BORN IN THE USA

Commercially Released: June 4, 1984
Produced by Springsteen-Landau-Van Zandt-Plotkin.
Recorded by Toby Scott (Hit Factory-Power Station) and Mike Batlan (Thrill Hill West).
Recorded at THE POWER STATION (New York City), THE HIT FACTORY (New York City) and THRILL HILL WEST (Los Angeles), January 1982 - March 1984.  

PART 1 - BITUSA SESSION OVERVIEW
The Born In The USA sessions spanned a 2-year period and produced the largest quantity of completed song recordings of any session of Bruce’s career. The sessions can be broken down into four distinct phases:

Phase 1 - Jan thru May 1982, featuring The E Street Band (with Van Zandt)
Phase 2 - Jan thru Feb 1983, featuring Springsteen alone on multi instruments
Phase 3 - Apr thru June 1983, featuring The E Street Band (little or no Van Zandt)
Phase 4 - Sept 83 thru Feb 84, featuring The E Street Band (no Van Zandt)

According to comments by Max Weinberg nearly 80 songs were recorded over the course of the entire BITUSA sessions. Co-producer Chuck Plotkin has mentioned the number 70. Springsteen also once stated 70. In evaluating 70 to 80 it is not clear if these numbers include the 13 songs from the solo Nebraska sessions that have never surfaced in any form with an E Street Band or multi-instrument backing (i.e., the 10 songs issued on the Nebraska LP, plus “The Big Payback”, “The Losin’ Kind” and “Child Bride”). This makes it difficult to gauge if there are only a few unknown songs from these sessions in the archive vaults or whether there could be a dozen or so titles still undocumented. Whether some or all of those 13 “Nebraska session” songs were ever given multi-instrument backing is a matter of longstanding speculation. Some of the 13 probably weren’t. However three of them (“Atlantic City”, “Johnny 99” and “Mansion On The Hill”) were apparently attempted…but to what completion level remains unclear. We have not included these 13 “Nebraska session” songs in the master table below.

Currently 32 different songs have been officially released from the BITUSA sessions. There are 13 other songs that are circulating unofficially as complete takes in very good sound quality. Lastly, there are another 13 songs, un-circulating among collectors, likely to have been recorded during these sessions. All together these total 58 songs. If Weinberg, Plotkin and Springsteen were including the above-mentioned 13 Nebraska in their thinking when they made their comments then this total of 71 – consistent with their recollections. If they weren’t including these 13 songs - then there are plenty of undocumented songs from these sessions still to be revealed.

PART 2 - BITUSA SESSION DETAILS
The BITUSA sessions began in mid January 1982 as part of Bruce and The E Street Band’s work at The Power Station on the Gary US Bonds “On The Line” album. The BITUSA sessions merely flowed on from the Bonds sessions. However Springsteen alternated his own sessions between The Power Station and the nearby Hit Factory over the course of the next few months.

It appears Springsteen had what might best be described as three different batches of songs ready to record in January and February 1982 – firstly the group of stark story songs he recorded as solo demos in early January (the Nebraska material), secondly a group of soul-influenced songs he brought along for possible use on the US Bonds album and… thirdly, a group of rock-orientated songs. However Springsteen was not satisfied with the way many of the “Nebraska” demo songs sounded with E Street Band backing and by early April he began actively exploring the possibility of releasing some of these solo demos as a solo album. The decision in May to proceed with the solo album appears to have put the band sessions on hold – for what turned out to be nearly a year. 

PHASE 1 SESSIONS - Recorded at The Power Station (New York City) and The Hit Factory (New York City), mid Jan 1982 to late May 1982. Recording Engineer: Toby Scott.

Note: Recorded at The Power Station on Jan 25, 1982. Unused recording from the Gary US Bonds sessions. This recording utilizes a horn section (Cruz-Manion-Pender-Rosenberg-Spengler) that was recorded in 1998 (not 1982) and added to the core recording for TRACKS. The original 1982 element was not recorded by Toby Scott but rather by Neil Dorfsman, the engineer for the Bonds LP.

Note: Recorded at The Power Station in Jan or Feb 1982. Song considered for Gary US Bonds but not used – donated in 1983 to Clarence Clemons & The Red Bank Rockers for their debut album.

Note: Recorded at The Power Station Jan or Feb 1982. Probably the same core recording as found on the US Bonds album (i.e. the E Street Band) – but with the Springsteen lead vocal overdub.

Note: Recorded at The Power Station Jan or Feb 1982. Probably the same core recording as found on the US Bonds album (i.e. the E Street Band) – but with the Springsteen lead vocal overdub.

Note: Recorded at The Power Station Jan or Feb 1982. Probably the same core recording as found on the US Bonds album (i.e. the E Street Band) – but with the Springsteen lead vocal overdub.

Note: Recorded at The Power Station Jan or Feb 1982. Probably the same core recording as found on the US Bonds album (i.e. the E Street Band) – but with the Springsteen lead vocal overdub.

Note: Recorded at The Power Station Jan or Feb 1982. Probably the same core recording as found on the US Bonds album (i.e. the E Street Band) – but with the Springsteen lead vocal overdub.

Note: Recorded at The Power Station Jan or Feb 1982. Probably the same core recording as found on the US Bonds album (i.e. the E Street Band) – but with the Springsteen lead vocal overdub.

Note: V1 and V2a are completely different recordings with slightly different lyrics done in a dramatically different arrangement. V1, commonly referred to by collectors “Drop Down And Cover Me”, probably pre-dates the recording of V2a, although this is uncertain – it could be a major revision attempted later in the sessions. V2a was recorded at The Hit Factory during Jan or early Feb 1982. The song was registered at the US Copyright Office on Feb 8, 1982. The song (in its V2a arrangement) was considered for Donna Summer at this time but bumped in favor of donating her the song “Protection”. Interestingly V2 was recorded by Bill Scheniman, who was an engineer working on the US Bonds sessions at the time, so this song may also have been contemplated for Bonds. V2b thru V2e are dance/disco remixes of V2a that were done at The Hit Factory in July 1984 by Producer/mixer Arthur Baker. The recording engineer for the remixes was Toby Scott. These remixes were first released in early Sept 1984.

Note: Recorded at The Hit Factory during Jan or Feb 1982. Registered at the US Copyright Office on March 8, 1982. The song was given to Donna Summer, who was recording an album at the time at the same studio. Summer’s cover version (with Springsteen on guitar) was recorded in March 1982 (released Aug 82). Bruce and Donna also recorded a duet vocal version at her sessions – it’s uncirculating. Springsteen has never performed the song in concert, although it was rehearsed in early 1988 for the upcoming Tunnel Of Love Tour.

Note: Recorded at The Hit Factory in Feb 1982. All three are different mixes of the same core recording. V1a and V1b have longer fade-outs.

Note: Recorded at The Power Station in March or April 1982. E Street Band backing version from the so-nicknamed “electric Nebraska session”. All are the same core recording. V1a contains a different Springsteen vocal overdub and a very long, extended jam ending. V1d thru V1f are dance/disco remixes of V1c undertaken by Producer/mixer Arthur Baker and recorded at Shakedown Studio in New York City around Sept 1984. The recording engineer for the remixes was Toby Scott. These remixes (which included additional vocals were added by “The Latin Rascals”) were first released in December 1984.

Note: Recorded at The Power Station in March or April 1982. E Street Band backing version from so-nicknamed “electric Nebraska session”. All three are different mixes of the same recording.

Note: Springsteen took the lyrics of his Jan 1982 Nebraska solo session song “Child Bride” and wrote an entirely new rock melody to create “Working On The Highway”. Recorded at The Power Station in March-April 1982 during the so-nicknamed “electric Nebraska session”. There are three different recordings known. V3a and V3b are different mixes.

Note: Recorded at The Power Station in April 1982. Two different recordings, though similar. V1a and V1b are unedited and contain an entire extra verse (about Bruce’s dad) that was cut from the officially released version.

Note: Recorded at The Power Station during April or May 1982. Two different recordings. V1 includes slightly different lyrics and alternate beginning and ending.

Note: Recorded at The Power Station during April or May 1982. Four different performances with the longer versions featuring extended beginnings and endings. Original work-in-progress title was “Down, Down, Down”.

Note: Recorded at The Power Station during April or May 1982. Different mix permutations of the same core recording.

Note: Recorded at The Power Station on May 5, 1982. Complete title is “A Good Man Is Hard To Find (Pittsburgh)”.

Note: Same core recording but different mixes. Recorded at The Hit Factory on May 5, 1982.

Note: Recorded at The Power Station on May 10, 1982.

Note: Recorded at The Hit Factory on May 11, 1982. Same performance, two different mixes. One of Bruce’s finest studio moments. Springsteen & The E Street Band re-recorded the song in 1995 and released that re-recording on GREATEST HITS – but that re-recording suffers in comparison to this original on TRACKS.

Note: Recorded at The Power Station on May 14, 1982. Same recording – four different mixes.
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TIMELINE INFORMATION: During May 1982 Springsteen made a decision to release 10 of the 17 songs from his Jan 1982 solo demo tape as his next official album – quite a radical decision for its time. The E Street Band sessions came to a halt and Springsteen focused his attention for the next couple of months on overseeing final preparations of “Nebraska”. This May-July 1982 period also saw the effective departure of Steve Van Zandt as a member of The E Street Band (although a formal announcement wasn’t made until May 1984). Van Zandt put together his band (The Disciples Of Soul) in June 1982 and the group made it live debut in July. At the same time he changed his stage name from “Miami Steve” to “Little Steven” to reflect his change of status to a full time solo artist. He also spent the summer putting the finishing touches on a debut solo album that he had largely completed in the fall of 1981. Van Zandt began a USA/Europan tour with The Disciples Of Soul that would continue for most of the next 12 months. Van Zandt’s involvement with the remainder of the BITUSA sessions would be minor.

Springsteen spent the summer of 1982 in New Jersey making numerous guest appearances that became affectionately known as his “1982 Jersey Shore Bar Tour”. However that came to an end in early October, soon after the release of the Nebraska album. Springsteen spent nearly all of the next five months (Nov 1982 - March 1983) in Los Angeles, returning to New Jersey only for about 2 weeks during this period to attend Van Zandt’s wedding (Dec 31) and the closing night party for Clarence’s short-lived club Big Man’s West (Jan 8). During Nov-Dec 1982 Bruce had Mike Batlan install a home recording studio at his house in Los Angeles. During Jan-Feb 1983 Springsteen recorded more than an album’s worth of songs, playing all the instruments himself (except for a drum machine). These became the 2nd phase of the BITUSA sessions.
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PHASE 2 SESSIONS - Recorded at Thrill Hill West (Springsteen’s Los Angeles home studio), mid Jan to mid Feb 1983. Recording Engineer: Mike Batlan

Note: compelling song. Only one known take.

Note: Only one known take.

Note: Only one known take.

Note: Only one known take.

Note: Only one known take. No relation to “Bobby Jean”.

Note: Only one known take. Another stunning composition.

Note: Brilliant song that developed from a 1981-82 work-in-progress composition called “James Lincoln Dear” (see 1981 Home Demo section in OTT).

Note: Bruce re-recorded this with The E Street Band in April 1983 in a much more rocking arrangement.

Note: Two slightly different mixes of the same performance. Another atmospheric gem.

Note: Two different recordings but quite similar. Short, but sweet.

Note: Two different recordings. V1 is more rocking and has a quick fade-out. V2 is the definitive version.

Note: Same core recording but four different mixes. V1a is considered by many to be the definitive version of the song – it contains two additional lyric verses that were cut from the three other mixes. V1c contains a violin part courtesy of Soozie Tyrell that she overdubbed in early 1984 (her first session work for Bruce). V1d brings the violin more to the fore in the mix.

Note: Four different, complete performances, all similar.

Note: Four different, complete performances, all done in rockabilly arrangements. All versions are sung in 3rd person (“Your Hometown”). Springsteen re-recorded this with The E Street Band in May 1983 in a much more effective arrangement.

Note: Five different, complete performances. V1 and V2 are rockabilly. V3 - The arrangement the liner notes call "country" is actually in the Cajun style.. V4 is quiet and atmospheric and is the definitive version. V5 is more rock-orientated. Performed live twice on the 1984-5 BITUSA Tour.

Note: Six different recordings. There are three different mixes of V1. By far the definitive performance is V5, which includes a poignant extra lyric verse at the end that is not found on other versions. Bruce borrowed the first two lines from Chuck Berry’s song “Bye Bye Johnny” (as well as the play on the title), which is why it’s registered as a Springsteen-Berry composition.

Note: All are different performances and complete takes, except for V5, which is abandoned. V1 thru V3 and V9 are rock-flavored. V4 thru V8 are acoustic-flavored. V10 utilizes double tracked vocal and a different melody and is excellent. V11 is the slowest and arguably the definitive version.
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TIMELINE INFORMATION: Springsteen has mentioned that at one point in early 1983 he gave consideration to releasing the best of these above-mentioned Los Angeles home studio recordings as a thematic follow-up to the Nebraska LP. This album concept is not known to have ever been given a working title because Springsteen quickly abandoned the concept. Although none of these Los Angeles recordings ultimately ended up on the BITUSA album, two of them (“Shut Out The Light” and “Johnny Bye Bye”) were issued as b-sides in 1984-5. Although still unreleased “The Klansman”, “Unsatisfied Heart” and “Richfield Whistle” are among Bruce’s most compelling.

Soon after abandoning the idea of the above-mentioned album brief consideration was given to combining tracks from both the Phase 1 and Phase 2 – with a tentative album title of “MURDER INCORPORATED”. A document exists from around March 1983 revealing Springsteen’s then-selections for the so-called “Murder Incorporated” album, as well his selections for b-sides. This selection appears to have been made prior to the undertaking of the Phase 3 Sessions. Springsteen’s selections (all of which had been recorded at this stage) were as follows:

BORN IN THE USA
MURDER INCORPORATED
DOWNBOUND TRAIN
GLORY DAYS
THIS HARD LAND
MY LOVE WILL NOT LET YOU DOWN
JOHNNY BYE BYE
FRANKIE
I’M GOIN DOWN
WORKING ON THE HIGHWAY
I’M ON FIRE
b-side / SUGARLAND
b-side / FOLLOW THAT DREAM
b-side / DON’T BACK DOWN
b-side / ONE LOVE
b-side / LITTLE GIRL LIKE YOU

Springsteen didn’t settle for the above-mentioned song lineup but instead opted for more sessions. Bruce began a new round of recording with The E Street Band at The Hit Factory in New York in April 1983. It appears to have been their first studio get-together in nearly a year. Steve Van Zandt, who was busy at the time recording his 2nd solo album and touring with his own group, doesn’t seem to have been present during much of these April-June 1983 E Street Band sessions.
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PHASE 3 SESSIONS - Recorded at The Hit Factory (New York City), April thru June 1983. Recording Engineer: Toby Scott

Note: Two different mixes. Recorded on April 20, 1983.

Note: Recorded April or May 1983. Features Ruth Jackson on background vocals. This was likely recorded at the same session as “My Hometown” (which also features Jackson). Not as atmospheric as the version recorded during the Jan 1983 sessions and released on ESSENTIAL.

Note: Recorded April or May 1983. Two different performances, both featuring Ruth Jackson on background vocals. 

Note: Recorded on May 31, 1983. V1b is a mono mix that for some bizarre reason was only issued on the Japanese single.

Note: Written during the summer and early autumn of 1982. Bruce performed part of the song (mixing it into Little Richard’s “Lucille”) at a couple of guest appearances at the Stone Pony in August 1982. However the only known complete, stand-alone performance of the song (i.e. with all its verses) was during a guest appearance on Oct 3, 1982. 

Note: Recorded on May 31, 1983.

Note: Recorded on June 13, 1983. Same recording, different mixes. V1a has sax. V1b has the sax deleted.

Note: Recorded on June 16, 1983. V1a is the superior version and contains an additional verse edited from the original b-side.

Note: Both are the same core recording. Recorded on June 16, 1983. V1a has a much longer fade out and features Steve Van Zandt on background vocals and guitar. V1b is the same recording but features a 1985 Nils Lofgren vocal overdub replacing Van Zandt’s.

Note: The original title to “Summer On Signal Hill” prior to Springsteen scrapping the lyrics, re-titling it and donating it to Clarence Clemons & The Red Bank Rockers, who recorded it as a b-side in summer 1983. Springsteen’s music publisher in Australia was accidentally sent the wrong information, so Clarence’s instrumental was published and released there in 1983 as “Now And Forever”.

Note: An instrumental donated to Clarence Clemons & The Red Bank Rockers, who recorded it as a b-side in late summer of 1983, with Springsteen as producer.

Note: Two different mixes of the same basic recording. Recording features Steve Van Zandt and emanates from the April-June 1983 sessions
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TIMELINE INFORMATION: Following the end of the Phase 3 sessions in June 1983 major mixing sessions took place. Some in CBS were talking of a possible of a pre-Christmas release. With three sessions phases now complete there was certainly no shortage of outstanding material to pick from. However, as had been in the case in March, Bruce decided to hold off and continue writing more songs. This resulted in yet another final phase of scattered studio sessions from autumn 1983 into the early months of 1984. Due to extremely tight security at the time little is known about this final session period and precious little unofficial audio has ever leaked out.

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PHASE 4 SESSIONS - Recorded at The Hit Factory (New York City), September 1983 thru February 1984. Recording Engineer: Toby Scott

Note: Recorded on September 4, 1983

Note: Recorded sometime in latter months of 1983.  

Note: V1a and V1b are different mixes of the same recording, with V1a featuring some unusual keyboard work.

Note: Recorded on Jan 12, 1984. Springsteen premiered the song live on July 12, 1984 on the BITUSA Tour.

Note: Quite a complex story behind this song. The original title when recorded during the BITUSA sessions was “Just Around The Corner To The Light Of Day”. A demo of the song was sent to screenwriter/director Paul Schrader in 1985 for consideration for his upcoming film about struggling rock musicians. Ironically Schrader had sent Springsteen a draft screenplay for this movie (then-titled “Born In The USA”) in 1981 hoping Bruce might craft a song for it. Bruce never did write a song for Schrader at the time. Schrader then put this film project on hold to direct the 1982 movie “Cat People”. However the script’s title (though not its storyline) spurred Bruce at the time to alter a partially written song of his called “Vietnam” (see 1981 Home Recording Section in OTT) and create the song “Born In The USA”.  Fast forward four years – in 1985, when Schrader received the go-ahead to make the film, he couldn’t use his title “Born In The USA” because by that point it had become too closely associated with Springsteen. Schrader again asked Bruce for a song and Bruce donated this – which Schrader loved so much that he re-copyrighted his screenplay in 1985 under the new title “Just Around The Corner To The Light Of Day”. In 1986 when the film was being shot, both the movie and song titles were shortened to “Light Of Day”. It had never been intended that Springsteen’s recording would be used in the film. The song was recorded by the film’s stars, Joan Jett and Michael J Fox (“The Barbusters”), and released concurrently with the movie in Feb 1987. The Barbusters first performed the song live at a nightclub appearance in mid 1986. Springsteen first performed the song live on April 12, 1987. A later live version was officially released on MTV Unplugged

Note: One of the final tracks recorded at the sessions. During the BITUSA Tour Springsteen & The E Street Band pre-show soundchecked the song at least once (Sept 17, 1984 in Philadelphia) but it was never performed in concert on that tour, or since. The song may have been re-vamped and re-recorded during the Tunnel Of Love LP sessions. 

Note: Recorded on Feb 3, 1984

Note: The final song recorded for the BITUSA Sessions. Max Weinberg has stated the session took place a couple of days after he attended the local farewell Synchronicity Tour concert by THE POLICE. This would place the recording date on or about Feb 9, 1984, although the mixing sessions for this and some other songs weren’t completed until March. V1a contains a longer sax solo at the end that was shortened (cut) for the official album version. V1c thru V1e are dance/disco remixes that were done at The Power Station in April or early May 1984 by Producer/mixer Arthur Baker. The recording engineer for the remixes was Chris Lord-Alge. These remixes were first released in late June 1984. The biggest selling 12” single in the USA in 1984.

April 10, 2007

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