Following the end of the recording sessions in June 1983, major mixing sessions took place, and some in CBS were even talking of the possible pre-Christmas release of a new Bruce Springsteen album. There was certainly no shortage of outstanding material to pick from, and so on 26th and 27th July Springsteen compiled a twelve-song album sequence comprised of three songs carried over from the 1982 sequence, four from the early 1983 sessions and five from the recent E Street Band sessions, however, as had been the case in March, he decided to hold off and continue writing more songs. He felt that his selection lacked cohesion, and the sound quality of the garage tracks jarred in comparison to the studio tracks, and this resulted in yet another final phase of scattered studio sessions from autumn 1983 into the early months of 1984. All too aware that Springsteen was having difficulties making the final selection, Jon Landau took the unique step of creating his own ideal album, based on what had been recorded to date, as he felt that Springsteen had all but abandoned his best songs, which were those recorded in the early sessions in May 1982. Landau's selection covered eleven songs, with the May 1982 songs forming the backbone of the record, with 'Born In The U.S.A.', 'I'm Goin' Down', 'Cover Me', 'My Hometown' and 'Bobby Jean' on side one, and 'My Love Will Not Let You Down', 'Follow That Dream', 'Glory Days', 'Protection', 'Janey, Don't You Lose Heart' and 'I'm On Fire' on the flip-side. Suffering from writer's block, Springsteen finally listened to Landau, and figured out his sequence, with one final recording added to the track-listing; perhaps his best known song, 'Dancing In The Dark', which was the last track recorded in February 1984. The final version of 'Born In The U.S.A.' was issued in June 1984, and the unused recordings were tucked away, until some of them later surfaced on the 'Tracks' compilations. This collection includes some of those, but also some rare alternative takes, as well as a few 'Nebraska' out-takes which have been subtly enhanced by Mike Solof. 'Janey, Don't You Lose Heart' has a much longer fade out than other versions, and features Steve Van Zandt on background vocals and guitar. 'Protection' was given to Donna Summer, who was recording an album at the time at the same studio, and a duet vocal version was also recorded at her sessions, although this remains un-circulating. 'Fugitive's Dream', 'Delivery Man', 'The Klansman', and 'Unsatisfied Heart' are all solo recordings from the Los Angeles home studio sessions, while 'Stand On It', 'The Big Payback', and 'Pink Cadillac' eventually made it out as b-sides to singles from the album.
Track listing
01 Stand On It
02 Janey, Don't You Lose Heart
03 Losin' Kind
04 The Klansman
05 Unsatisfied Heart
06 Child Bride
07 Protection
08 The Big Payback
09 Gun In Every Home
10 Delivery Man
11 Fugitive's Dream
12 Pink Cadillac
Speaking of 'Nebraska', I've now listened to the official 'Electric Nebraska' album, and as I suspected, most of the tracks sound pretty similar to the live band versions, which is no great surprise. I do prefer my version of 'Mansion On The Hill', and as there were only six of the ten tracks included, then my version is still valid. The only song that I felt was better in the true studio version was 'Reason To Believe', as I was never keen on the distorted vocals at the end, and half of the song was just an extended harmonica intro, so I've tried editing my version to something like the box set version, and I'm including three tracks in the folder in case you want to use one of them as a replacement for my original edit. Let me know which one you prefer and I can update the original post. I have my favourite so see if you agree.
