One of the things I love about doing a music blog is being able to share some of the music that I am enjoying listening to at any given moment. I realise that not everyone who reads the blog will have the same musical taste, but that's okay, I'm not going to get on your case about it. I guess the one thing I have always tried is to do put something up that might give you the reader an opportunity to experience something different from what you normally listen to. Today's choice is a collection of songs by Tom Petty performed a number of artists from the world of Country Music.
For those who may be wondering where Country Music fits among all the other types of music I listen to, let me assure you that it's not a new thing at all with me. As a kid I grew up with a Mother, who among her own musical tastes, absolutely loved Country Music. It was not uncommon to hear the sounds of Hank Williams, Hank Snow, Johnny Cash, Charlie Rich, Dolly Parton, Glen Campbell and Tammy Wynette plus loads more playing on the living room stereo. Add to that my own delving into the genre with the music of Hank Wangford, Emmylou Harris, Buddy & Julie Miller, as well as newer artists like Miranda Lambert, Jason Isbell, Ashley McBryde, Eric Church, and oh so many more.
So if you are open to experiencing something new to your ears this might be a good starting place. There are links for every song on the album and as a wee bonus I'll post a few links for some other artists covering the songs of Tom Petty.
Petty Country: A Country Music Celebration of Tom Petty - Various Artists Big Machine 21st June 2024
Tom Petty (pictured above, credit to Sam Jones) and Country Music, it's not going to be everyone's cup of tea (some Petty fans are already foaming at the mouth in rage that such a thing is happening!) but I think it's a gem of an album. It also has the seal of approval from the family of Petty and even a couple of Heartbreakers turn up on the album (Mike Campbell and Benmont Tench). I guess if folks have an axe to grind about the album they should take it up with those who gave it the okay in the first place rather than attack the artists involved in the project.
It's ten days after the 40th Anniversary of the release of 'Born In The U.S.A.' and to celebrate this milestone Sony Music have put out "a special-edition release featuring new coloured vinyl and expanded packaging on 14th June 2024. Arriving via translucent red LP, this anniversary edition of 'Born In The U.S.A.' will feature a gatefold sleeve and exclusive booklet with archival material from the era, new liner notes penned by Erik Flannigan and a four-color lithograph" (from the press release). To obtain one of these you are going to have to hand over between £29.99-39.99, depending where you purchase it from. I will not be purchasing it as I do not have a record player and it seems rather pointless splashing out cash on something I'm never going to play.
Like most Springsteen fans I had thought that there might be another Boxset issued, similar to what had been done with the 'Darkness On The Edge Of Town' and 'The River' albums. Such a thing had been spoken about in many Springsteen groups going back to even the 30th Anniversary and lots of rumours and speculation were thrown around as to what it might contain. You can imagine the sense of disappointment when the announcement came that it would only be the album on Red Vinyl as a Limited Edition!
I decided that to get over this disappointment I would envisage what I thought a 'Born In The U.S.A.' Boxset might look like (saying this I realise that most fans might have their own ideas, and that's a good thing. Maybe leave a comment if you are able to outlining what your Boxset might contain). For the record, let me say again, this is not something that's an Official release, it's just something from the imagination of a Springsteen fan who has too much time on his hands! 😀
Of course, the first thing in the Boxset is the album itself. I'm going with a CD/DVD package as Vinyl would be too expensive. As we go along maybe I'll add some history of the album and the songs that didn't make the record. There's lots of links to music and video below, so click on them to enjoy the sounds.
Born In The U.S.A. - Bruce Springsteen Columbia/CBS 4th June 1984 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 By The Numbers: Charts US Chart #1 UK Chart #1 Australian Chart #1 Austrian Chart #1 Canadian Chart #1 Dutch Chart #1 French Chart #2 German Chart #1 Italian Chart #2 Japanese Chart #6 New Zealand Chart #1 Norwegian Chart #1 Spanish Chart #2 Swedish Chart #1 Swiss Chart #1 By The Numbers: A brief snapshot of Certification* Over 30 Million Copies Sold Worldwide Australia 14x Platinum Canada Diamond Germamy 2x Platinum New Zealand 17x Platinum Portugal Gold UK 3x Platinum US 17x Platinum * The amount of sales that gets a Diamond, Platinum and Gold Certification is different in each country mentioned
The next addition to the Boxset would be the singles. Seven were released from the album (too many I think but it happened) and I would have the seven singles on CD with their artwork featuring the Born In The U.S.A. material from both the 7" and 12" where applicable.
I think there should be at least one DVD included of a live show. I have no idea how much footage there is sitting around but there was a bootleg DVD doing the rounds for a while that could maybe be cleaned up visually and the audio quality as well.The Parc De La Courneuve, Paris, France 29th June 1985 show appears to have been Pro-shot, but I don't know exactly what it was filmed for. It's a great setlist as well (see below)
1 BORN IN THE U.S.A. 2 BADLANDS 3 OUT IN THE STREET 4 JOHNNY 99 5 ATLANTIC CITY 6 SHUT OUT THE LIGHT 7 THE RIVER 8 WORKING ON THE HIGHWAY 9 TRAPPED 10 DARLINGTON COUNTY 11 GLORY DAYS 12 THE PROMISED LAND 13 MY HOMETOWN 14 THUNDER ROAD 15 COVER ME 16 DANCING IN THE DARK 17 HUNGRY HEART 18 CADILLAC RANCH 19 DOWNBOUND TRAIN 20 I'M ON FIRE 21 BECAUSE THE NIGHT 22 ROSALITA (COME OUT TONIGHT) 23 CAN'T HELP FALLING IN LOVE 24 BORN TO RUN 25 BOBBY JEAN 26 RAMROD 27 TWIST AND SHOUT - DO YOU LOVE ME 28 ROCKIN' ALL OVER THE WORLD
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QR Code Live Show Download
The Boxset is already CD heavy (1 album and 7 singles) so for a change of pace I thought including a QR Code that would take you directly to Springsteen's website where there will be a choice to download a show from the Official Archives from the 1984-85 Tour. As far as I can recall (I'll have to double check) four shows from the Brendan Byrne Arena, East Rutherford NJ 10 night stand in 1984 are available and the Giants Stadium, NJ 22nd August and Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum 27th September from 1985 are also available. Here's Links to two of the 1984 shows as an example :
Another QR Code link could also be used for the bringing together of the numerous outtakes both released and unreleased (a number of them were released as the B-sides of the singles already mentioned above and 12 tracks were featured on the 'Tracks' Boxset and two tracks on 'Essential Bruce Sringsteen'. Others still remain unreleased to date). The link could go directly to Springsteen's Website where all the tracks can be downloaded or even streamed if you so wish.
It would probably be better to do it this way rather than have CD copies as there's so many of them. I have put together a playlist of my own with about 41 songs that you can see below:
There was actually a really good Bootleg put out called 'Unsatisfied Heart' that brought many of the 'Born In The U.S.A. Sessions' songs together that could easily be co-opted for a great playlist (see below).
Disc 1: 01 Born In The U.S.A. (Contains a different Springsteen vocal overdub and a very long, extended jam ending) 02 Murder Incorporated (This track has the original Van Zandt background vocals) 03 Downbound Train (Slighly different version / mix) 04 Glory Days (Unedited, contains an entire extra verse (about Bruce’s dad) that was cut from the officially released version) 05 This Hard Land (Original Take-re-recorded the song in 1995 and released that re-recording on 'Greatest Hits') 06 My Love Will Not Let You Down (Different Mix compared to Tracks) 07 Johnny Bye Bye (Bruce borrowed the first two lines from Chuck Berry’s song “Bye Bye Johnny) 08 Frankie (No Sax Solo) 09 I'm Goin' Down (Complete) 10 Working On The Highway (Slighly different version/mix) 11 I'm On Fire (Extended) B-sides: 12 Sugarland 13 Follow That Dream 14 Dont Back Down 15 One Love 16 Little Girl
Disc One Recording details: Track 11 recorded at The Hit Factory, Feb 1982. Tracks 1, 3, 4 recorded at The Hit Factory, March or April 1982. Track 2 recorded at The Power Station, April or May 1982. Track 10 recorded at The Hit Factory, April 1982. Track 5 recorded at The Hit Factory, May 11, 1982. Track 8 recorded at The Hit Factory, May 14, 1982. Track 6 recorded at The Hit Factory, May 5, 1982. Track 9 recorded at The Power Station, November 9th 1983. Track 13 recorded at Thrill Hill West, LA, CA, January 30, 1983. Track 14 recorded at Thrill Hill West, LA, CA, January 4, 1983. Tracks 7, 12, 15, 16 recorded at Thrill Hill West, mid Jan to mid Feb 1983.
Disc 2: 01 None But The Brave (The original mix without the new (90's) vocal track or the overdubbed second guitar) 02 Murder Incorporated #2 (Different mix permutation of the same core recording as #1) 03 (Drop On Down And) Cover Me 04 Janey Don't You Lose Heart (Same Mix as the one on tracks, longer fade out, and features Steve Van Zandt on background vocals and guitar) 05 My Love Will Not Let You Down #2 (Different Mix) 06 Cynthia (Different Mix) 07 Darlington County (Slightly different lyrics and an alternate beginning and ending) 08 Protection (Different Mix) 09 TV Movie (Original Mix with Saxophone) 10 County Fair (Ruth Jackson on background vocals) Solo: 11 Shut Out The Light (Additional Lyric) 12 Richfield Whistle 13 Fugitives Dream 14 Delivery Man 15 The Klansman 16 Unsatisfied Heart
Disc Two Recording details: Track 1 recorded at The Hit Factory, from the April-June 1983 sessions. Track 3 PROBABLY recorded at The Hit Factory during Jan or early Feb 1982. May be from later. Track 2 recorded at The Power Station, April or May 1982. Track 4 recorded at The Hit Factory, June 16, 1983 Track 5 recorded at The Hit Factory, May 5, 1982. Track 6 recorded at The Hit Factory, April 20, 1983. Track 7 recorded at The Power Station during April or May 1982. Track 8 recorded at The Hit Factory, Feb 1982. Track 9 recorded at The Hit Factory, June 13, 1983. Track 10 recorded at The Hit Factory, April or May 1983. Tracks 11,13 recorded at Thrill Hill West, August 1982 through April 1983. Tracks 12,14,16 recorded at Thrill Hill West, January through May 1983. Track 15 recorded at Thrill Hill West, January 4, 1983.
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If you are a total music nerd like me and want to read more on the making of the 'Born In The U.S.A.' album then please go and check out BRUCEBASE WIKI. There you will be able to find all the details for the songs recorded during the Sessions between January 1982 - February 1994.
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The last addition to the boxset I would put in a Born In The U.S.A. Tour Poster.
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