Bruce Springsteen - Roll The Tapes (STU/FLAC)

(Studio FLAC)

Bruce Springsteen 
"Roll The Tapes" 
- Cassette transfers of harder to find versions of songs and a few interesting ones too 

Lineage: 
Unknown Generation Maxell XLII 90 Cassettes > Recorded as 16/44 WAV Files in Wavepad 

01 Born To Run [Heard for the first time on the radio] 
Recorded November 3, 1974 WMMR Radio 
Bruce debuted "Born To Run" live sometime in early 1974 and recorded it in the studio in August. Bruce was interviewed by WMMR DJ Ed Sciaky on this date and Ed played this version on the radio (just a different mix from the album version), the first time the airwaves had heard it. Bruce seemed to like it. 

02 Frankie 
Recorded June 3, 1977 Atlantic Studios, New York City, NY 
Written sometime in early 1976, Bruce recorded this excellent song during the Darkness sessions, although it appears he did not finish it at the time. This version is from the sessions. 

03 Darkness On The Edge Of Town 
Recorded June 1977 Atlantic Studios, New York City, NY 
Before we got the album version, Bruce fiddled around with the arrangement, adding some very nice guitar work to the song, some might say worthy of an official release. 

04 I Wanna Be With You 
Recorded June 1, 1977 Atlantic Studios, New York City, NY 
Unknown to many, Bruce recorded this song before re-recording it during the River sessions and then releasing that excellent version on Tracks. This take was recorded on the first day of the Darkness sessions and is musically great but Bruce hadn't completed the lyrics yet. Still, it is powerful. 

05 Mr. Outside 
Recorded late 1979 Bruce's Home, Holmdel, New Jersey 
Recorded by Bruce as a demo in his house. He never recorded it in studio for the River album but for some reason decided to release it on the Ties That Bind: The River Collection even though it is not an outtake. And he edited the version too!; this is the full demo in all of its glory with a catchy melody. 

06 Murder Incorporated [#1] 
Recorded May 3-4, 1982 The Power Station, New York City, NY 
Now an infamous song with a hazy meaning, "Murder Incorporated" is now anticipated by fans at live shows. This version is different from the officially released one; first it includes 
more backing vocals and second it includes the full song uncut, with no fade. 

07 Murder Incorporated [#2] 
Recorded May 3-4, 1982 The Power Station, New York City, NY 
Same take as mentioned above, but includes no backing vocals in the first verse; it is also uncut. 

08 None But The Brave 
Recorded June 1983 The Power Station, New York City, NY 
A live rarity, this version is a different mix that features less overdubs than the officially released version. 

09 Glory Days 
Recorded May 5, 1982 The Power Station, New York City, NY 
Now one of Bruce's famous rockers, this version of "Glory Days" is uncut (it features the extra verse that was cut from the album version) and features Bruce's count-in and some talk before the take. 

10 Cover Me 
Recorded January 25, 1982 The Hit Factory, New York City, NY 
This version is the same as the album version, but it features a different mix that lacks Bruce's lead guitar in the song besides the guitar solo. Also, the saxophone and piano are turned up in the mix more. 

11 Bruce's Answering Machine Message 
Recorded sometime in the 1980's 
An interesting little short song Bruce wrote and recorded for his answering machine message in the early 1980's. This recording seems to originate from someone calling Bruce's house phone and then recording it at the same time; as to how this guy got his number, I would like to know. 

A little background information: I am constantly obtaining cassette tapes with Springsteen recordings on them. I recently acquired a lot of tapes, mostly live stuff, but there were a few with outtake cassettes too. And this is how we got here. I played them back and discovered some no new material but some songs that sounded better than the circulating sources. I also discovered some rarer versions of songs. So I decided to share them with the collector community. I recorded the songs and edited them slightly in Wavepad, some EQing and normalizing for the most part. Just to be clear, some of the songs sound better than circulating sources, keyword is some. Others are only included because of their rarity. For example, the versions of "Murder Incorporated" are only included because of their completeness; they include the full take with no fade. "Glory Days" is included because it includes the full take as well, with no fade and with the extra verse that was cut from the officially released version, although it is a little distorted at times. The three tracks from the Darkness sessions that are included here ("Frankie," "I Wanna Be With You," and "Darkness On The Edge Of Town") sounded better to me than circulating sources; you be the judge. As to the lineage of the cassettes, I have no clue. There is a fair amount of hiss on the tapes, so they can't be that low of a generation. But whatever the source of the original songs on the tapes, they sound pretty damn good. And this upload kind of overlaps Bruce laying down a majority of the tracks on the Born In The USA album 35 years ago. Also on this day 40 years ago, Bruce walked into the studio for the first 
time in 3 years to start recording the Darkness album, and one of the tracks recorded that first night is featured here ("I Wanna Be With You").