I made a playlist of short Bruce B-sides/outtakes that was meant to feel like him doing a Joyce Manor-esque album, lol.
Its a shame there isn't 1 more early song that fits with the themes of "Santa Ana", "Zero & Blind Terry" and "Evacuation" that could be slotted into the "A" side of this playlist to make it just a bit longer. You get dark, southwest tinged epics on one side and beachfront Asbury Park bar anthems on the "B" side! Somehow, that division almost just seems like an inverse WI&ESS
Wiki says there was a song from the sessions called "Fire on the Wing" but I haven't found it anywhere. Maybe that could be the mythic holy grail. 'Cause "Bishop Danced" ain't it.
It would probably be "You Mean So Much To Me" if there was a good full-band recording of it out there but the only recording sounds much more like a Greetings-style track.
No... it isn't. AFAIK, its only on bootlegs of demos and whatnot from that era. I have it from one called "Before The Fame"
For many reasons, I understand why the deluxe reissue sets began with Born To Run. However, I'd love for Bruce to go back and make a deluxe Greetings / WI&ESS set. Hell, he could even just bundle those two together into a collection of all the pre-BTR recordings. I'm sure there are a handful of tracks from that era that folks may not even know about! (Side Note: I'm amazed that Stray Bullet from The River stayed under wraps for all those years!)
There should be a reissue of Greetings with a soundboard recording of the last show from the incredible 2009 tour. Last E-Street show with Clarence, and an incredible full-album performance of Greetings. One of my favorite bootlegs of all time.
Looks like this show is up for sale on his official live recordings site: Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band - November 22, 2009 HSBC Arena, Buffalo, NY
"Thundercrack"!!! That guitar lick is so tasty. The gang vocals, the "sha na na"s. I really need to move through Tracks, promise I will carve out some time.
I guess I would have to sit down and do the actual work / math to see if this hold true for me also - but I can say that I think both "Stones" and "Moonlight Motel" are extremely solid Bruce tunes. If anything from Western Stars cracks my Top 100 it's one of those two.
It’s amazing that there just seems to be a certain kind of human being who hears that record and has the world open up to them. Even 40 years on.
I often reflect on how that was the record that really, really clicked with me during my senior year of high school/my college years. There's so much about it that's universal and that transcends eras.