Boot Tracker: 12/31/75 – Last Tango In Philly

With his first entry we're welcoming Kevin on board. I appreciate Kevin's kind words at the start of his review, but a little hunger is all it takes to start the madness that sucked me into the details of R&R history. I hope Kevin and his writing will be a regular around this place in cyberspace.

I asked Alex if I could contribute to this blog and he kindly obliged to let me help out. I lack the depth of understanding Alex has where music history and all of its wonders are concerned but I'm young, and I'm hungry, and I've got a lot to say. I could compare it to that time when Bruce was busting at the seams of his skin to tell it all to us, let us know everything rumbling around in that head of his, and give us a show worth the price and then some. The Last Tango In Philly, it should be said, is probably the best sounding boot of its time, surpassing even the legendary Main Point and Bottom Line FM broadcasts in terms of audio quality. The recently unsurfaced Uber Release from a 24-track source yields incredible fidelity and, as Ev2's liner notes state, you will feel as if the E Street Band is in your living room. Unfortunately, the catch is that the boot is only 9 songs long, cut in half from an 18 song show, but what remains represents a beautiful Technicolor portrait of Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band at the end of innocence.

December 31st, 1975, finds Bruce not only on New Year's Eve but also on the Eve of his own entrance into adulthood. The Born to Run tour was a sounding bell to announce the arrival of Bruce and the band, but comparatively, it has a laid-back feel in some ways. It finds Bruce with a loose sense of focus, loose in the right ways. Even concerts as early as '76 have a sense of drive and mission, less soul rave-up with the shaggy haired Jersey kid and his band and more of a rock and roll statement of purpose, no doubt attributable for the most part to the lawsuit drama with former manager Mike Appel.

It also stands as a stark contrast to the one officially released concert from '75, the first Hammersmith show, showcasing a Bruce far more comfortable in his own skin and supernova stardom. He gently pokes around at it, intoning before Does This Bus Stop At 82nd Street? that "Seasons come, seasons go, you get your picture on the cover of TIME and Newsweek but the bus never stops.""Night" blazes out of the gate and firmly roots titself as a Grade A opener, being used frequently as song number #1 for the setlists of the next two years. "Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out" gets slowed down to a wonderfully lackadaisical pace, evoking nostalgia and the Bruce's ever developing sense of storytelling. The phrasing here wouldn't be repeated on the song until the infamous Christic shows, side stepping actually singing the words "Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out" until the last moment possible. On songs like "Bus Stop" and "Saint", The E Street Band rips through the tempo, straddling the genre spectrum in something that might be aptly called soul-punk-rock-and-roll. Bruce covers "It's My Life" by The Animals to blistering effect, starting off with a typical "daddy issues" yarn, a thread that would continue an arc within his music through songs like "Adam Raised A Cain" "Independence Day" and "Long Time Comin'". Despite the creepy-hilarious stalker story Bruce tells about him and Stevie chasing a girl, "Pretty Flamingo" is impossibly sweet, in no small part due to Phantom Dan's singular touch with the organ. It's interesting to note that the arrangement here is essentially a mirror image of the '75 arrangement of "The E Street Shuffle", complete with the pause in the middle for a rambling story about nothing/everything.

Any serious collector should do themselves the good favor of getting this immediately. Not even the legendary Main Point show from '75 can compete in terms of sound quality. For those looking for essential versions of cover standards like "Pretty Flamingo", "It's My Life", and "Mountain of Love", it's a must. And if you listen close enough, you can hear Bruce leaving the boy behind and gearing up to meet the man.

"Tenth Avenue Freeze Out"

MP3 File

Download the full show in mp3 here
A small request, use mp3s for personal use only. Keep them in your iPod or on your computer but never use a mp3 based CD in a trade. The quality of mp3s deteriorate rapidly every time a CD is ripped. Using high quality music files such as FLACs is essential in keeping the trading pool healthy.

Sound: 5 out of 5
Show: 4.5 out of 5
Artwork: 4.5 out of 5

Boot Tracker, August 21st, 22nd, 23rd, Atlanta (Mjk5510)

This recording popped up on the Dime a few days back. According to Bruce Base and the liner notes of this slightly re-mastered soundboard tape, it has been unclear for over thirty years which show this actually is. Springsteen did a three night stand in Atalanta hot on the heals of his Bottomline shows. Somewhere on that three night stand somebody was lucky enough to plug into the Soundboard and capture some of the magic. Both LP versions and CDs culled from that soundboard source have surfaced over the years, though none as complete as this one. The last CD release labeled the 21st missed "Kitty's Back," included on this release. However, a Godfather release labeled the 23rd has the exact same track listing as this tape. I must admit not owning that one, so I couldn't really tell you if its the same recording. The tracks here are re-mastered from a fourth generation tape that was labeled the 21st of August, but according to our benefactor here that doesn't solve the puzzle. Whatever the exact recording date is however, this is a mighty fine release for us fanatics.

Sound board tapes from this era are often a mixed blessing. Most of them aren't nearly as fine as the '78 radio shows in terms of sound quality. This recording is no different. I suspect that the tape has suffered from being shelved over the years and being of fourth generation doesn't really help. As such the tape sounds like a good audience tape, with a fair amount of hiss, with the audience all the way in the back. Although that allows you to enjoy the show without 'interference', to me it takes some of the exitement out. Compared to the recent Fanatic Records releases of the Bottomline audience tapes, there may be less warts, but I must admit that those are a more thrilling listen, simply because you get the audience response on that recording. Where this tape has an edge over those bootlegs however is the dialog. Springsteen's stories are actually audible this time around. So to sum it up this recording comes out as a well played record, with a few sound drops and cuts here and there. Nothing that will spoil your enjoyment, but it does make this tape one for the more hardcore collector.

Worth the admission alone on this tape is "Kitty's Back" again, with the Phantom doing taking a fine and oozing solo spot on the organ, followed by the Professor showing Van Morrison how his music should be played. Though the band was finding their own groove increasingly, those early Van the Man influences are still very apparent. The slow "It's Gonna Work Out Fine" wouldn't have felt out of place on one off Van's live albums. However, when Springsteen starts telling his grand tales, the difference in potential becomes apparent. Van never was prone to communicate with the audience the way Springsteen did and the grumpy old man (Van was an old man even in the seventies) could never have written a rock opera like "Born to Run" nor could Van ever make performing actually seem like fun the way Springsteen does here with "Twist and Shout". Springsteen left Atlanta at fever pitch after that one, not unlike he left Barcelona at in a frenzy more than thirty years down the line.

"Twist and Shout"

MP3 File

Download the full show in mp3 here
A small request, use mp3s for personal use only. Keep them in your iPod or on your computer but never use a mp3 based CD in a trade. The quality of mp3s deteriorate rapidly every time a CD is ripped. Using high quality music files such as FLACs is essential in keeping the trading pool healthy.

Recording: 3+ out of 5
Show: 4+ out of 5
Artwork: none

Boot Tracker, December 11th 1975, South Orange NJ

Within the past 24 hours Fanatic records released two tapes again, of whom this '75 show seems to be the most interesting. According to Bruce Base there's only an incomplete recording of this show, with predominant hiss. This Kivak recording is both complete, although Twist & Shout seems to be cut at the end, and is pleasant to listen to. There's some metallic interference when the audience cheers, but nothing major. On the whole this recording is pretty, pretty good. Though the audio seems a little flat, the instrument separation is decent and there are no major sound drops. This Seton Hall show is one you pick want to give a spin so every once in a while. I mean merely decent or not, it captures a kick ass show once again.

It always amazes me how varied Springsteen could make his tours with only three albums out. You'd say that gives you little room to wiggle. Yet this December show is a very different experience compared to the Bottom Line shows a mere 4 months earlier. The E-Street band is tighter unit, the show pieces have been changed completely and different songs are slipping in and out. Stevie's sensual slide guitar on "Pretty Flamingo" is finger licking good. Really that man is an underrated guitar player, especially these days where he always seems to be operating in Nils Lofgren's shadow in the minds of quite a few fans. Nils may be technically superior but Steve knows how to tell a story with his guitar. You can see that voluptuous princess of the board walk strolling by, her dress swaying in the summer breeze. You can feel why these cocky punks are daunted by her, hesitant to go and talk to her, you understand why they admire her from afar, not just from Springsteen's story, but from Steve's guitar as well. The band makes Kitty come alive in much the same way, Kitty is playful, a tomboy, easier to approach yet harder to grasp. The band tries to capture her in a play ground of solos every evening, but she always seems to elude them, slip through there fingers. Yet every time they try to catch her its a joyous game.

As always the tape closes with some killer encores that make you wonder if you really need anything else in your music collection but Springsteen. Obscure hits like "Party Lights" pop up, one of only two known performances, along with staples like "Quarter To Three". The band plays them all with an ease that is uncanny for a couple of cats that haven't even been playing together a year.

"Pretty Flamingo"

MP3 File

Download the full show in mp3 here.

Sound: 3 out of 5
Show: 3,5 out of 5
Artwork: 4 out of 5

Boot Tracker, December 12th 1975, Greenvale NY

I'd like to applaud the team of Fanatic records for churning out consistently fine bootlegs re-mastered from Joe Kivak's tapes. With the pace they've been going I've been getting my weekly doses of Bruce history in and then some. This new release is no different than most what Rob Oslan from Fanatic releases. A decent registration from killer shows taken from the original tapes. Almost all of them have been audience recordings thus far, including this one. By now those who have been paying attention to these releases know what that means, nice collector items with warts and all. Fanatic releases are rarely easy listening. Fortunately this tape is somewhat of an exception. While not the clearest tape you've ever heard, the sound is consistent and relatively pleasant to the ears. No major drops, just a few, and very decent instrument separation. On the whole the tape sounds a bit crackly, like a transistor radio that doesn't quite pick up the signal but does the job well enough. Fanatic records promises us a red hot and rocking show and definitely delivers on this one. Sandy's on this tape, which makes the recording complete, not all past releases were.

This show appears to be yet another exceptional exiting show from Springsteen's early days. The speed with which the band crashes through the set begs the comparison to the Magic tour, albeit on that current tour "Kitty's Back" has been brought down to more sensible proportions. I'll leave it up to you to decide which you prefer, but to my ears this Kitty is red hot! Blow, Big Man, blow!! Kitty isn't the only moment on this tape where the show reaches damn near orgasmic proportions. As far as there's something like musical porn, the E-Street Band is it! Just listen to Steve and the Boss going at it during "Saint In The City", faster, harder, faster, harder, until........ If there should ever be a rating system for guitar solos, this one is triple X. For historians, this is also the show where "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town" was recorded and "It's My Life" debuted. Judging from the cheesy ad libbing in "Rosalita" and during the encore break, spirits were exceptionally his on this cold December night. So imagine my shock when you can actually hear two guys in the audience debating whether they should stay or not. Don't!!! This is history in the making you dumb wits! If it was you leaving the venue that red hot night, I'd advise you not to download this recording. You're likely to hang yourself.

Download the full show in mp3 here

"Saint in the City"

MP3 File

Recording: 3+ out of 5
Show: 4,5 out of 5
Artwork: 4 out of 5

Boot Tracker, August 16th 1975, Bottomline

By now the regular readers will know how much I enjoy those '75 shows. So today is a good day for me. Rob Oslan just released another gem on his Fanatic records, his third release in line from the Bottomline series. And as it should be, Rob saved the best for last. The description for this tape on BruceBase didn't bode well, but as promised in the liner notes to this recording the sound is excellent! Dare I say near perfect, especially for an audience tape. There are a few minor drops in sound, a few moments of static and two or three small cuts but nothing shocking, save for Rosie missing a limb. None of these tapes are without warts. Other than that you could have tricked me into believing that this is a lost FM broadcast. Yes folks it is that good! I know I'm biased when it comes to this period, but really, this is good good stuff! The quality of this tape becomes especially apparent during "The E-Street Shuffle", when the band goes real quiet and there's almost nothing more than the Cosmic Kid's faint murmur and Max's soft rim shots, the taper is there to catch them for all eternity. Even on the FM broadcast those moments are lost to static. I doubt this recording will ever make it on any top 55 or top 75 list. The August 15th's historical relevance casts a shadow over all the recording of the Bottomline stand. But as, especially this third release, testifies that really is a shame. The Bottomline broadcast was instrumental in getting Springsteen's career on track, but that doesn't necessarily make it a very enjoyable bootleg with all its hiss and clicks. Fanatic's recent releases, taped by the now immortal Joe Kivak, have, one for one, been much more enjoyable bootlegs. And this last one really is the icing on the cake. Historical relevance be damned!

Of course, as with the previous shows, Springsteen really still needed to hone a lot of his skills. "She's The One" is no where near the impressive performance it would become in the years to come. But the sheer enthusiasm and looseness of these shows is highly contagious. You can almost see the mesmerizing effect Springsteen had on this crowd of 500. During his raps it almost seems he's talking to close friends. No wonder he shied from talking in London when he took the show across the pond for the first time, he was amongst strangers there, you don't talk as freely with strangers, they don't share the same inside jokes and mannerisms as your friends back home. The show is once again filled with some great covers, as if Springsteen is in his living room, spinning old 45s for his buddies. Except the Boss gives a highly original spin to some of these. "It's Gonna Work Out Fine" is slowed down by the band and almost sounds as if Springsteen is trying to convince himself he's really going to make it, really going to hit it big with this record. "Sha La La" is testimony of how well the E-Street Band works as a bar band. There's little snippets here and there again, the Cosmic Kid humming the lines to "Pretty Flamingo" before he gives us a beautiful rendition of "Thunderroad", reworked before the album even was released. Once again history in the making, highly recommended all three of these Fanatic releases, but if you want to stick with just one of them, its this one. And just chuck your old FM broadcast out the window, you won't need it any more. A thriller indeed!

"Sha La La"
Download the full show here in mp3

Sound: 4,5 out of 5
Show: 4,5 out of 5
Artwork: 4,5 out of 5

Boot Tracker; August 14th 1975, The Bottomline

A busy evening for boot trackers like me. The Magic tour is rolling down that line on the one hand, on the other we've got Fanatic Records on a roll. I'm not sure what gets me more exited, following Magic as it evolves or tracing Rob Oslan while he and Mr Anonymous are leap frogging through Springsteen's early years. People who have been following the blog know I make it no secret that I'm a big fan of those formative years before the Darkness tour. I love hearing Springsteen come into his own on these tapes, these are the books of Genesis for us Kool Aid drinkers. Though I may be biased, I think Springsteen did some of his most thrilling and exiting work during that period. If you're not convinced, one glance at the picture shows that the audience of the Bottomline agrees with me on this. Springsteen didn't yet have that ruthless professionalism yet, this was legend in the making.

The one thing that might attract me the most is the cockiness with which Springsteen was building his own myth. Landau had already branded Springsteen as the future of R&R but his career was hanging on a thread when he played those shows in the Bottomline. Still Springsteen spun tales as if he had already made it. In the yarn during "Kitty's Back" the story of the band had already taken mythological proportions. The Cosmic Kid and the Space Man, who wouldn't get exited by imagery like that! As with the recording of the 17th, Kitty is the absolute high light of this show. Loose and funky with an oozing solo by the Phantom on the solo. The solos and Springsteen are quoting from Pop's past all over the place, constant snippets of riffs and lines you know you've heard before and Springsteen makes it sound like you're experiencing R&R for the very first time. If only for Kitty this recording would be another fine addition to your collection.

But there's more of course. Though the tape slurs a bit in the beginning and the overall sound is a bit distant and hollow the material sucks you straight in once again. From the still clunky "Tenth Avenue Freeze Out" opening the set, to the raving "Quarter To Three" the band takes you on one hell of a roller coaster ride. Though the show is a mere hour and forty five minutes, you can see the sweat oozing out of your speakers, taking the audience for all that they've got. Springsteen was ready to take on the world and take it by force!

"Growin' Up"
Download the full show in mp3 here.

Sound: 3+ out of 5
Show: 4+ out of 5
Artwork: 4 out of 5

Boot Tracker, August 17th 1975, Bottom Line (Early Show)

Fanatic Records is back with yet another release. The pace with which Rob Oslan is throwing projects out there is mind boggling, I guess there is good reason why he called his label Fanatic. Rob has boots appearing almost at a faster pace than I can listen to. "Coastline To The City" is a re-master from an audience tape recorded at the final afternoon show out of a five day stand at the Bottom Line. In coming days Rob promised us two more recordings from this legendary series of shows. Small club Springsteen, how much more romantic does it get. The Bottomline gave room to a mere 500 people and was chosen for the launch of the promotion campaign for "Born To Run". On the 15th, halfway through the stand WNEW-FM broad casted one of the shows. That recording has since thrown a shadow over all other recordings of the Bottom Line stand. As this re-master will attest, not entirely fair. The FM recording is marred by an enormous amount of hiss, pops and clicks. Something this recording doesn't suffer from. Although it is arguably a bit muddier, with Springsteen's vocals sometimes buried into the mix a bit too much, it is much easier to listen to than the legendary FM boot.

The show itself is great. Maybe its because there isn't the tension of going live on the air through an influential radio station, but Bruce does sound a lot more relaxed here than on the FM broadcast. Though part of the promotional campaign for the coming album, songs from "Born To Run" are underrepresented here. Opening with a blistering "Tenth Avenue" plus three in total closer to the end of the set, including a fiery "She's The One" that still has to stretch out. The show features a few fine covers, most notably Ike & Tina Turner's "It's Gonna Work Out Fine" with a spoken intro followed by a still story less "Growin' Up". During the intro to "The E-Street Shuffle" the Boss has the audience eating out of his hands. With only a few hundred people in the room, it must have felt like he was telling the magical tale of the E-Street band just for you, as if you were in a personal conversation with the man. Great stuff, and it comes out real nice on this tape. Worth alone getting the recording for. But if that wasn't enough, near the end of the show the band pulls out a crazy "Kitty's Back" that nears the 25 minute marker with the Boss finding time to travel to Alaska and back. Though it might be too much for some to stomach, the looseness of the whole show has a highly infectious vibe. Highly recommended for any fan of this period.

"It's Gonna Work Out Fine"
Download the show in mp3 format here

Sound: 3,5 out of 5
Show: 4+ out of 5
Artwork: 4,5 out of 5