When I was fourteen, I bought a Springsteen bootleg cassette off of a kid in the library of Tenafly High School. The bootleg was called Don’t Look Back: 1974-1980, and it contained some studio outtakes that then held a huge amount of lore in Springsteen circles (“Roulette,” “Don’t Look Back” - they're now on Tracks). It also contained some incredible, rare live stuff that I had never heard before, such as an acoustic version of “Rosalita” from a radio show in 1974. But the song that really got me was a slow, re-arranged version of “Tenth Avenue Freeze Out” from the Tower Theater in Philadelphia from December 30th, 1975. I wore the TDK cassette out playing that version – it was the song that I often played for people who didn’t get Bruce to show them how amazing he was/is as a band leader and re-arranger. It might be one of the greatest things he's ever done and hearing the song in that arrangement was one of the many epiphanous moments I had as a kid that got me deeper and deeper into music.
Last night, thanks to a hard-core Springsteen fan who has made it his personal mission to have high quality, unreleased Springsteen material put up on the net, I now have that version of “Tenth Avenue” to share with you in professional quality. It’s from the 12/31/75 show at the Tower, and it was recorded for a possible live album that never happened. This is not a soundboard – it’s a fully mixed version from the multi-track master. It’s incredible. Only nine songs from the show were uploaded, but here are four of them for you, including two of his great covers; Manfred Mann’s “Pretty Flamingo” and Harold Dorman’s “Mountain Of Love.” Play this loud!Download: "Tenth Avenue Freeze Out" 12/31/75, Philadelphia, PA
Download: "Pretty Flamingo" 12/31/75, Philadelphia, PA
Download: "Does This Bus Stop At 82nd Street?" 12/31/75, Philadelphia, PA
Download: "Mountain Of Love" 12/31/75, Philadelphia, PA
Thank you & Amen!
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome. Believe it or not, I would prefer NOT to write about Bruce...but once this bootleg came in, I HAD to share it. It's ridiculous.
ReplyDeleteThe feelings you describe about that boot TDK cassette are the very same feelings I had back in 1980/83 when I was on a mission searching for more 'rare' tapes like that, and every new one was a new holy grail. "You Can Trust Your Car", "Winterland '78", "The great White Boss" and the amazing "Son You May Kiss the Bride" some years later, which was a HUGE find.
ReplyDeleteSo many years later it's a real pleasure to re-discover those feelings when something like these Tower Theatre recordings show up unexpectedly. Thanks for a great blog. Sal
I have listened to that song so many times, but this version blew me away. Really cool. Your blog is great. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteAny chance of putting up the other five songs for us torrent challenged people?
ReplyDeleteThis is amazing stuff.
thanks!
I would love to - having some trouble uploading a couple of the other songs. Will continue trying.
ReplyDeleteIt's up. Enjoy!
ReplyDeleteI'm a huge fan of Bruce myself. Thanx for the post about his guitar on my blog. See ya.
ReplyDeletethanks a lot, man, great moment
ReplyDeletefantastic!
ReplyDeletemany thanks for posting.
could you please please please fix the upload links -- they have expired.
ReplyDeleteI am dying to hear these "uber" versions of this fantastic springsteen show. i used to have the bootleg of the whole show called 'teardrops on the tower,' but i understand these versions are superior improvements - if you can fix your links thx again!
Ben - any chance you can update those links? Springsteen played "Pretty Flamingo" at Giants Stadium last night - mind-blowing! - and now I am desperate for a version.
ReplyDeleteHope yr well,
Piotr
Don't Look Back was my first bootleg too, purchased at a college record store. Could you repost these? links are dead.
ReplyDelete