Electric Nebraska
Electric Nebraska | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Studio album by Bruce Springsteen | ||||
Released | Cancelled, slated for 1982 | |||
Recorded | January 3, 1982, to May 1982 in Colts Neck, New Jersey, Power Station Studios, and The Hit Factory in New York | |||
Genre |
| |||
Label | Columbia | |||
Producer | Bruce Springsteen | |||
Bruce Springsteen chronology | ||||
| ||||
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band chronology | ||||
| ||||
Electric Nebraska is the name commonly given to the E Street Band recordings of the tracks that would eventually comprise the Nebraska album and to some extent the Born in the U.S.A. album, as well as a few compilation albums.[1] The original intent with the album was to record and release the tracks in a traditional rock arrangement with the E Street Band, however, due to the personal, somber, and folksy nature of the demos Springsteen had already recorded and felt the band could not recreate, decided to scrap the full band album and release the tracks as they were, without the rock arrangements.[2] Besides the future Nebraska tracks, the sessions also spawned eight tracks that would eventually find their way to the follow-up album Born in the U.S.A. as well as a few released tracks not included on that album and a few that were left unreleased.[3]
History
Bruce Springsteen recorded the demos for the album on a 4-track cassette recorder at his home in a time frame of 1981-1982.[4] Unlike the later Electric Nebraska recordings, the demos were sparse, using only acoustic guitar, electric guitar (on "Open All Night"), harmonica, mandolin, glockenspiel, tambourine, organ, synthesizer (on "My Father's House") and Springsteen's voice.[5] The songs also have sparse composition, and many are simple three-chord songs.[6][7][8]
Following the completion of the demos, Springsteen brought the demos down to the studio with the intention of turning them into proper E Street Band recordings, commonly referred to as Electric Nebraska to differentiate them from the demos, however, Springsteen and Jon Landau felt the E Street Band recordings could not duplicate the raw, deeply personal, and haunting folk essence of the home tapes. While the Electric Nebraska album was scrapped, a handful of tracks (namely eight) would later find their way to the Born in the U.S.A. album, released in 1984, a few as stand-alone singles, and a few remaining unreleased in any form to this day. Tracks from these sessions that were included on Born in the U.S.A. include: "Born in the U.S.A.", which was completed on May 3, 1982; "Downbound Train", recorded April 28, 1982; "Cover Me", recorded at the Hit Factory, New York on January 25, 1982; "I'm on Fire", recorded at the Power Station on May 11, 1982; "Glory Days", recorded at the Power Station on May 5, 1982; "Darlington County", recorded at the Power Station on May 13, 1982; "Working on the Highway", recorded April 30 and May 6, 1982, and "I'm Going Down", recorded on May 12 or 13, 1982.[9]
January 3, 1982 is commonly called[by whom?] the "legendary night" where 15 tracks were recorded. These were: "Starkweather" ("Nebraska"), "Atlantic City", "Mansion on the Hill", "Johnny 99", "Highway Patrolman", "State Trooper", "Used Cars", "Wanda" ("Open All Night"), "Reason to Believe", "Born in the U.S.A.", "Downbound Train", "Child Bride", "Losin' Kind", "My Father's House" (May 25, 1982), and "Pink Cadillac", a total of 15 songs; 10 of these tracks would make the Nebraska album while the "Born in the U.S.A." demo would later appear on the Tracks compilation album.[10] The remaining four demos have circulated amongst Springsteen fans with two of these, "Downbound Train" (Born in the U.S.A.) and "Pink Cadillac" (Tracks) being officially released in a band format leaving "Child Bride" and "Losin' Kind" as unreleased outside of their demo versions. There was also another demo, "The Big Payback" recorded later in spring 1982, and "Johnny Bye-Bye", which Springsteen confused with a live version recorded July 1981, that was actually never recorded during this period, that brings the total to the often-cited 17.[11] [12]
Release
Due to the realization that the folk recordings of Nebraska worked better than the band recordings, Electric Nebraska (and its briefly floated double-album plan featuring both the folk and electric recordings) was shelved.[13] Springsteen fans have speculated on whether the album would eventually be released,[14] however, most of the tracks, save for nine that remain unreleased,[15] have been released either on the Nebraska album, Born in the U.S.A. album, or as a stand-alone single or part of a compilation album. In a 2006 interview Jon Landau said that Electric Nebraska's release was unlikely stating that "the right version of Nebraska came out".[16] Alternately, drummer Max Weinberg praised the band recordings as "killing".[17]
Personnel
The following are purported to have taken part in the Electric Nebraska sessions, although it is debatable who may or may not have appeared on these sessions besides Bruce Springsteen:
The E Street Band
Legacy
New Jersey poet Tohm Bakelas released a chapbook of poems titled "Electric Nebraska" that was published in May 2022 by ClairObscur Zine.
References
- ^ "How One Amazing Night Led to Bruce Springsteen's 'Nebraska'". 3 January 2016.
- ^ "Dusting 'Em off: Bruce Springsteen - Nebraska". 20 July 2013.
- ^ Heylin, Clinton (2012). Song by Song. London: Penguin. Retrieved 19 August 2019.
- ^ "How One Amazing Night Led to Bruce Springsteen's 'Nebraska'". 3 January 2016.
- ^ The demos were sparse, using only acoustic guitar, electric guitar (on "Open All Night"), harmonica, mandolin, glockenspiel, tambourine, organ, synthesizer (on "My Father's House") and Springsteen's voice.
- ^ "Mansion On The Hill". Retrieved 2017-01-26.
- ^ "Reason To Believe". Retrieved 2017-01-26.
- ^ "Nebraska". Retrieved 2017-01-26.
- ^ Heylin, Clinton (2012). Song by Song. London: Penguin. Retrieved 19 August 2019.
- ^ "Books Archives".
- ^ "Nebraska". Brucebase. Retrieved 19 August 2019.
- ^ Heylin, Clinton (2012). Song by Song. London: Penguin. Retrieved 19 August 2019.
- ^ Hagen, Mark (January 1999). "Bruce Springsteen interview". Mojo. No. January 1999.
- ^ "How One Amazing Night Led to Bruce Springsteen's 'Nebraska'". 3 January 2016.
- ^ "Home". penguin.com.
- ^ The Rock Radio: Springsteen looking at archival releases Archived March 12, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Andy Greene (2010-06-10). "Max Weinberg on His Future With Conan and Bruce | Music News". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on June 13, 2010. Retrieved 2014-02-12.
- v
- t
- e
- Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. (1973)
- The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle (1973)
- Born to Run (1975)
- Darkness on the Edge of Town (1978)
- The River (1980)
- Nebraska (1982)
- Born in the U.S.A. (1984)
- Tunnel of Love (1987)
- Human Touch (1992)
- Lucky Town (1992)
- The Ghost of Tom Joad (1995)
- The Rising (2002)
- Devils & Dust (2005)
- We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions (2006)
- Magic (2007)
- Working on a Dream (2009)
- Wrecking Ball (2012)
- High Hopes (2014)
- Western Stars (2019)
- Letter to You (2020)
- Only the Strong Survive (2022)
- Live 1975–85 (1986)
- In Concert/MTV Plugged (1993)
- Live in New York City (2001)
- Hammersmith Odeon, London '75 (2006)
- Live in Dublin (2007)
- Springsteen on Broadway (2018)
- The Legendary 1979 No Nukes Concerts (2021)
Archives
- Apollo Theater 3/09/12 (2014)
- The Agora, Cleveland 1978 (2015)
- Tower Theater, Philadelphia 1975 (2015)
- Nassau Coliseum, New York 1980 (2015)
- Brendan Byrne Arena, New Jersey 1984 (2015)
- LA Sports Arena, California 1988 (2015)
- Schottenstein Center, Ohio 2005 (2015)
- Ippodromo delle Capannelle, Rome 2013 (2015)
- Arizona State University, Tempe 1980 (2015)
- The Christic Shows 1990 (2016)
- HSBC Arena, Buffalo, NY, 11/22/09 (2016)
- Scottrade Center, St. Louis, MO, 8/23/08 (2017)
- Olympiastadion, Helsinki, July 31, 2012 (2017)
- Palace Theatre, Albany 1977 (2017)
- Auditorium Theatre, Rochester, NY 1977 (2017)
- The Summit, Houston, TX December 8, 1978 (2017)
- Greatest Hits (1995)
- 18 Tracks (1999)
- The Essential Bruce Springsteen (2003)
- Greatest Hits (2009)
- The Promise (2010)
- Collection: 1973–2012 (2013)
- Chapter and Verse (2016)
- Best of Bruce Springsteen (2024)
- The Born in the U.S.A. 12" Single Collection (1985)
- Tracks (1998)
- The Collection (2004)
- Born to Run: 30th Anniversary Edition (2005)
- The Collection 1973–1984 (2010)
- The Promise: The Darkness on the Edge of Town Story (2010)
- The Album Collection Vol. 1 1973–1984 (2014)
- The Ties That Bind: The River Collection (2015)
- Live Collection (1987)
- Chimes of Freedom (1988)
- Blood Brothers (1996)
- PBS Exclusive (2007)
- Magic Tour Highlights (2008)
- American Beauty (2014)
- Video Anthology / 1978–88 (1989)
- In Concert/MTV Plugged (1992)
- Blood Brothers (1996)
- The Complete Video Anthology / 1978–2000 (2001)
- Live in New York City (2001)
- Live in Barcelona (2003)
- VH1 Storytellers (2005)
- Wings for Wheels (2005)
- Hammersmith Odeon, London '75 (2005)
- Live in Dublin (2007)
- Magic Tour Highlights (2008)
- London Calling: Live in Hyde Park (2010)
- The Promise: The Making of Darkness on the Edge of Town (2010)
- Springsteen & I (2013)
- Born in the U.S.A. Live: London 2013 (2014)
- A MusiCares Tribute to Bruce Springsteen (2014)
- Bruce Springsteen's High Hopes (2014)
- High Hopes in South Africa (2014)
- Hunter of Invisible Game (2014)
- Born to Run tours (1974–77)
- Darkness Tour (1978)
- The River Tour (1980–81)
- Born in the U.S.A. Tour (1984–85)
- Tunnel of Love Express (1988)
- Human Rights Now! (1988)
- Bruce Springsteen 1992–1993 World Tour (1992–93)
- Ghost of Tom Joad Tour (1995–97)
- Reunion Tour (1999–2000)
- Rising Tour (2002–03)
- Vote for Change (2004)
- Devils & Dust Tour (2005)
- Seeger Sessions Band Tour (2006)
- Magic Tour (2007–08)
- Working on a Dream Tour (2009)
- Wrecking Ball World Tour (2012–13)
- High Hopes Tour (2014)
- The River Tour (2016)
- Summer '17 (2017)
- Springsteen on Broadway (2017–18; 2021)
- 2023 Tour (2023–24)
- Discography
- Songs
- E Street Band
- Steel Mill
- The Sessions Band
- The Miami Horns
- Born to Run autobiography
- E Street Radio
- Little Steven's Underground Garage
- Outlaw Pete
- Columbia Records
- 914 Sound Studios
- Record Plant
- Power Station
- The Hit Factory
- The Max Weinberg 7
- Badlands: A Tribute to Bruce Springsteen's Nebraska
- Greetings from E Street
- Backstreets Magazine
- The Upstage Club
- The Stone Pony
- Fender Telecaster
- Freehold Borough, New Jersey
- Asbury Park, New Jersey
- "Because the Night"
- "Jersey Girl"
- "Springsteen"
- Blinded by the Light (film)
- Category