Springsteen: Nebraska 1982
Bruce said many times over the years since "Nebraska" came out that he had tried out the tracks with The E Street Band and that everything he tried to do with the band just made the songs worse. So he ended up releasing the cassette tape he'd carried around in his pocket, of his original bedroom demos.
But did we fans believe him? Uhhhh... maybe. Anyway, now we have the evidence. Due to production delays, the official release won't make it out until October 24th, but the songs have started circulating. So... let's get to it!
Was Bruce right? In a word, yes. There is simply nothing here that can displace the lonely quiet desperation that infuses the songs Bruce recorded on that TEAC machine in his bedroom in early 1982. That doesn't make these bad, or anything like that. But "Nebraska" was a one-of-a-kind record.
The "Electric Nebraska" disc is my primary focus in the new box. It contains recordings of 6 of Nebraska's 10 songs with subsets of the E Street Band, as well as initial versions of 2 songs that were eventually included on the "Born in the U.S.A." record:
"Nebraska": In the recent movie "Deliver Me From Nowhere," there is one critical scene in which Bruce complains to Jon Landau about how "Nebraska" sounds with the band." He wasn't wrong. This version of "Nebraska" sounds clean enough and it's performed well. But as is common in much of the electric set, the original recording is just... better.
"Atlantic City" is similar to the live versions that Bruce has played through the years, in particular on the "Born in the U.S.A." tour. Little Steven is on harmony vocals, his only vocal appearance on the set (so far as I can tell, Clarence isn't on it at all, and Danny just a couple of time). There are some subtle lyrics updates that, to me, don't really work. It's a strong enough rocker, but I'd take any live version fro 1984.
 |
| Bruce Springsteen, c. 1982 from brucespringsteen.net |
"Johnny 99," to me, is the unexpected gem in this set. It rocks, in a honky-tonk arrangement that previews his more recent tour performances of the song. Garry's bass part here is identical to what he played in 2023, and this one just moves. As with "Atlantic City," there are modifications to the lyrics here that don't really work for me. One of the things I adore about the lyrics as laid down in the bedroom recordings is they are often left without details; here Bruce fills in some of those gaps and in the process songs lose a bit of their resonance. I already knew the victim of Ralph's crime was innocent; having Ralph say it out loud doesn't add anything.
"Downbound Train," on the other hand, did nothing for me; a shouter that just doesn't work. Back in the day, Dave Marsh criticized this song for putting the singer in 3 jobs in the space of just 5 verses. Without the more restrained arrangement that eventually made it to the "Born in the U.S.A." album, i hear mostly the shouting.
"Open All Night" was the only song Brue recorded on electric guitar for the "Nebraska" album. This version has a beat and is more polished, and that's exactly the problem. That, and more lyrics updates that don't work.
"Born in the U.S.A." has already been dropped to the public, and it's stunning. Just Bruce, Garry and Max and in some ways it may be the most powerful track Bruce has ever recorded.
"Reason to Believe" is a great song and I'll take it in any setting from Bruce, from the 1984 tour version straight through to his solo performances with the bullet mic in 2005. This one, a mid-range rocker, adds to the suite.
In all, Electric Nebraska is more a "really nice to have" than "holy grail," both proving Bruce's judgment in 1982, and also adding a couple of true gems. The band recordings aren't, to my ears, full attempts at creating an album: they're rough, there is only one lead guitar part, one harmony vocal, and no saxophone at all. And Bruce hadn't tried out many of his songs at all before giving up on the project. Still, he managed to come up with these versions of "Born in the U.S.A." and "Johnny 99." And, yeah, I have it playing on repeat.
In addition to Electric Nebraska, there are two other discs of previously unreleased tracks: a disc of 2025 live recordings from the Count Basie Theater, and an outtakes disc. The live recording -- what I've listened to so far, anyway -- are all nice enough and performed in the instrumental spirit of the original recordings.
The outtakes disc consists mostly of material that has circulated previously, including two officially released tracks (this version of "Born in the U.S.A" was included on "Tracks," and "The Big Payback" was released as a European B-side and eventually in the USA on "Essential") and several others on a massive bootleg set called "The Lost Masters." Still, its nice to have those songs, including the original versions of "Pink Cadillac" and "Child Bride" (later "Working On the Highway"} and "The Losin' Kind." Three of these are new to me, and of those, "On the Prowl" is a particularly nifty and scary little blues number. The other two, an acoustic run-through of "Working on the Highway" and the cliché ridden "Gun in Every Home," are less essential, though the lost ending of the latter, "I don't know what to do," seems a fitting final line for the set.
Comments