album, WE SHALL OVERCOME: THE SEEGER SESSIONS, a collection of standards and spirituals popularized by the legendary Pete Seeger. Springsteen’s UK concert performances have thrilled the critics, with THE INDEPENDENT raving, “an astonishingly rich evening … his music has rarely sounded more spontaneous or vitalizing than this,” and THE OBSERVER adding, “Springsteen and the Seeger Session band were an inspiring triumph.” Among the songs featured are “John Henry,” “O Mary Don’t You Weep,” “Pay Me My Money Down,” and “We Shall Overcome.” (pbs.org)
Setlist:
John Henry
Mary Don’t You Weep
How Can A Poor Man Stand Such Times and Live?
Mrs McGrath
My Oklahoma Home
Jacob’s Ladder
We Shall Overcome
Pay Me My Money Down
Broadcast on BBC Radio 2 and televised (in part) on BBC4 and in high definition on BBC HD. Concert held in the 18th century St. Luke Old Street church, now a music centre operated by the London Symphony Orchestra. Two runthroughs of “O Mary Don’t You Weep” and “Mrs. McGrath”, while “Jacob’s Ladder” requires a restart after an amusing Bruce mistake. Available on several DVD presentations and on CD “The Church Sessions” (Godfather). (brucebase.wikispace.com)
John Moreland (born June 22, 1985) is an American singer-songwriter from Tulsa, Oklahoma. We saw him supporting Jason Isbell in January, he was fantastic. Intense, personal and with a voice that can make grown men cry.
Moreland sometimes plays solo with an acoustic guitar, but was often accompanied by two different bands: the Black Gold Band (now defunct) or the Dust Bowl Souls. While his earlier music was more rock-based, his more recent releases are characterized as being sparsely acoustic.
Bruce’s Winterland-78 concert is by many fans & “concert tape collectors” regarded as one of his best shows ever… It is indeed a cornerstone in any collection of concert bootlegs (regardless of artist). Number 2 on my list (Egil) of the best Springsteen’s concerts I’ve heard. It is now selling as a “semi official” release at amazon.co.uk.
