Various Artists - Rarities Row Vol. 3 (2025)

Just like last time, in Volume 3 of 'Rarities Row' you’ll probably see names you recognize, like Paul Simon, R.E.M and Bruce Springsteen, and one or two less so like Pat Metheny and The Marshal Tucker Band. My leadoff this time is Paul Simon’s 'Sound Of Silence' redone in a beautiful and very different way than the original. It almost ties with Disturb’s version as the best remake I’ve ever heard. It’s unique, yet familiar and haunting, all at the same time. So, let’s just get on with the music. As always, It was a blast putting this volume together, and to know that there are so many more to come. 

Enjoy! 

Michael

Track list and info:

01 The Sound Of Silence (New Unreleased Version) 

Paul Simon - Live At Webster Hall, 2011 

In June 2011, Paul Simon thrilled hometown fans with a special club performance at New York City’s historic Webster Hall. The show was the culmination of a sold-out and triumphant U.S. tour, and the set list was drawn from Simon's legendary career, and included several songs that had not been performed live in many years, including 'Kodachrome', 'Mother And Child Reunion', 'Still Crazy After All These Years', 'Late In The Evening', 'Sounds Of Silence' and 'The Obvious Child'. 

02 Gemini Dream (Live at The Forum) 

The Moody Blues - The Forum, Inglewood, California, 1983 

A live concert radio broadcast recorded at The Forum in Los Angeles, CA. on the last night of the North American “Present” Tour, and the third night of their run at The Forum, on December 3, 1983.

03 Losing My Religion (Demo)

R.E.M -1991 

The REM. guitarist, Peter Buck, wrote the main riff and chorus for 'Losing My Religion' on a mandolin. He had recently bought it and was learning how to play, recording as he practiced while watching television. Buck said that "when I listened back to it the next day, there was a bunch of stuff that was really just me learning how to play mandolin, and then there's what became 'Losing My Religion', and then a whole bunch more of me learning to play the mandolin". He said he likely would not have written the chord progression in the same way had he not played it on mandolin. In July 1990, REM. recorded a demo version with the working title 'Sugar Cane' in a studio in Athens, Georgia, featuring the banjo and Hammond organ. Mike Mills wrote a bassline inspired by Fleetwood Mac bassist John McVie. The final version was recorded in September at Bearsville Studio A in Woodstock, New York. Finding the song lacked midrange between the bass and mandolin, R.E.M. enlisted the touring guitarist Peter Holsapple on acoustic guitar. Buck said, "It was really cool: Peter and I would be in our little booth, sweating away, and Bill and Mike would be out there in the other room going at it. It just had a really magical feel." Michael Stipe recorded his vocals in a single take. The strings, arranged by Mark Bingham, were performed by members of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra at Soundscape Studios in Atlanta, Georgia, in October 1990. In the run-up to the 25th anniversary reissue of their 1991 album 'Out Of Time', R.E.M. shared an unheard demo version of 'Losing My Religion'. The lyrics are slightly different—a couple of verses are transposed, and the “choosing my confessions” part is missing. But with fewer words and less studio polish, the song’s world-weary appeal is perhaps even more evident.

04 Rocket Ship (iPhone app demo)

Adrian Belew - Flux 1 2020 

Adrian Belew continues his later age creative renaissance with 'Flux By Belew Volume One'. These are short snippets that range from folky to crunchy guitar to cabaret to a Ventures copy to everything in between. I love music like this and this record has reinforced my belief Adrian Belew belongs on the Mount Rushmore of accessible left field rock weirdness of which his former boss Frank Zappa has the largest bust. Singularly creative and decidedly non-conforming, Belew adds to his incredibly rich musical legacy. Fans of left field idiosyncratic rock will find a ton to like here, and this is a fine place to enter the solo world of a living master. Belew says “FLUX is ‘music which is never the same twice’, and to accommodate the original concept FLUX was released on iTunes as a music app for iPhone and iPad (the only one of its kind, available on iTunes at bit.ly/FLUX_cd). With the app downloaded, you press Play to activate 30 minutes of music, songs, sounds, and visuals which will never happen again in quite the same way, because of some very clever algorithms and a huge amount of content. But it is not feasible to have the same thing occur on a CD, so I ask that you always play the CD in “shuffle” mode. This will give as close an approximation to the way I intend this music to be experienced as can be offered in this format. FLUX is not meant to be listened to in the same running sequence every time, and in order to eventually make all FLUX material available on CD, this will be an ongoing series, updated as needed. My hope is that you will make your own playlist from the content of all the CDs, then put the entire playlist in shuffle and enjoy FLUX: music that is never the same twice!”.

05 Zanzibar (Extended Trumpet Solo)

Billy Joel - My Lives Boxset

'Zanzibar' is a song written by Billy Joel and recorded for his 1978 album '52nd Street.' The song begins with a short slow section, but then moves to a shuffle rhythm. It contains two jazz trumpet solos played by the legendary jazz trumpeter Freddie Hubbard, and the song's bridge begins with a dreamy keyboard section, which leads into the first trumpet solo. According to Phil Ramone, the urgency and sexiness of the trumpet part is enhanced by the ascending and descending line played on bass guitar beneath the solo. The second solo comes at the end of the song and goes into the fade out. Of playing with Hubbard, Joel stated that it "was a special treat for me, because I've always admired and respected jazz players". Joel also recalled that after playing with Hubbard on the song, drummer Liberty DeVitto claimed that "Now I feel like a grown up". Allmusic critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine considers the melody of 'Zanzibar' to be an homage to Steely Dan's Donald Fagen. 'Zanzibar' was also included on the compilation album 'My Lives'. This version does not fade out the second trumpet solo that ends the song, providing an extra minute and a half of Hubbard's playing. According to producer Phil Ramone, Joel had written the music and had decided he liked the title 'Zanzibar' for the piece, but had not figured out what to say about Zanzibar. Hearing the music conjured up for Ramone images of people watching television in a bar, and as a result Joel decided to make the song about activity in a sports bar named Zanzibar rather than about the island of Zanzibar. The lyrics include a number of contemporary sports references, including to heavyweight champion boxer Muhammad Ali, baseball player Pete Rose, and the baseball team the New York Yankees, who were the World Champions at the time. The lyrics also use a baseball expression as a sexual metaphor when the singer wants to steal second base with a waitress in the bar if the waitress will allow it. 

06 Bright Side Life (Live)

Pat Metheny Group 

Recorded in Boston, MA, on September 21, 1976, this Performance of the title track from Metheny’s debut contains a rare solo by keyboardist Lyle Mays. This recording, which includes Mays, drummer Dan Gottlieb and bass player Eberhard Weber, was the first time 3/4 of the Pat Metheny Group performed together. It would take another year until bassist Mark Egan would join them and they would officially become the Pat Metheny Group. With 3/4 of the players here, and the official Group launch only months away, it is impossible not to regard this as a Pat Metheny Group performance. 

07 Love Comes And Goes (Demo)

Nancy Wilson and Peter Frampton - 2021 A&M Release Preview and Almost Famous Über Deluxe Box Set 

Seven demos written for Stillwater, the iconic band in the movie 'Almost Famous'. The LP was  pressed on translucent red vinyl and limited to 6800 copies for a Record Store Day 2021 exclusive. In the movie 'Almost Famous' (2000), the band Stillwater was supposedly an amalgamation of Poco, The Eagles, Led Zeppelin and a few other bands that Cameron Crowe had actually written articles about early in his career with Rolling Stone magazine. One of them leapt off a hotel balcony into a swimming pool. Another almost missed a ride on the tour bus after making a detour to an after-show bash. They met groupies and partook in their share of on-the-road partying, and a newspaper headline declared that the band “runs deep. If you think that sounds like Stillwater, the fictional band from 'Almost Famous', you’d be correct. But those tales also apply to a real-life group of the same name that existed during the same period. The 1973 moustached collective featured in writer/director Cameron Crowe’s film has a legitimate rock pedigree. Pearl Jam’s Mike McCready is the real talent behind Russell Hammond, the band’s charismatic lead guitarist (played by Billy Crudup), while ex Heart guitarist Nancy Wilson (Crowe’s wife) plays rhythm guitar for the group. What’s more, ’70s vet Peter Frampton penned several of the Stillwater tunes heard in the movie, and Wilson and Crowe co-wrote the band’s bass driven anthem 'Feverdog', which made the film’s soundtrack. Wilson, who also scored the film, says she recruited talent with classic rock roots (Frampton) and contemporary know-how (McCready), because she knew she wouldn’t create a believable sound otherwise. The goal was to make a band ”that’s really good, but not all the way formed yet,” she tells EW.com. ”An ‘opening for Black Sabbath' kind of sound”. And she also wanted to complement the movie’s satirical if loving take on rock & roll Über egos. ”We had to walk the line between parody and something that sounds legit” says Wilson. The demo nature of it makes it sound like the band is right there with you. Pure unprocessed analog glory. 

08 Havana Daydreaming (Live) 

Jimmy Buffett September 10, 1975 The Boarding House San Francisco, CA 

Singer/songwriter Jimmy Buffett and his Coral Reefer Band in their first of three nights at The Boarding House in San Francisco, CA on 9/10/1975. Recorded and broadcast by KSAN 95 FM from San Francisco, CA. 

09 Elected (Early Version)

Alice Cooper - 'Billion Dollar Babies' Expanded 

'Elected' is a song by American rock band Alice Cooper, released in 1972 as the first single off their sixth album 'Billion Dollar Babies'. 'Elected' is a glam rock influenced, hard rock song, and its political theme was inspired by the 1972 United States presidential election. Cooper called the song “total political satire," and added “we hated politics, but the idea of Alice, the scourge of the entire world, being president was just too good”. Both the riff and part of the melody were recycled from 'Reflected', which appeared on their 1969 album 'Pretties For You'. Joey Ramone acknowledged the similarity between 'Elected' and his band's song 'I Wanna Be Sedated' according to Alice Cooper, and the song was a favourite of John Lennon, who called it "a great record", but added that Paul McCartney would've done it better, which Cooper agreed with.

10 Let’s Dance (Live Rehearsal w Stevie Ray Vaughn) 

David Bowie with Stevie Ray Vaughn - Dallas 4-26/27-83 Serious Rehearsals 1983 

David Bowie and Stevie Ray Vaughan, in a broadcast performance in April 1983 just prior to Bowie's Serious Moonlight Tour, to promote his new album 'Let's Dance'. Recorded at the Las Colinas soundstage in Dallas with a small audience, and broadcast on KLBJ FM, Austin, Vaughan was supposed to join Bowie on tour, but the deal was scuttled at the last minute for various reasons. This is the only known broadcast recording of Bowie and Vaughan together, less than two weeks after 'Let's Dance' was released. Vaughan's 'Texas Flood' album with Double Trouble would be released less than two months later, in June that year. To read a piece written by Bowie on his time with Stevie Ray Vaughan, check out the pdf included with the album. 

11 Ring A Ding Ding (Test Recording) 

Frank Sinatra 'Ring A Ding Ding' Dec 19 1960 

'Ring-a-Ding-Ding!' is the twentieth studio album by Frank Sinatra, released on May 7 1961.  It was the inaugural record on Sinatra's Reprise label and, as the initial concept was "an album without ballads", it consisted only of up-tempo swing numbers. The title track was written specifically for Sinatra by Sammy Cahn and Jimmy Van Heusen. 

12 Saltwater (Spanish Version)

Julian Lennon (Single -1991) 

'Saltwater' by Julian Lennon has a Spanish version titled 'Creo Que Voy A Llorar'. This version was released in Spain and parts of South America as part of the 'Help Yourself' album, and the song's Spanish title translates to 'I Think I Am Going To Cry'.  What is little known is that in Spain as well as in selected South American countries such as Venezuela, the album contained Spanish language versions of three songs: 'Creo Que Voy A Llorar' ('Saltwater'), 'Corazón de Palmera' ('Take Me Home') and 'Es Tarde Ya' ('Maybe I Was Wrong'). Although the Spanish version of 'Saltwater' was also released in the UK and Europe on the 12" and CD single versions of that song, the two others are exclusive to the Spanish/South American pressings of the 'Help Yourself' album. Those are actually so rare that they are hardly – if ever – mentioned in Julian Lennon discographies. 

13 This Ol’ Cowboy (Live) 

The Marshall Tucker Band - Stompin’ Room Only: Greatest Hits Live 1974–76 

The jams on 'Stompin Room Only' are some of the best ever recorded by the band, and the record is the long rumored and highly anticipated album of live material recorded between 1974 and 1976. Recorded in London, Manchester (during their only European tour), in Milwaukee, and at Charlie Daniels annual "Volunteer Jam" in Murfreesboro during the years 1974-1976, the album was originally prepared for release in 1977 by producer Paul Hornsby and included the original line-up. In an unusual series of events, the album's release was first delayed by Capricorn Records and, ultimately, never released, as the master tapes could not be found for more than a quarter of a century. They were recently discovered in pristine condition and that long-awaited album, the virtual "holy grail" of jam band music, is now available. 

14 Jungleland - with violin 

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band -The Prodigal Son meets JEMS at the Main Point (Masters+ Edition) February 5, 1975 

One show, held as a benefit for the ~270-seat coffeehouse, with Springsteen & The E Street Band the sole act on the bill. The show was emceed by DJ Ed Sciaky and began just after 9.00pm. It was broadcast by WMMR-FM, but not as a true simulcast, rather it was broadcast on about a two-hour delay the same night. Interestingly, Springsteen almost backed out of his promise to allow the show to be broadcast, as he wanted to play new songs that were still unfinished - songs that may not be ready for a large radio audience. It took a concentrated effort by Sciaky on the day of the concert to talk Bruce around. An attendee review of the show from 1975 by critic David Fricke states the show took place on February 3, but this appears to be an error by Fricke given detailed interview comments by Sciaky, and the recollections of other attendees. Press reports suggest that Springsteen raised over $1,000 for the Main Point. The complete show was broadcast and the listed 18-song setlist represents the entire concert. Not only is it one of the longest (160 minutes) single-show gigs up to this point, but it's one of the most compelling performances of Springsteen's entire career. There are spellbinding renditions of 'Incident On 57th Street', 'New York City Serenade' and For You' (in the solo piano arrangement), the earliest known performances of 'Mountain Of Love' and 'Thunder Road' (with work-in-progress 'Wings For Wheels' title/lyrics) plus a wild, majestic version of Chuck Berry's 'Back In The U.S.A.'. 'The E Street Shuffle' includes 'Having A Party', while 'Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)' includes a snippet of 'Theme From Shaft' in the midsection. 'A Love So Fine' includes an interlude of 'Shout', and contrary to myth the police siren heard at the conclusion of 'Incident On 57th Street' is an audio prop that had been utilized at a few of Bruce's shows just prior to this one, and was not a real vehicle. Musicians in The E Street Band for this performance were Roy Bittan, Clarence Clemons, Danny Federici, Garry Tallent, Max Weinberg, and Suki Lahav on violin. Lahav is an Israeli violinist, vocalist, actress, lyricist, screenwriter, and novelist, and was a member of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band from October 1974 to March 1975 (when her then-husband Louis was Springsteen’s sound engineer at 914 Sound Studios in Blauvelt, New York), before returning to Israel to find success there. 

There are full notes about how this 'Masters + Edition' remaster came about in Mike's pdf. 

Bruce Springsteen - Fugitive's Dream (1984)

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. 

 

Bruce Springsteen - Murder Incorporated (1983)

The recording sessions for Bruce Springsteen's 'Born In The U.S.A.' album spanned a two year period, and produced the largest quantity of completed song recordings of any session of his career. The sessions took place in four phases, with the January thru May 1982 sessions featuring The E Street Band with Steve Van Zandt, the January thru late April 1983 sessions featuring Springsteen alone on multiple instruments, and the rest being with The E Street Band, but no Van Zandt. Between seventy and eighty songs were recorded over the entire period, and thanks to information from Sony's studio logs, we now have a far better understanding of the sheer scale of Springsteen's output at this time. Songs were recorded at the Power Station and the nearby Hit Factory over the course of the first half of 1982, but as we know, he was not happy with the way that some band versions of his acoustic demos turned out with E Street backing, and so by early April he began actively exploring the possibility of releasing some of these solo demos as an acoustic album. 'Nebraska' duly appeared in September 1982, and the band versions of those songs were then locked away until they surfaced this year on the 'Nebraska 82' box set. The May-July 1982 period saw the effective departure of Steve Van Zandt as a member of The E Street Band, and following his decision to release 'Nebraska' and stop recording with the band, Springsteen spent the summer of 1982 in New Jersey making numerous guest appearances, that became affectionately known as his '1982 Jersey Shore Bar Tour'. 

However, that came to an end in early October, soon after the release of 'Nebraska', and during November-December 1982 he had Mike Batlan install a home recording studio at his house in Los Angeles, where he recorded more than an album's worth of songs over the early months of 1983, playing all the instruments himself, except for a drum machine. Although none of these Los Angeles recordings ultimately ended up on the album, two of them - 'Shut Out The Light' and 'Johnny Bye Bye' - were issued as b-sides in 1984/85, while tracks such as 'The Klansman', 'Unsatisfied Heart' and 'Richfield Whistle' remain unreleased. At this point, brief consideration was given to releasing an album, tentatively entitled 'Murder Incorporated', and a document exists from around March 1983 revealing his then-selections for the record, as well as his choices for b-sides of the singles to be released from it. However, instead of settling on that song line-up, he opted for more sessions, and began a new round of recording with The E Street Band at The Hit Factory in New York in May 1983. Of the proposed track-listing for 'Murder Incorporated', only six songs eventually appeared on the 'Born In The U.S.A.' album, with ten of them being rejected, and so by replacing those six released tracks with the songs that he'd earmarked as b-sides, we can hear all of the otherwise unreleased recordings from his sessions up to May 1983, other than 'Johnny Bye Bye' and 'Shut Out The Light' which slipped out as a b-sides, but which I'm still including anyway. 

Track listing

01 Murder Incorporated
02 Sugarland
04 One Love
04 This Hard Land
05 My Love Will Not Let You Down
06 Johnny Bye Bye

07 Shut Out The Light
08 Don't Back Down
09 Frankie
10 Little Girl
11 Follow That Dream

Various Artists - Those Darned Horns Have Gone Again! (1982)

I know that the original collection of de-horned music was just an experiment, and something of a humourous post on my part, but it attracted some positive (and admittedly negative) comments, and even some suggestions for a second volume, so here it is. If nothing else, it once again shows that some tracks which are really well-known for their horn section are just as good without it, although one exception is the suggestion of 'Pick Up The Pieces' by The Average White Band, as without the brass there is literally nothing there!

Track Listing

01 Alone Again Or - Love
02 Beat Surrender - The Jam
03 Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is? - Chicago
04 Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out - Bruce Springsteen
05 Lucretia MacEvil - Blood Sweat & Tears
06 Sir Duke - Stevie Wonder
07 Geno - Dexy's Midnight Runners
08 Feelin' Stronger Every Day - Chicago
09 Vehicle - The Ides Of March
10 Dance To The Music - Sly And The Family Stone
11 Go Down Gamblin' - Blood Sweat & Tears
12 One Fine Morning - Lighthouse

Updates 4

As usual I took a number of these albums on holiday with me to listen to on headphones, and you might not be surprised to hear that two of them were the recent U2 and Bruce Springsteen albums. U2 was pretty good, but I just felt the gap between the first two tracks could be a few seconds shorter, and I've trimmed the beginning to 'Smile'. Springsteen was pretty much perfect, but the extended coda I had to add to the end of 'Reason To Believe' had some noticeable joins, so I've smoothed them out.

The only other album that I felt could do with an upgrade was 'I Need A New Adventure 'by Television, where I've trimmed the beginning to 'Last Night', and also to 'The Dream's Dream', as well as removing the acetate surface noise at the beginning, and giving it a better ending. 

Most of the others sounded fine, but I haven't actually listened to all of them yet, so if I do find anything wrong later I'll upgrade them and let you know. 

Lastly, Paul over at albumsthatshouldexist has found an extra couple of tracks that I could have included in my recent post from Sade, so I've added those in to make a more acceptable 49-minute album. 

All post are updated on Soulseek, and new links for all four posts are in the download folder.

Bruce Springsteen - Electric Nebraska (1982) **FINAL UPGRADE **

I can't seem to leave this post alone, and although I was 95% happy with what I'd done, I still felt that 'My Father's House' could be better, and so I listened to every version that I could find on Youtube until I found one from East Rutherford in 1984 which not only had an introduction, but was also superb sound quality. So in what I hope is the final upgrade to this post, here is the definitive version of 'My Father's House' to slot into your album. As before, both Soulseek and the main download have been updated, and the link for the single track is in the comments.    

I was quite pleased with how the two live recordings from the recent U2 post turned out after I removed the crowd noise to make them sound more like studio recordings, and it occurred to me that Bruce Springsteen's 'Electric Nebraska' could do with the same attention. The original post was a perfectly valid idea, in making it sound like a complete live concert using the same running order as the original acoustic album, but what we really wanted to hear was a studio quality version of this legendary album. Once I'd updated the first track I was astounded at the difference that it made, as when the song fades at the end and there is no cheering it really does sound like a studio recording, and so the rest of the tracks soon followed, and we now have as close to a true electric 'Nebraska' as I think we'll ever get. I've used the same live recordings as the original post, apart from a cleaner version of 'My Father's House', as they are generally regarded as the best electric versions of the songs, and I've just tweaked a couple of them to improve introductions, or to EQ them to match the other tracks, so give this a try and see what a real electric version of 'Nebraska' could have sounded like. 

Track listing

01 Nebraska

02 Atlantic City

03 Mansion On The Hill

04 Johnny 99

05 Highway Patrolman

06 State Trooper

07 Used Cars

08 Open All Night

09 My Father's House

10 Reason To Believe

I've left the original post in the links and on Soulseek, but renamed it 'Electric Nebraska Live', so that you can still download that if you don't already have it. 

Bruce Springsteen - Electric Nebraska (1982) **UPGRADE**

I was quite pleased with how the two live recordings from the recent U2 post turned out after I removed the crowd noise to make them sound more like studio recordings, and it occurred to me that Bruce Springsteen's 'Electric Nebraska' could do with the same attention. The original post was a perfectly valid idea, in making it sound like a complete live concert using the same running order as the original acoustic album, but what we really wanted to hear was a studio quality version of this legendary album. Once I'd updated the first track I was astounded at the difference that it made, as when the song fades at the end and there is no cheering it really does sound like a studio recording, and so the rest of the tracks soon followed, and we now have as close to a true electric 'Nebraska' as I think we'll ever get. I've used the same live recordings as the original post, apart from a cleaner version of 'My Father's House', as they are generally regarded as the best electric versions of the songs, and I've just tweaked a couple of them to improve introductions, or to EQ them to match the other tracks, so give this a try and see what a real electric version of 'Nebraska' could have sounded like. 

Track listing

01 Nebraska

02 Atlantic City

03 Mansion On The Hill

04 Johnny 99

05 Highway Patrolman

06 State Trooper

07 Used Cars

08 Open All Night

09 My Father's House

10 Reason To Believe

I've left the original post in the links and on Soulseek, but renamed it 'Electric Nebraska Live', so that you can still download that if you don't already have it. 

Various Artists - The Hitmakers Sing Bruce Springsteen (2020)

From 1969 through early 1971, Bruce Springsteen performed with the band Child, which later changed its name to Steel Mill, and included Danny Federici, Vini Lopez, Vinnie Roslin, and later Steven Van Zandt and Robbin Thompson. They quickly gathered a cult following, and in an attempt to shape a unique and genuine musical and lyrical style, he also performed with the bands Dr. Zoom & the Sonic Boom from early-to-mid-1971, and the Sundance Blues Band in mid-1971. After this he formed The Bruce Springsteen Band, which stayed together for about a year, but in October 1972 he formed a new group for the recording of his debut album, 'Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J.', and they eventually became known as the E Street Band, although the name was not used until September 1974. In 1972 he signed to Columbia Records, and despite the expectations of Columbia executives that he would record an acoustic album, he brought many of his New Jersey-based colleagues into the studio with him for the recording sessions for his first album, taping a mixture of acoustic and rock-based songs. The gestation of the record was not without it trials, as when it was completed, his manager Mike Appel and Columbia's John Hammond preferred the solo tracks, while Springsteen preferred the band songs, and so a compromise was reached that the record would feature five songs with the band ('For You', 'Growin' Up', 'Does This Bus Stop At 82nd Street?', 'It's Hard To Be A Saint In The City', and 'Lost in the Flood') and five solo songs ('Mary Queen Of Arkansas', 'The Angel', 'Jazz Musician', 'Arabian Nights' and 'Visitation At Fort Horn'). However, when Columbia Records president Clive Davis heard this early version he felt that it lacked a potential hit single, and rejected it. Springsteen quickly wrote and recorded 'Blinded By The Light' and 'Spirit In The Night', and Columbia accepted the revised album, with Davis eventually being proved correct when Manfred Mann's Earthband had massive hit singles with these two "commercial" songs. David Bowie was also an early fan, recording a version of 'Growing Up' during the sessions for his 'Pin-Ups' album in 1973, and tackling 'It's Hard To Be A Saint In The City' in 1989, and so here is a selection of covers of all the tracks from Springsteen's debut album, which for once includes two from the same band, as I think most people would agree that the Manfred Mann's Earthband versions are the definitive recordings of their two contributions, other than Springsteen's own, of course.  

Track listing

01 Blinded By The Light (Manfred Mann's Earthband 1976) 
02 Growin' Up (Any Trouble 1980)  
03 Mary Queen Of Arkansas (Dusty Wright 1997) 
04 Does This Bus Stop At 82nd Street? (Purple Ivy Shadows 1999) 
05 Lost In The Flood (Yirzov Schuynis 2013)
06 The Angel (Zachary Scott Johnson 2020)
07 For You (Greg Kihn 1977)  
08 Spirit In The Night (Manfred Mann's Earthband 1975)
09 It's Hard To Be A Saint In The City (David Bowie 1989)

Bruce Springsteen - Across The River (1979) **UPGRADE**

When I first posted this collection of out-takes from 'The River' sessions, I did note that the vocals were mixed very low, and that in some cases they almost sounded like wordless guide vocals ready for over-dubbing later, but that never happened and so these are only versions of these songs out there. Since I posted the album there have been a number of innovations in music editing, one of which is that you can now use AI to split out the individual components of a track and remix them. Paul over at Albums That Should Exist is a great fan of this and uses it all the time, but I've never really tried it, and so I though that this was the perfect album to try it out on. I've therefore stripped out the vocals from all these songs and boosted the volume so that you can now hear them, and if anything it has just reinforced my opinion that they are guide vocals, as even at this new volume the lyrics are pretty much unintelligible. It's still good to hear them, though, as they do make these recordings sound more like songs than the quasi-instrumentals that they were before. The only one I didn't need to touch was 'In The City Tonight', so I hope that the rest of them now sound up to the quality of that track. The whole album has been updated on both Soulseek and Mega.  

Track listing

01 Out On The Run
02 The Man Who Got Away
03 Under The Gun
04 Chevrolet Deluxe
05 Night Fire
06 In The City Tonight
07 Slow Fade
08 Break My Heart
09 Find It Where You Can
10 Chain Lightning
11 I Don't Wanna Be

Risky Business - The Business Undone Edition (1983)

Time for another contribution from Mike Solof, and this time he's gone all the way back to 1983 to put together the complete soundtrack to a classic movie, so over to Mike.......

Inspiration struck tonight. I was doing some research and down the YouTube rabbit hole I went to finally drop down into the soundtrack for the 1983 movie 'Risky Business', featuring Tangerine Dream and classic cuts by Bob Seger, Muddy Waters, Prince and Phil Collins to name just a few. In doing my research, I found that 4 songs (by The Talking Heads, The Police, Bruce Springsteen and the Living Strings ) were cut from the Original Soundtrack. As well as that five of the songs that were on the album were shortened edits of their original versions. What made it even worse was that no official score of the entire Tangerine Dream material was ever released. I've therefore put together the ultimate 'Risky Business' soundtrack which Iʼm calling 'Risky Business - The Business Undone Edition'. My version expands the original soundtrack to include all the unedited original songs, including the Tangerine Dream selections, which consist of two new compositions and three reworkings of previously released material from 1979 and 1981, re-titled to correspond to scenes in the movie, plus the four songs left off the released soundtrack. Not only that, I've also included the complete super rare, hard to find and heavily sought-after promotional press kit album. 'Risky Business (The Audio Movie Kit)', which was issued in 1983 on a 17 minute, double vinyl set, with roughly 50 to 100 copies being made and shipped to various radio stations to promote the forthcoming movie. Eight pieces composed by Tangerine Dream were provided for this kit and they can only be found on this album, being different from the material that was used for the official release of the 'Risky Business' soundtrack album in 1984 by Virgin Records. As a final treat I've also included the entire original score of the movie, as performed by Tangerine Dream, with its 26 cuts totaling over 46 minutes of music. 

Track listing for 'Risky Business - The Business Undone Edition'

01 Every Breath You Take (The Police)

02 My Heart Tells Me (The Living Strings)
03 Old Time Rock And Roll (Bob Seger)
04.The Dream is Always the Same (Tangerine Dream - unedited version)
05 Cloudburst Flight (Tangerine Dream - unedited version of 'Guido The Killer Pimp')
06 The Pump (Jeff Beck)
07 Force Majeure (Tangerine Dream - unedited version of 'Lana')
08 Hungry Heart (Bruce Springsteen)
09 Mannish Boy (Muddy Waters)
10 Swamp (Talking Heads)
11 D.M.S.R. (Prince - full version)
12 After the Fall (Journey)
13 In the Air Tonight (Phil Collins)
14 Love On A Real Train (Tangerine Dream - unedited version)

Track listing for the 'Risky Business (The Audio Movie Kit)'

01 No Future (Film Version)
02 Lana (Press Kit Version)
03 Guido The Killer Pimp (Press Kit Version)
04 U Boat Commander 

05 U Boat Commander (Press Kit Version)
06 Catching The Egg
07 Returning The Furniture (Press Kit Version)
08 Love On A Real Train (End Credits)
09 Joel's Dream (The Dream Is Always The Same) (bonus track)
10 Love On A Real Train (Train Sequence) (bonus track)

Track listing  for 'Risky Business - The Full Score' by Tangerine Dream

01 The Dream Is Always The Same 
02 Joel's Dream (The Dream Is Always The Same) 
03 Watering Flowers 
04 Watering Flowers (Tangram Set One) 
05 Wrong Date 
06 No Future (Film Version) 
07 No Future (Get Off The Babysitter)
08 See You Tonight 
09 Lana 
10 Bond Withdrawal 
11 Guido The Killer Pimp (Film Version) 
12 Guido The Killer Pimp (Press Kit Version) 
13 Guido The Killer Pimp (Album Version) 
14 Joel & Lana 
15 Confrontation With Guido 
16 U Boat Commander 
17 U Boat Commander (Press Kit Version) 
18 Love On A Real Train (Film Version) 
19 Love On A Real Train (Album Version) 
20 Love On A Real Train (Train Sequence) 
21 Porsche Ride 
22 Yard Sale 
23 Catching The Egg 
24 Returning The Furniture 
25 Returning The Furniture (Press Kit Version) 
26 Love On A Real Train (End Credits) 

(Tracks 15 and 16 compiled by Anthony Morales and remixed by Andy Morales)

Bruce Springsteen - Across The River (1979)

It's fairly well-documented that the recording of 'The River' was an arduous and protracted affair, and what was once was envisaged as a single album, soon became (in classic Springsteen recording style) a vast collection of songs, enough to fill 5 albums, and the selection of which tracks to use proved to be one of the most important parts of realizing Springsteen's vision. Engineer Neil Dorfman has confirmed that around 50 songs were recorded for the album, and so far we've heard about 35 of them on 'The River', the 'Tracks' collection and various b-sides, but there are also a group of songs that we know from the Telegraph Hill rehearsal sessions that push the figure towards 50. These sessions were designed to hone each song before the band entered the studio and as we know from official releases the majority of these songs were professionally recorded. We'll probably have to wait for another 'Tracks' collection to see if these rehearsals every officially see the light of day, but for now they're collected here to tide us over. The songs on this album are stunning, and burn with the intensity that Springsteen and The E Street Band were producing over this period. We're all familiar with studio masterpieces such as 'Roulette' and 'Take 'Em As They Come' and it's this intensity that can be felt throughout these songs. All of these tracks can be found on 'The Lost Masters', with the songs played again and again with false starts and endings throughout and interspersed with inter-band conversations, and while 'The Lost Masters' were of interest to the obsessive fan, they didn't really stand up to repeat listening. By picking the best recordings of each song and cutting out the false starts and endings, this collection aims to elevate these eleven tracks from the Telegraph Hill rehearsal sessions to become a true companion piece to 'The River'. Although it's likely that these songs were professionally recorded, the vocals are very low in the mix on some of the tracks, and to be honest some of them sound like wordless guide vocals, although that doesn't detract in the slightest from the power of the performances.  

Track listing

01 Out On The Run
02 The Man Who Got Away
03 Under The Gun
04 Chevrolet Deluxe
05 Night Fire
06 In The City Tonight
07 Slow Fade
08 Break My Heart
09 Find It Where You Can
10 Chain Lightning
11 I Don't Wanna Be

Bruce Springsteen - The Ties That Bind (1979)

When Bruce Springsteen started to think about recording his next album in 1979, following the success of 'Darkness On The Edge Of Town', he originally envisioned it as a single album, entitled 'The Ties That Bind'. He'd been working with the E Street Band at his home studio, Telegraph Hill Studios, which was actually a barn at his Holmdel, New Jersey property, and by early August there was an initial cut of 10 songs, with Columbia beginning to believe they might have a new Springsteen record in time for Christmas. A track sequence was prepared, and in September, Bob Clearmountain was brought in to mix twelve tracks. Springsteen signed off on 'The Ties That Bind', and the tapes were sent off for mastering on October 15, but when they came back he suddenly cancelled the release, and went back to recording more songs. He later said that he felt the songs lacked the kind of unity and conceptual intensity that he liked his music to have, and his manager and co-producer, Jon Landau, suggested that maybe this record needed to be a double album, in order to encompass everything Springsteen was trying to achieve. After another seven months at the Power Station, the sessions came to an end, and 'The River' was released on October 17, 1980, including 20 of the 50 songs that had been recorded. Springsteen added darker material after he'd written the title track, and the album became noted for its mix of the frivolous next to the solemn, but he confirmed during an interview that this was intentional, as a deliberate contrast to his previous record. Bootlegs have long circulated of 'The Ties That Bind', generally in excellent quality, as the album was mastered ready for release, but a major upgrade was carried out on the original tapes in 2011, making them sound even better. What was remarkable in 2011 is that most tracks on this 'temporary assembly' of the album remained unreleased, with 'Cindy' being the one major 'River' outtakes that Springsteen was still sitting on, and the alternate verse in 'The Price You Pay' remains lost, while the rockabilly 'You Can Look (But You Better Not Touch)' and the double-tracked vocal take of 'To Be True' had never seen the light of day. 'Stolen Car' is a different take to the one on 'Tracks' and even 'The Ties That Bind', 'The River' and 'I Wanna Marry You' are alternate takes or mixes from the released versions. The 1979 single album was eventually released as one of the discs in the 2015 box set release 'The Ties That Bind: The River Collection', but to my ears this bootleg just has the edge over that version, so give it a listen and see if you agree. 

Track listing

01 The Ties That Bind
02 Cindy
03 Hungry Heart
04 Stolen Car
05 To Be True
06 The River
07 You Can Look (But You Better Not Touch)
08 The Price You Pay
09 I Wanna Marry You
10 Loose Ends

Bruce Springsteen - Electric Nebraska (1982)

Over the course of a few weeks in early 1982 Bruce Springsteen recorded demos for his new album at his home with a 4-track cassette recorder, using only acoustic guitar, electric guitar (on 'Open All Night'), harmonica, mandolin, glockenspiel, tambourine, organ, synthesizer (on 'My Father's House') and voice. Once the demos were complete, he brought the songs to sessions at the Power Station studios in late April 1982, and he attempted to record full-band arrangements of the songs with the E Street Band. However, it soon became apparent to him that a majority of these songs did not lend themselves well to these full-band arrangements, and he later said "I went into the studio, brought in the band, rerecorded, remixed, and succeeded in making the whole thing worse". Only Springsteen and Jon Landau had any decision-making power in this process, and they both felt that certain songs were too personal, and the raw, haunting folk essence present on the home tapes could not be duplicated or equalled in the band treatments. Once this decision had been made, Springsteen asked Toby Scott if it was possible to make the sound quality good enough to release some of the songs as a solo album. It took Scott a few weeks to get back to him with a definitive answer, and if that answer had been "no" then there is unlikely to have ever been a 'Nebraska' album. Eventually, Scott confirmed that he would be able to use the recordings, and so by late May it had been decided to issue the album in its acoustic form. Despite Scott's confirmation that the tape was usable, the task to produce the album was not an easy one, as some of the equipment needed was somewhat the worse for wear, and it wasn't helped by the fact that Springsteen had carried the only tape copy around in his jacket pocket for three months. Springsteen fans have long speculated whether the full-band recordings of the Nebraska session tracks that took place in the last week of April 1982 will ever surface, but bearing in mind that Springsteen didn't think they brought anything new to the songs, and in his opinion 'the right version of 'Nebraska' came out', then it's unlikely that they will ever now see the light of day. However, an enterprising fan has put together the next best thing, and has taken band recordings of all the songs from 'Nebraska' and sequencing them into the same order as the record, in effect making an electric version of the album. Considering that the recordings come from a number of different sources, they run together very well, although I felt that the take of 'My Father's House' was a bit tinny, so I've replaced that with an alternate recording, and 'Reason To Believe' ended rather suddenly so I've grafted on some applause to fade it out. That just left a bit of trimming and cross-fading so that it sounds like one complete concert, and as this is probably the nearest that we'll ever get to hearing an electric 'Nebraska', enjoy an alternate version of one of Springsteen's most highly-regarded albums.   

Track listing

01 Nebraska (1984-08-06 East Rutherford, NJ)

02 Atlantic City (1984-08-06 East Rutherford, NJ)

03 Mansion On The Hill (2000-07-01 Madison Square Garden,NY)

04 Johnny 99 (2009-05-04 Uniondale,NY)

05 Highway Patrolman (1984-08-20 East Rutherford, NJ)

06 State Trooper (1984-10-21 Coliseum, Oakland, CA)

07 Used Cars (1984-08-06 East Rutherford, NJ)

08 Open All Night (1992-07-25 East Rutherford, NJ)

09 My Father's House (1984-10-31 Sport Arena, Los Angeles, CA)

10 Reason To Believe (2007-11-19 Boston, MA) 

Bruce Springsteen - Songs To Orphans (1973)

Bruce Springsteen's musical career began as far back as 1964, after he saw the Beatles' appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show, and inspired by them he bought his first guitar and started playing for audiences with a band called the Rogues at local venues in Freehold. The following year he went to the house of Tex and Marion Vinyard, who sponsored young bands in town, and they helped him become the lead guitarist and subsequently one of the lead singers of The Castiles, who recorded two original songs at a public recording studio in Brick Township. In the late 1960's he performed briefly in a power trio known as Earth, and from 1969 to early 1971 he was a member of Steel Mill, which included Danny Federici, Vini Lopez, Vinnie Roslin, and later Steve Van Zandt and Robbin Thompson, recording three original Springsteen songs at Pacific Recording in San Mateo. Over the next two years, as Springsteen sought to shape a unique and genuine musical and lyrical style, he performed with Dr. Zoom & the Sonic Boom (early- to mid-1971), the Sundance Blues Band (mid-1971), and the Bruce Springsteen Band (mid-1971 to mid-1972). He came to the attention of Mike Appel and Jim Crecetos, managers of Sir Lord Baltimore, and in April and May 1972 they had him record his entire songbook for them, acoustically. He also recorded some sessions for John Hammond in May and June 1972, which led to his being signed to Columbia Records, where he went straight back into the studio to record his debut album 'Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J.' between June and October 1972. Sessions for the follow-up 'The Wild, The Innocent & The E Street Shuffle' took place between May and September 1973, and there were a number of out-takes left over, including the superb 'Evacuation Of The West'. Many of these recordings have appeared on various bootlegs over the years, and so I've picked the very best of the songs from these sessions which never made it to an official album, and added in a couple of edited live recordings from 1973 of otherwise unrecorded songs, to piece together a record which just confirms what a prolific talent Springsteen was at the start of his long and illustrious career. 

Track listing

01 Seaside Bar Song    
02 The Lady And The Doctor 
03 Bishop Dance     
04 War Nurse
05 Visitation At Fort Horn
06 Hey Santa Ana
07 Songs To Orphans
08 Jazz Musician
09 Thundercack
10 Family Song
11 Saga Of The Architect Angel   
12 No More Kings In Texas (Evacuation Of The West)  

Tracks 2, 4, 5, 7, 8, 10 Media and 914 Sound Studios, Blauvelt, New York City 06-07/72
Tracks 1, 6, 12 'The Wild, The Innocent & The E Street Shuffle' studio sessions 07-08/73
Track 11 Media and 914 Sound Studios, Blauvelt, New York City 20/02/1973
Tracks 3, 9  Berkeley Community Theater, Berkeley 02/03/73