Yeah...pretty sure he's not going to do that. Unless he wants to. It seems after USA came out, the Thrill Hill tape vault pretty well dried up as far as leaks go. And I guess that'll allow Bruce to tinker with any future outtakes, without any pesky bootleg comparisons.
I have no doubt that there will be at least one or two tracks each for any future box sets which will feature songs that bootleggers never got to get their hands on. It's just a hunch on my part.
Electric Nebraska would be an amazing inclusion with any Nebraska boxset, but it's unlikely. In fact, the majority of Springsteen's worthwhile unreleased material was already released on Tracks. Whatever is left over feels like scraping the bottom of the barrel.
Personally I would make Nebraska part of the BITUSA box -- they're inseparable projects, imo. Tell the whole story in one place!
In order to fully tell the story of Born In The U.S.A. -- and, for better or worse, that is the method Bruce has used to construct the three previous boxes surrounding key studio releases -- I don't see any way of leaving out the Nebraska part of the story. Adding it will of course balloon the size of this box set, so it's possible that they may break it apart somehow by focusing one part on the genesis and development of the material that was considered for BIUSA and focusing a second part on the completed BIUSA album, the singles, and the tour. Anyhow, here's what the full version could look like: 1. Original demo tape submitted with a series of handwritten notes to Landau in early 1982 - containing most of the final Nebraska recordings plus extras such as "Child Bride", "Losin' Kind", "Born In The U.S.A." (later released on Tracks), "Downbound Train", and "Pink Cadillac", all solo acoustic and recorded in Bruce's rented bedroom. Other tracks that were recorded a month or two later, such as "My Father's House" and "The Big Payback" (a b-side) could also be included as bonuses on this disc. 2. The "electric Nebraska" outtakes from spring 1982 with the E Street Band, plus other songs recorded at the same sessions, including "Murder Incorporated" (released on Greatest Hits), "Frankie" (on Tracks), "Savin' Up" (given to Clarence Clemons for his solo LP), "Protection", "Wages of Sin" (on Tracks), "Robert Ford", "Fade to Black", "This Hard Land" (on Tracks), "On The Prowl", "My Love Will Not Let You Down" (on Tracks), "Stop The War", "Baby I'm So Cold", "A Good Man Is Hard To Find (Pittsburgh)" (on Tracks), "Gun In Every Home", and several others, including several of the cuts that eventually ended up on the final BIUSA album two years later (although those would not be included on this disc). If the Bruce vocal versions of the tracks that were cut for Gary "US" Bonds' On The Line album are included, this could expand to two discs ("Lion's Den" from Tracks is one of the unused Bonds tracks, but presumably Bruce vocal versions exist of the other 5 or 6 Springsteen contributions to that album, using the same backing tracks as the released Bonds versions). 3. The "L.A. garage demos", recorded solo by Bruce in the garage of his rented Hollywood Hills home over the winter of '82-83. Some are acoustic, while most have a drum machine as accompaniment. A few of these were brought to the band in 1983 for overdubbing (or to record new full band versions). This disc could also include some additional 1981-2 acoustic demos of songs that weren't brought forward for consideration (or those could be added to disc 1 as "bonuses"). Essential tracks from this solo work would include "Richfield Whistle", "Unsatisfied Heart", "County Fair" (original demo later released on The Essential Bruce Springsteen, but the version with band overdubs should be released here), "The Klansman", "Fugitive's Dream", "One Love", "Betty Jean", "Body and Soul", "Delivery Man", "Shut Out The Light" (released as b-side with band overdubs), "Follow That Dream", "Sugarland", "My Hometown (demo version)", "Johnny Bye Bye (released as b-side; alt take released on Tracks; other superior versions remain unreleased), and "Don't Back Down". 4. The 1983-4 band sessions in New York: "King's Highway", the band version of "County Fair", band version of "Sugarland", "Light of Day", "Gone, Gone, Gone" (possible studio version of "Seeds"), "Pink Cadillac" (b-side), "Car Wash (on Tracks), "Drop On Down and Cover Me" (different song from "Cover Me"), "True Love Is Hard to Come By", "None But The Brave" (on The Essential Bruce Springsteen), "TV Movie" (on Tracks), "Cynthia" (on Tracks), "Stand On It" (b-side and alternate take on Tracks), "Janey Don't You Lose Heart" (b-side), "Brothers Under The Bridges" (on Tracks), "Glory of Love", "Shut Down", "100 Miles From Jackson", "Roll Away The Stone", "Man At The Top" (on Tracks), "Rockaway The Days" (on Tracks), "Ida Rose (No One Knows)", "Refrigerator Blues", "Summer On Signal Hill (aka Now And Forever)" (instrumental backing given to Clarence Clemons for use as a solo b-side; original version has lyrics). 5. Remastered BIUSA album. 6. Making of documentary DVD/BD. 7/8. Full concert from BIUSA tour DVD/BD - probably Los Angeles 1985, including several of the performances that were used on the live box set. Possible Paris 1985 also but since this is "out there", I see them shying away from using this. Could also add a disc of highlights from other shows on the 1984-5 tour, or perhaps these would be included on the documentary disc as "bonuses".
Only about half of the songs that were considered for BIUSA have leaked via bootleggers (albeit in multiple versions that you'd never want to listen to more than once), so I'd say that this is a pretty safe bet.
Session notes seem to indicate that they tried a band version of every track on the album save for "My Father's House". How many takes were attempted, I don't know. Also, some of these were band rehearsals and may not exist in releasable quality; some were done at the Power Station and so could theoretically be included on the box. As always, they tended to abandon things that didn't seem to be working or weren't strong candidates, which is why modern overdubs have been needed to complete some of them on previous boxes. That will probably be the case here as well.
I am interested to see if they will release any more album focused boxsets after Born in the USA. Based on the albums that he has played in full at his concerts, it is clear that he sees Born in the USA as the last of the classic albums. Whilst you could possibly make an argument for a Tunnel of Love set, it is difficult to see if there will be much of a market for a Human Touch / Lucky Town set. So perhaps after this they will look at that Tracks Vol. 2. Or perhaps a set based around the first 2 albums?
It wouldn't surprise me to see Nebraska and BITUSA combined. There's enough unreleased material from there to provide hours of music without needing to include the actual Nebraska and BITUSA albums, but that didn't stop them from making people buy another copy of the River either. But I think the making of those two records is very intertwined, so thematically it'd make sense. Rather than including albums everyone already owns, they could sequence it as 'alternate' albums, i.e. electric Nebraska and an 'alternate BITUSA,' which I'm sure wouldn't be hard to compile, before getting into the unreleased songs from this period.
During the spring of 1983, the alleged "Murder Incorporated" album sequencing was as follows: Born In The USA Murder Incorporated Downbound Train Glory Days This Hard Land My Love Will Never Let You Down Johnny Bye Bye Frankie I'm Going Down Working On The Highway I'm On Fire Then he completely revamped the album sequencing later that summer. And of course more recording took place during the remainder of 1983 into early 1984, with the resulting album being the massively successful "Born In The USA."
yes, given that one can kind of be hyped as being tied to the other. 'Two halves of the same story' kind of marketing
I am not sure how many leftovers exist for Tunnel of Love. If the info we have for recording sessions for this album is accurate (and with Bruce who knows if it is), bhere were very few songs recorded for this record other than what ended up on the record. "The Wish," comes to mind - maybe one or two more.
Maybe. But that depends how much is available for a Nebraska thing. Obviously "Electric Nebraska" would be a huge selling point, but that assumes that it exists in listenable form. There's 6 other songs from the Nebraska reels, but they're already circulating and none of them are wholly unreleased songs. (There's probably alternate takes of Nebraska songs, but as a solo acoustic album to begin with, how interesting would that be to large numbers of people?)
Around that time, he allegedly recorded a "country" influenced album or cycle of songs, so perhaps "Tunnel of Love" could be augmented with those recordings. That said, I will be surprised if "Tunnel of Love" ever receives the box set treatment.
Kinda a nerd question, but does anyone know if the shows recorded by NFL Films were actually recorded on 35MM film or on videotape?
You raise a good point. I wonder if Sony get a cut from the Nugs deal, particularly as a few of the Nugs releases have already featured on Sony releases - Houston 78 and Madison Square Garden 2000 spring to mind.
The leaked Sony memo states separate releases for Nebraska and BITUSA so I would assume Nebraska is next and, since there seems to be few Nebraska outtakes, that would be the logical place for Electric Nebraska takes.
There was that Wikileaks article about future releases from the Springsteen camp that mentions several anniversary editions including a 2 CD deluxe release of Nebraska. I hope this will be disc 1) the album remastered and disc 2) either the Electric Nebraska or more unearthed demos from that era.
