It’s a long Bruce Springsteen post today. l was as excited as any big fan about last week’s release of Tracks II – The Lost Albums. Seven discs, 83 songs, 74 unreleased, spanning 35 years.
I love the album format but wondered about the wisdom of releasing such a massive body of work at once. If they were so good, why had none of the seven albums ever seen the light of day? Would they be great, or allowing some cynicism, perhaps they never formed part of Bruce’s catalogue sale to Sony for half a billion dollars and could form a fresh source of income. Was it a need to double down on an already substantial legacy, or just a gift to his millions of fans?
Born To Run was no accident. It was Springsteen’s brilliant and meticulously worked third album, a last grasp at success – and it paid off, launching a career that has thrived for five decades.
So, craft, dedication and care were not going to be in short supply. The prospect of a revelation and excellence were expected in some measure, given many outstanding and varied albums in The Boss’s canon: Darkness at the Edge of Town, Tunnel of Love and the forlorn Nebraska, to highlight just three. Was there anything that good among these seven albums? I hoped so, but suspected not.
I stayed away from reviews, not wanting to be swayed. On close listening, there were both revelations and disappointments. They’re called “Tracks” for a reason. The albums aren’t named on streaming services, and they all have the same artwork. You have to look them up or try to match the album sound and feel with a theme or period.
While the albums are largely coherent, some are more consistent than others. But there are tracks of all sorts. There’s the firepower of All God’s Children or Stand On It, brooding on Blind Spot, hard rocking on Another Thin Line, quiet on Fugitive Dream, country on Poor Side of Town. There’s something for everyone, but not everything is for everyone.
The albums formed a week of listening for me and by last night, I had become familiar enough with all of them; the rock, the roll, soft and acoustic, loud, ubiquitous “D” chords, barking, crooning, pedal steel guitar, synth loops, drum machines, violin, even mariachi and the clichéd “more cowbell”!
The songs are generally more personal than anthemic and in places I heard the influence of Dylan, Waits, Fogerty, Berry and The Beatles as well as ideas which have become familiar through their manifestation elsewhere in Springsteen’s catalogue. Reminders of other songs abound, but many stand their own ground. Some vocal performances are sub par, indicating that they are released somewhat “unfinished”, and confirm why they might not have been released before.
Over the week, I whittled down the 83 tracks to a playlist of two dozen songs and an hour and a half of play time that I’ll likely keep playing forever.
However, there remain nearly four hours of tracks that didn’t make my initial cut. I will dip into these over the months to come and thereafter, but not as often as the classic Springsteen records. Overall there’s enough good in these albums for me and still room for growth and more enjoyment.
For today’s Friday song, I picked one from my own playlist. Should it have been Johnny Bye Bye, which was either an embellishment of the tone born during Nebraska or a suggestion for Born in the USA, or both, first released as a B-side but given a different treatment here?
No, I didn’t take Johnny and chose Janey instead. My decision was prompted by wanting something off Somewhere North of Nashville, the country-flavoured fourth album of the set and one of its highlights.
A track from it, Janey Don’t You Lose Heart, is today’s Friday song. Not an unreleased piece, it’s a little known deep cut by the E Street Band and is the best of the Janey versions that I’ve heard. It opens dripping with Marty Rifkin’s pedal steel guitar, over a straight-ahead 4/4 brush beat and gentle electric bass.
When Bruce sings the verse, the melody line references Blondie’s Dreaming, a dozen genres away. It’s classic country compassion, with lines like “I’ll take your sorrow if you want me to / Come tomorrow / That’s what I’ll do”.
After the second chorus, rather than the Clarence Clemons sax solo we heard on version one, Springsteen selects a sweet violin verse by Soozie Tyrell. She’s followed by a pedal steel solo, which brings in the final verse and chorus to close. It’s a classic moment and a sure sign that while Tracks II isn’t an explosive success, there’s a lot of excellent music on it worth exploring.
Good weekend all of you who have managed to read this far and to those of you in the USA, happy Fourth of July!
I started a music WhatsApp group in 2023. I send one song a week on a Friday, with links to both Apple and Spotify, and an accompanying narrative/capsule piece. You’ll read it here on a Sunday. If you want to engage about a song, get a playlist or just get in touch, email me on [email protected].
Listen to Janey Don’t You Lose Heart on Spotify here and on Apple Music here.
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