CD Name: The Bruce Springsteen Story Volume 1 & 2 (E Street Records).
CD 1: Fire, See My Friend, Catch the Wind, Omaha, Unknown Song, The Break Song.
The Left Foot, an "over 13 under 18" club located in the recreation center of St Peter's Episcopal Church at 37 Throckmorton St in Freehold. Audience tape of only fair sound quality, but the only live CASTILES music in circulation - and so of major historical significance. All the above material can be found on the CD boots, "The Bruce Springsteen Story, Vol. 1" and "Vol. 2". A studious evaluation of the recording and its dynamics strongly indicates this material stems from a single gig that involved several sets. If it's not all from the same night then it's from near-consecutive nights. There is no soundcheck material, it's all live in front of an audience. As was typical of teen haunts of this era, there are few kids hanging out at the club early, but things liven up as the evening progresses.
The are a total of 22 tracks. Unfortunately 5 of these are tape-cut prematurely (noted above). Additionally there are 15 points of between song editing. The MC's introduction of the group and then the opening song, "Purple Haze", are in the correct running order. After this point the material probably isn't in anything approaching its actual performance sequence - and there is some material missing, how much is hard to tell. It's impossible to reconstruct the true sequence because too much editing has taken place between songs. Background conversation indicates that the person making the recording is affiliated with the group. At one point Bruce calls out for requests and the taper asks for "Sidewalk", a known (but uncirculating) Springsteen composition that more than one of the former Castile has rated as Bruce's finest songwriting effort of the period. Unfortunately the group then proceeds to play "San Franciscian Nights" instead.
Although Bruce may have started out in The Castiles in mid-1965 singing only background harmony, it's clear that by this late stage in the band's life that he's completely dominating the group's persona. Springsteen sings lead vocal on 14 tracks and co-lead vocal on 2 others. George Theiss sings lead vocal on the two Beatles songs, plus "San Franciscan Nights" and "Steve's Song". Interestingly the band seems to utilize The Yardbirds instrumental "Jeff's Boogie" as its constant set closer, therefore it would be performed multiple times per show. It shows up twice on this tape. The double rendition of Moby Grape's "Omaha" may indicate this material is from two shows but the audience noise indicates the band may have played it early in the evening and again later. One rendition is performed sloppily, the other much tighter, as if they wanted to try "Omaha" a second time to get it right.
All the songs (except two) are cover versions of other artist's recordings, including some material that made its world debut as late as August 1967. The choice of performance material is eclectic - it's obvious that Bruce is soaking up influences from a highly diverse range of musical styles. The Animals and Jimi Hendrix influences permeate throughout. Most of the song titles are instantly recognizable, but there are several obscure items in here as well, most notably The Blues Magoos' "One By One", The Yardbirds instrumental "Jeff's Boogie", Lee Dorsey's "Get Out Of My Life, Woman", and a rendition of Judy Collins' arrangement of "Suzanne" (the Leonard Cohen tune). Lastly, there is a near copycat rendition of "Steve's Song", a beautiful (but rarely heard) ballad from The Blues Project's late 1966 debut album. There is one Springsteen creation ("Mr Jones") that Bruce sings lead on, and a Theiss-Springsteen composition ("Look Into My Window") that George & Bruce sing harmony lead on.
As usual, the liner note information on the boot CD's contains many errors. The Yardbirds tune "Jeff's Boogie" is given a fictitious title called "The Break Song". There are songwriter miscredits. Lastly, the CD lists the recording date of this material as January 1967 - the performance date is actually nearer the end of 1967, most probably late October, give or take a month . The MC introduces The Castiles as "the band of the year at The Left Foot", further indicating we're still in 1967, but quite late in the year. This is not essential listening, but fascinating - and a huge jump in skill level from the May 1966 Bricktown studio performances.
CD 1: KT88 (instrumental) (4.13)/ JEANNIE I WANT TO THANK YOU (9.07)/ I AM THE DOCTOR (7.26)/ SOMETHING'S GOTTA BREAK (8.00)/ TEMPORARILY OUT OF ORDER (6.49)/ SWEET MELINDA (5.47)/ COME ON (4.30)/ RESURRECTION (10.33)/ (FUCKED UP) AMPLIFIER BLUES (9.13)/ FOR WHAT IT'S WORTH - RUN SHAKER LIFE - TWENTY MILES TO GO (cut)(12.13).
Audience tape - not very good. : This is the complete setlist known although it's likely that the show actually opened with He's Guilty (Send That Boy to Jail) as this was the standard set opener at the time. As so often with Steel Mill shows, shortened versions of this show, sometimes with tracks rearranged, also circulate. Sometimes dated to May 23. The date and venue seem confirmed. Bruce mentions the James River (outside Richmond) and the "gym" during the show. The only other known confirmed performance at the VCU gym was in 1969, when they were still "Child," but the announcer here clearly introduces them as "Steel Mill." NOTE the previous VCU Gym performence of 03/70 noted above is not confirmed as yet.
CD 1: CC RIDER – DOWN THE ROAD APIECE (10:31) / YOU MEAN SO MUCH TO ME (5:20) / NOTHING CAN STOP ME (4:42) / LAST NIGHT IN TULSA (4:30) / GOIN’ BACK TO GEORGIA (7:55) / NATURAL MAGIC (2:25, end cut) / Unidentified Instrumental (17:25) / DANCE DANCE DANCE (6:14) / JAMBALAYA (6:39).
ONE show, quadruple billing, with the newly-formed BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN BAND headling the outdoor “2nd Annual Nothing’s Festival”. Undercard acts were SUNNY JIM, ODIN and JEANNIE CLARK. This gig is the first known performance of The Bruce Springsteen Band. They’re essentially a modified version of Dr Zoom & The Sonic Boom (i.e., minus The Zoomettes, Southside Johnny and the various vaudeville elements). The lineup of this initial version of The Bruce Springsteen Band is Springsteen, Van Zandt, Sancious, Tallent and Lopez - plus (on selected tracks) Bobby Feigenbaum (sax), Harvey Cherlin (trumpet), along with the vocal duet of Delores Holmes & Barbara Dinkins. This large 9-member lineup of the band will eventually expand to 10, with the addition of Bruce’s manager Tinker West on congas. However this “big band sound” will only last about 2 months before it begins to shrink.
The above-mentioned setlist is taken from a circulating 66-minute outdoor audience recording of (at best) fair quality. Given this show was a 4-artist billing this audio is likely to represent most (possibly all) of Bruce’s performance at this show. This above-mentioned audio (minus “Natural Magic” and “Jambalaya”) can be found on the CD boot “DOWN THE ROAD APIECE” (Golden Stars). These performances of “Natural Magic” and “Jambalaya” are not currently found on any mainstream boot. Collectors should note that the liner notes on the “DOWN THE ROAD APIECE” CD bootleg mistakenly credit this audio to a 17/12/71 indoor club performance at Rutgers.
CD Name: The Bruce Springsteen Story Volume 6 (E Street Records).
CD 1: CC RIDER – DOWN THE ROAD APIECE (10:00) / YOU MEAN SO MUCH TO ME (5:07) / NOTHING CAN STOP ME (5:15) / I’M IN LOVE AGAIN (4:11) / DANCE DANCE DANCE (5:52) / YOU DON’T LEAVE ME NO CHOICE (8:55) / JAMBALAYA (12:47).
ONE show, with THE BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN BAND (along with a several other un-signed groups) performing as part of the Guggenheim Memorial Concert Series that took place daily in Damrosch Park during the summer of 1971. According to the New York Times the headliner and scheduled 8PM show closer on the 23rd was THE RICHARD GOLDMAN BAND, a classical orchestra noted for its creative use of wind and brass instruments. Bruce and his team were one of several unnamed-in-print undercard acts, each of who were allocated hour-long performing slots. At one point Bruce can be heard off mike asking “how much more time do we have?” The response back is “15 minutes” and Bruce times the end of his show impeccably. The fact that Bruce’s mid-1971 lineup included horns may have been the reason Tinker got this particular booking. The trumpet and sax are highly prevalent throughout and the arrangements (likely created by Van Zandt) are outstanding.
The above-mentioned setlist is taken from a soundboard recording that is available on the CD “THE BRUCE SPINGSTEEN STORY, VOLUME 6” (E Street Records). The bootleg cover implies some Columbia Records/CBS affiliation with the recording – but this is just fantasy artwork. This 60-minute recording has continuity between songs and is almost certainly the complete BSB show from this afternoon gig. Although this was an outdoor event, Bruce and the band were performing within the Guggenheim Band Shell. The superb acoustics of that shell, combined with an un-degradated source tape, have resulted in a truly exceptional concert document. Add to this a tight, highly disciplined and inspired performance by the entire band and it’s easy to see why most rate this Damrosch gig as the finest pre-CBS Springsteen concert currently in existence. This texture of this performance is more in keeping with the funkiness of Bruce’s 1974 Wild & Innocent Tour dates and early Asbury Jukes shows. It is essential audio in any Springsteen collection.
The 9-member Bruce Springsteen Band at Damrosch Park is the same as the 10-member contingent that performed at The Sunshine In ten days earlier (see 11/07/71 listing) with the exception that Tinker West is not playing congas – it seems Tinker was busy working the soundboard. This show includes some of Bruce’s finest early-period songwriting efforts. There are definitive live performances of “Jambalaya” and “You Mean So Much Tom Me” plus two songs (“I’m In Love Again” and “You Don’t Leave Me No Choice”) that are not available from any other show source. Delores Holmes delivers the sexy Ronnie Spector-ish lead vocal on these two songs. A Springsteen lead vocal of these two songs has yet to surface. Bruce’s searing guitar work during “You Don’t Leave Me No Choice” is among his all time best.
CD 1: Black Widow Spider (Mary Louise Watson), She's A Woman.
Recorded from CD "Down the Road A Piece."
Full set details are not known. ONE show, triple bill, with the 5-member BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN BAND headlining. Undercard acts are SOUTHERN CONSPIRACY and POWERHOUSE. Held at “The Ledge”, a club-coffeehouse located within the school’s Student Union facility. This was Springsteen’s first-ever performance at Rutgers and it is likely to have lasted 80 - 90 minutes.
The above-mentioned partial setlist is taken from a circulating 35-minute audience recording of poor quality that has a notorious history of being cannibalized. The MC’s introduction and the first two songs can be found on boot CD “DOWN THE ROAD APIECE” (Golden Stars). The remainder of the audio has never appeared on any mainstream boot but is circulating via private CDR sources, usually with no time-venue identification. Typically the final two or three tracks of this 35-minutes of audio are found combined with audio from an unrelated performance (see 03/12/71 listing in Brucebase). “Walking The Dog” is complete but it usually circulates incomplete. Only the first 3 minutes of “When You Dance” is in circulation.
Unfortunately it sounds as if the taper placed his microphone in the middle of a table of student drinkers, so the band’s performance is obscured by close proximity crowd noise and chatting. However the conversation does confirm the venue as being The Ledge. Although it seems likely that more of this performance would have been recorded by this source, only the 35 minutes of audio has surfaced to date. Collectors should note that the remaining 54 minutes of audio found on the “DOWN THE ROAD APIECE” CD is from an outdoor gig at Brookdale Community College on 10/07/71, not from this Rutgers show as that CD’s liner notes claim.
