Recommendations of the Editorial team
We have Our archives After our dream list with great, unknown songs from Bruce Springsteen, searched through that we would like to hear from him. Some of them were recorded by his bands Steel Mill and the Bruce Springsteen band at E Street before his time. Others are outtakes from classic studio albums.
“Preacher’s Daughter” (1978)
Springsteen published two CDs in 2011 with outtakes from “Darkness on the Edge of Town”. But somehow he forgot this urgent track. He played a section of the song in 1978 a few times as an intro to “She’s The One”. One of these performances can be found on the Houston DVD of “The Promise”. And that’s the only thing that has ever come close to an official publication. But here you can hear the studio version.
“Ballad of Jesse James”, Bruce Springsteen Band (1971)
Almost 40 years before he wrote “Outlaw Pete”, Bruce Springsteen wrote an even better cowboy epic. “Ballad of Jesse James”, one of the best original songs from the short -lived Bruce Springsteen Band. The group included the later E Street musicians Steve van Zandt, Garry Tallent, Vini Lopez and David Sancious. Like most songs from this time, Springsteen has not touched him since the early 1970s.
“Goin ‘Back to Georgia”, Steel Mill (1969)
Springsteen initially made a name for himself in the local ASBury Park band Steel Mill, in which the later E Streeters Vini Lopez, Danny Federici and Steve van Zandt also played. They never recorded a real album. However, due to their marathon live shows, they won a pretty loyal followers in New Jersey. And strangely in Richmond, Virginia. One of the highlights was “Goin ‘Back to Georgia”, which is clearly committed to the Allman Brothers.
“The Klansman” (1983)
The sessions too Born in the USA lasted about three years and produced a lot of great non-album tracks. Including “Shut Out the Light”, “Pink Cadillac” and “Murder Incorporated”. These were all published. But “The Klansman”-a dark story about a boy from the south visited by a KKK advertiser-stayed in the drawer. He recorded the song in his home studio with a drum machine.
“Cindy” (1979)
In 1979 there would have been almost a new Bruce Springsteen album entitled “The Ties That Bind”, which would have included this beautiful love song. But Springsteen withdrew the LP at the last minute. He went back to the studio and recorded a lot of other songs for the later double album “The River”. “Cindy” did not make it to the album. But Bootlegger got hours of material into their hands from this time.
“Child Bride” (1982)
Is that the strangest song by Bruce? Many songs from “Nebraska” are told from the perspective of criminals. But this outfake about a man who takes a minor woman to Florida as a “child bride” is pretty dark. It is not far from the true story of Charles Starkweather, the protagonist of the title song by “Nebraska” (and the classic Terrence Malick film ‘Badlands’, an important inspiration for jumping steels). The song was never released. However, parts of it flowed into “Working on the Highway”.
“Janey Needs a Shooter” (1978)
Springsteen worked on “Janey Needs a Shooter” for six years. But was never satisfied with the result. Warren Zevon fell in love with the title after hearing him from Springsten’s manager Jon Landau. He began to write his own version (with the changed name Jeannie) – the Springsteen helped him finish. Springste’s own version remained unpublished.
“Lonely Night in the Park” (1974)
In 1974 there was no Bruce-Springsteen album. But he wrote new material almost all year round. “Lonely Night in the Park” was originally intended for his third album. Manager Jon Landau argued that this song should appear on “Born to Run” instead of “Meeting Across the River”. He was overruled.
“Visitation at Fort Horn” (1972)
“Visitation at Fort Horn” was originally intended for “Greetings from Asbury Park”. But Clive Davis saw no hit for the LP. He sent Springsteen back to the studio, where he recorded “Spirit in the Night” and “Blinded by the Light”. To make room, he stroked “Visitation at Ford Hood”. A word -rich epic that is reminiscent of “Lost in the Flood”.
“If I was the priest” (1972)
The Wild-Sakrilegian Jesus-in-Westen story “If I was the Priest” was never officially published. But remains one of the most important songs in the Springsteen repertoire. He played it at Columbia manager John Hammond at her first meeting. Hammond signed the young songwriter. In the hope that his debut album would only consist of solosongs like this.
“Song for Orphans” (1972)
Springsteen almost never plays songs from the time “Greetings from Asbury Park“At concerts, so that fans have to go through bootlegs to hear them.“ Song for Orphans ”is a rare exception. Out of the blue, he got the song in 2005 when he stopped “Devils and Dust“Tour in Trenton out of the drawer. The few people in the arena who knew the song were unless.
“Cowboys of the Sea” (1972)
This is another song that Springsteen played for John Hammond in 1972 in his audition for Columbia. He tried a studio version during the ‘Greendings’ sessions. But she didn’t make it into the final selection. It is a completely strange story about cowboys that “guard the fish of the depth … at the bottom of the sea”.
“Street Queen” (1972)
This is another song from Springste’s demo sessions with John Hammond from 1972. It is a kind of forerunner of “Kitty’s Back” and is about a girl with “Cadillac hips”, eyes such as “certified glass” and “legs like a sedan”.
“Tokyo” (1973)
“Tokyo” was an former candidate for The Wild, The Innocent & The E Street Shuffle. Springsteen played it regularly. But epic songs such as “Rosalita” and “New York City Serenade” only left space for seven songs. “Tokyo” was canceled, although many great live recordings have been preserved. It is a rare opportunity to hear Garry Tallent on the Tuba.
“Tiger Rose” (1995)
This song, which was taken during the recordings for “Ghost of Tom Joad”, was recorded by Rockabilly hero Sonny Burgess and published in 1997 on the Springsteen tributalbum “One Step Up/Two Steps Back: The Songs of Bruce Springsteen”. Springsteen and Burgess played him together in 2001 at a benefit concert to commemorate September 11th in Red Bank, New Jersey.