On this day in musical history Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band kicked off their Born In The U.S.A.Tour in St. Paul, Minnesota with the first of a three night stand at the St Paul Civic Center. It was the first of a 156 Date Tour.
There was a bit of a different look for The E Street Band as the tour kicked off. Steve Van Zandt was off to pastures new and in his place Nils Lofgren! Wow, now that was a great choice! Also, hang on to your hats, there was a woman in the band! Patti Scialfa on backing vocals and percussion and as time moved on she also played guitar and of course ended up marrying Mr Springsteen...some jobs have their perks! During Rosalita when he's introducing the band he said, "that’s right folks, it’s not a mirage.....right here on stage with the E Street Band is a gi-gi-gi-gi....woman....Miss Patti Scialfa from the streets of Asbury Park!"
Eight songs from the new album Born In The U.S.A. were played - the only absent songs were Cover Me (debut performance was Night 3 at St. Paul), Darlington County which would debut on Night 2 at St. Paul, Downbound Train also played Night 3 at St. Paul, and I'm Goin' Down - which finally got a debut 17th August at the Brendan Byrne Arena in New Jersey.
The video for Dancing in the Dark was also filmed at the show and that's why it turns up twice on the bootleg copies of the show.
One of the things I really love about this show is Springsteen is unafraid to do things a little different. I'm sure folks who went to the show were not expecting after the first three songs that they would get three on the bounce from the excellent Nebraska album and there would also be another two songs from the album.
In the 30 song set (31 if you include Dancing in the Dark played twice) it was loaded with the usual suspects from Springsteen's impressive catalogue Thunder Road, Prove It All Night, The River, Backstreets, Rosalita, Jungleland, Born To Run and of course the Detroit Medley to finish it all off. Prior to that they had played a cover of Rolling Stones Street Fighting Man (a song that featured on many of the shows but did have a few nights off).
Produced by Jon Landau, Chuck Plotkin, Bruce Springsteen, and Steven Van Zandt
Released 4th June 1984
US Album Chart #1
UK Album Chart #1
#1 in 9 other countries
Personnel Musicians Bruce Springsteen – lead vocals, lead guitar, acoustic guitar Roy Bittan – piano, synthesizer, background vocals Clarence Clemons – saxophone, percussion, background vocals Danny Federici – organ, glockenspiel, piano on "Born in the U.S.A." Garry Tallent – bass guitar, background vocals Steven Van Zandt – acoustic guitar, mandolin, harmony vocals Max Weinberg – drums, background vocals Richie "La Bamba" Rosenberg – background vocals on "Cover Me" and "No Surrender" Ruth Davis – background vocals on "My Hometown"
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Born in the U.S.A. is Bruce's biggest selling album of all-time and I remember when it came out that I really did love it but, for some reasons shared below, it lost a little of its sheen for me over the years.
I have to confess that whilst I like aspects of the Born in the U.S.A. album I was very skeptical about the manner in which Columbia chose to promote the album.
The word is that on hearing the album it was assumed that their were no singles on the album and so Springsteen went off and wrote Dancing in the Dark which would be the lead single released a month prior to the album. Then all of a sudden with its addition the suits are foaming at the mouth at the prospect that there was not only one single there but Seven Singles! By the way there's 11 tracks on the album!
Personally I thought it was just a bit too much. Yes it was nice to see Bruce Springsteen striving for world domination (or more like his record label striving for that) but seriously, Seven Singles off one album! It did rocket him into the public conciousness way more than he had ever been. Heck, people thought getting on the covers of Newsweek and Time magazine in the same week when Born to Run came out was a big deal! That was absolutely nothing compared to what happened with the release of Born in the U.S.A.!
I am not alone I think with my skepticism about the way this was all handled as a few fans I've spoken to have shared similar disappointment.
As the years have gone by though I have given up thinking about all the nonsense surrounding the amount of singles that sprang from it to focusing on the songs themselves but it has meant that I don't really value the album as I did when it first came out. As I said I like the album, not everything about it though. There are a few songs that I go through moments of not enjoying so much like Working on the Highway (which he seems to still play a lot live), I'm on Fire, Glory Days and even Dancing in the Dark! For me the absolute stand out songs are No Surrender, Bobby Jean, Downbound Train, My Hometown and I'm Goin' Down.
I don't want this all to sound negative though, it's not my intention at all. I just think that sometimes there are fans of particular artists who find absolutely nothing wrong with anything that is released and are maybe scared of being classed as "not a real fan" because they don't like a particular song or album just because everyone else does!
On a more positive note though even though the album doesn't totally thrill me as much as it did when first released the live performances on the Born in the U.S.A. Tour were totally incredible. I saw him twice at Wembley and both of those shows are etched into my memory for the sheer passion and energy of the performances. There's a video of the second half of the show from Toronto (the first half seems to have vanished forever) in 1984 that is worth checking out as is the performance from Paris in June 1985. The addition of Nils Lofgren on guitar was a great dimension to the band (though the departure of Steve Van Zandt, who had gone to work on other projects, was maybe not as damaging as first thought).
Despite my feelings regarding the amount of singles another positive was some of the great B-Sides that came out on them:
The other positive thing was there were loads of other songs written but that were not used or given away to other artists. That doesn't sound very positive unless you know someone with the bootleg of those outtakes and discarded songs! Below is one good bootleg collection called 'Unsatisfied Heart' that's worth a listen if you haven't heard it before. Cover Me is one of the other songs that I really like on the album and I'm sure I read somewhere that initially that was going to be a song given to Donna Summer but Bruce chose to keep it for himself and give her the song Protection (which is one of the outtakes that I really love). As far as I know he has never played Protection live in concert, but there is a version that exists from the Tunnel of Love Rehearsals in 1988 that's worth a listen.
The Born in the U.S.A. Tour touched down in New Jersey and set up camp for Ten Shows over a Fifteen day period.
SET ONE 1.BORN IN THE U.S.A. 2.OUT IN THE STREET 3.TENTH AVENUE FREEZE-OUT 4.ATLANTIC CITY 5.JOHNNY 99 6.HIGHWAY PATROLMAN 7.PROVE IT ALL NIGHT 8.GLORY DAYS 9.PROMISED LAND 10.USED CARS 11.MY HOMETOWN 12.BADLANDS 13.THUNDER ROAD
SET TWO 1.HUNGRY HEART 2.DANCING IN THE DARK 3.CADILLAC RANCH 4.SHERRY DARLING 5.NO SURRENDER 6.PINK CADILLAC 7.GROWIN' UP 8.BOBBY JEAN 9.BACKSTREETS 10.ROSALITA (COME OUT TONIGHT)
FIRST ENCORE 1.JERSEY GIRL 2.JUNGLELAND
SECOND ENCORE 1.BORN TO RUN 2.DETROIT MEDLEY 3.TRAVELIN' BAND 4.TWIST AND SHOUT
On this day in 1984 'Born in the U.S.A.' was released. To celebrate that today I'm giving this a blast, one of my favourite albums of last year.
Tracklist
"Born In The U.S.A" - Jason Isbell and Amanda Shires
"Cover Me" - Apache Relay
"Darlington County" - Quaker City Nighthawks
"Working On The Highway" - Blitzen Trapper
"Downbound Train" - Joe Pug
"I'm On Fire" - Low
"No Surrender" - Holly Williams
"Bobby Jean" - Ryan Culwell
"I'm Goin' Down" - Trampled By Turtles
"Glory Days" - Justin Townes Earle
"Dancing In The Dark" - Nicole Atkins
"My Hometown" - North Mississippi Allstars
The latest release from the Bruce Springsteen Live Vault is from the Born in the USA Tour and is the first of the ten night stand at the Meadowlands, New Jersey. It was released this week. There was a very iffy sounding ten track bootleg floating around for many years of this show so it's great to finally have the full thing. This was the 20th show on the tour. 'Jersey Girl' got its tour debut as the opener to the almost 40 minutes of Encores.
5th August 1984
Setlist BORN IN THE U.S.A. / OUT IN THE STREET / TENTH AVENUE FREEZE-OUT / ATLANTIC CITY / JOHNNY 99 / HIGHWAY PATROLMAN / PROVE IT ALL NIGHT / GLORY DAYS / THE PROMISED LAND / USED CARS / MY HOMETOWN / BADLANDS / THUNDER ROAD / HUNGRY HEART / DANCING IN THE DARK / CADILLAC RANCH / SHERRY DARLING / NO SURRENDER / PINK CADILLAC / GROWIN' UP / BOBBY JEAN / BACKSTREETS / ROSALITA (COME OUT TONIGHT) / JERSEY GIRL / JUNGLELAND / BORN TO RUN / DETROIT MEDLEY - TRAVELIN' BAND / TWIST AND SHOUT
Bruce Springsteen went to No.1 on the UK album chart with 'Born In The
USA', his first UK No.1 album. The singers seventh studio album, was the
best-selling album of 1985 in the United States (and also Springsteen's
most successful album ever). The album produced a record-tying string
of seven Top 10 singles!
3rd July 1985 Setlist
BORN IN THE U.S.A. / BADLANDS / DARLINGTON COUNTY / SEEDS
/ JOHNNY 99 / ATLANTIC CITY / THE RIVER / WORKING ON THE HIGHWAY /
TRAPPED / OUT IN THE STREET / GLORY DAYS / THE PROMISED LAND / MY
HOMETOWN / THUNDER ROAD / COVER ME / DANCING IN THE DARK / HUNGRY HEART /
CADILLAC RANCH / DOWNBOUND TRAIN / I'M ON FIRE / BECAUSE THE NIGHT /
ROSALITA (COME OUT TONIGHT) / CAN'T HELP FALLING IN LOVE / BORN TO RUN /
BOBBY JEAN / TWO HEARTS (with Steve Van Zandt) / RAMROD (with Steve Van
Zandt) / TWIST AND SHOUT - DO YOU LOVE ME (with Steve Van Zandt)
4th July 1985 Setlist
INDEPENDENCE DAY / BORN IN THE U.S.A. / BADLANDS / OUT IN THE STREET /
SEEDS / JOHNNY 99 / DARKNESS ON THE EDGE OF TOWN / THE RIVER / WORKING
ON THE HIGHWAY / TRAPPED / PROVE IT ALL NIGHT / GLORY DAYS / THE
PROMISED LAND / MY HOMETOWN / THUNDER ROAD / COVER ME / DANCING IN THE
DARK / HUNGRY HEART / CADILLAC RANCH / BECAUSE THE NIGHT / I'M ON FIRE /
PINK CADILLAC / ROSALITA (COME OUT TONIGHT) / CAN'T HELP FALLING IN
LOVE / BORN TO RUN / BOBBY JEAN / TWO HEARTS (with Steve Van Zandt) /
RAMROD (with Steve Van Zandt) / TWIST AND SHOUT - DO YOU LOVE ME (with
Steve Van Zandt)
6th July 1985 Setlist BORN IN THE U.S.A. / BADLANDS / OUT IN THE STREET / SEEDS / JOHNNY 99 /
HIGHWAY PATROLMAN / THE RIVER / WORKING ON THE HIGHWAY / TRAPPED /
DARLINGTON COUNTY / GLORY DAYS / THE PROMISED LAND / MY HOMETOWN /
THUNDER ROAD / COVER ME / DANCING IN THE DARK / HUNGRY HEART / CADILLAC
RANCH / DOWNBOUND TRAIN / I'M ON FIRE / BECAUSE THE NIGHT / ROSALITA
(COME OUT TONIGHT) / CAN'T HELP FALLING IN LOVE / BORN TO RUN / BOBBY
JEAN / TWO HEARTS (with Steve Van Zandt) / RAMROD (with Steve Van Zandt)
/ STREET FIGHTING MAN (with Steve Van Zandt) / TWIST AND SHOUT - DO YOU
LOVE ME (with Steve Van Zandt)
On this day back in 1984 Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band kicked off their massive 156 date 'Born in the U.S.A. Tour'. Opening Night was in St Paul Civic Center Arena, St Paul, Min.
The Set List was: THUNDER ROAD / PROVE IT ALL NIGHT / OUT IN THE STREET / JOHNNY
99 / ATLANTIC CITY / MANSION ON THE HILL / THE RIVER / NO SURRENDER /
GLORY DAYS / THE PROMISED LAND / USED CARS / MY HOMETOWN / BORN IN THE
U.S.A. / BADLANDS / HUNGRY HEART / DANCING IN THE DARK / DANCING IN THE DARK /
CADILLAC RANCH / SHERRY DARLING / HIGHWAY PATROLMAN / I'M ON FIRE /
FIRE / WORKING ON THE HIGHWAY / BOBBY JEAN / BACKSTREETS / RAMROD /
ROSALITA (COME OUT TONIGHT) / I'M A ROCKER / JUNGLELAND / BORN TO RUN /
STREET FIGHTING MAN / DETROIT MEDLEY - I HEAR A TRAIN.
This is a revised and expanded piece on a post that I did last year.
Today marks the 30th anniversary of it's release.
Click On The Links To Enjoy The Music. Thanks.
'Born In The U.S.A.', Springsteen's seventh studio release followed hot on the trail of the minimalist 'Nebraska',
and in many ways both albums are joined at the hip despite their
apparent differences. Bruce had begun writing songs for the follow up to
'The River' and in essence many of the songs that ended up as part of 'Nebraska'
were going to be band songs but for one reason or another once they got
to the studio the songs didn't seem to work (though if you listen to
many of the songs now as they are performed in concert you wonder how on
earth they couldn't get them to work first time around!).
The album would become one of his
biggest sellers and would also be the best selling album of 1985. Seven
of the twelve tracks ended up as singles (and all of them became hits!)!
'Dancing in the Dark' backed by 'Pink Cadillac' was also released as a 12" and a 12" of Remixes!! The single reached #2 in the USA and #4 in the UK.
'Cover Me' was backed by a live version of 'Jersey Girl', a cover version of a Tom Waits song. Reached #7 in the USA and #16 in the UK. 12" Remix was also released.
Backed by 'Shut Out The Light', the title track of the album became the third single to hit the charts. #9 in the USA and #5 in the UK. Arthur Baker again did a remix of the track entitled 'The Freedom Mix'.
A bit of a quieter number was released
as the fourth single from the album and again it hit the charts reaching
#6 in the USA and #5 in the UK. Backed by 'Johnny Bye Bye' ad adaptation of Chuck Berry's 'Bye Bye Johnny'.
A real bar room stomper was released next in 'Glory Days', backed by another rock and roll tune, 'Stand On It'. Reached #5 in the USA but only #17 in the UK.
Failed to chart in the UK but reached #9 in the USA. The single was backed by the unreleased 'Janey Don't You Lose Heart'. I remember Capital Radio DJ Roger Scott played 'Janey' quite a lot and that it was in the daily top ten on his show for a good few weeks.
The seventh and final single to be pulled from 'Born In The U.S.A.' was 'My Hometown' backed by 'Santa Claus Is Coming To Town'.
It was fitting for 'Santa' to be included as the single got it's
release in November and was primed and ready for Christmas! The version
on the single was actually recorded in 1975 on 12th December at Long
Island. Reached #6 in the USA and #9 in the UK.
Twenty five days after the release of the album Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band (minus Little Steven but with the addition of Nils Lofgren and Patti Scialfa) would launch the 'Born In The USA World Tour' with a three night stand at St Paul's, Minneapolis (listen to the opening night concert here!) and a further 153 shows to follow (taking in Australia, Japan and Europe).
Things have been a bit quiet for me the past few days as I've been away camping and have had the chance to catch up on some listening. Just picked up the above show from 2009 of Bruce and the E Street Band. This is a newer recording (I have a few others of the same show) and is way better quality than I could have imagined.
Bruce is playing Wembley Stadium today as The Wrecking Ball Tour continues in Europe. I thought to celebrate I'd dig back into the archives. So, for your enjoyment, 5 live shows from the Born in the U.S.A. Tour in 1985 in audio and a great video from Paris in full! Click on the Links to enjoy the music.
'Born In The U.S.A.', Springsteen's seventh studio release followed hot on the trail of the minimalist 'Nebraska', and in many ways both albums are joined at the hip despite their apparent differences. Bruce had begun writing songs for the follow up to 'The River' and in essence many of the songs that ended up as part of 'Nebraska' were going to be band songs but for one reason or another once they got to the studio the songs didn't seem to work (though if you listen to many of the songs now as they are performed in concert you wonder how on earth they couldn't get them to work first time around!). The album would become one of his biggest sellers and would also be the best selling album of 1985. Seven of the twelve tracks ended up as singles (and all of them became hits!)!
'Dancing in the Dark' backed by 'Pink Cadillac' was also released as a 12" and a 12" of Remixes!! The single reached #2 in the USA and #4 in the UK.
'Cover Me' was backed by a live version of 'Jersey Girl', a cover version of a Tom Waits song. Reached #7 in the USA and #16 in the UK. 12" Remix was also released.
Backed by 'Shut Out The Light', the title track of the album became the third single to hit the charts. #9 in the USA and #5 in the UK. Arthur Baker again did a remix of the track entitled 'The Freedom Mix'.
A bit of a quieter number was released as the fourth single from the album and again it hit the charts reaching #6 in the USA and #5 in the UK. Backed by 'Johnny Bye Bye' ad adaptation of Chuck Berry's 'Bye Bye Johnny'.
A real bar room stomper was released next in 'Glory Days', backed by another rock and roll tune, 'Stand On It'. Reached #5 in the USA but only #17 in the UK.
Failed to chart in the UK but reached #9 in the USA. The single was backed by the unreleased 'Janey Don't You Lose Heart'. I remember Capital Radio DJ Roger Scott played 'Janey' quite a lot and that it was in the daily top ten on his show for a good few weeks.
The seventh and final single to be pulled from 'Born In The U.S.A.' was 'My Hometown' backed by 'Santa Claus Is Coming To Town'. It was fitting for 'Santa' to be included as the single got it's release in November and was primed and ready for Christmas! The version on teh single was actually recorded in 1975 on 12th December at Long Island. Reached #6 in the USA and #9 in the UK. Twenty five days after the release of the album Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band (minus Little Steven but with the addition of Nils Lofgren and Patti Scialfa) would launch the 'Born In The USA World Tour' with a three night stand at St Paul's, Minneapolis (listen to the opening night concert here!) and a further 153 shows to follow (taking in Australia, Japan and Europe). Watch Bruce and The E Street Band Perform 'Born In The U.S.A.' at Giants Stadium 3rd October 2009. Here's a little look at the album, the links are for Official Video releases and also contain some live footage for songs that didn't have an Offical Video.
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