The Rising

THE RISING

Commercially Released: July 29, 2002

Produced and mixed by Brendan O’Brien **
Recording Engineer: Nick Didia **
Recorded Jan - March 2002 at Southern Tracks Studio (Atlanta, GA) **

** Springsteen’s numerous studio sessions from 1996 - 2001 did not involve Brendan O’Brien or Nick Didia. These sessions (at Thrill Hill East, Thrill Hill West and The Hit Factory) were produced either by Springsteen (alone) or co-produced by Springsteen and Chuck Plotkin. Recording Engineer was Toby Scott. Please refer to session details for specific credits, where known.  

PART 1 – RISING SESSIONS OVERVIEW

Springsteen issued the GOTJ album in Nov 1995. Little did anyone suspect at the time that it would be 6 years and 7 months (July 2002) before the next Springsteen studio album of recently written and recorded compositions would be released. Because of the tremendous amount of time that elapsed, the studio session period for what became THE RISING is a an enigma….nearly all the recordings on the album emanate from one brief session period in early 2002, yet there are over 5 years worth of earlier studio sessions of which only a few recordings have yet emerged – even though much was recorded.

Immediately following the release of the GOTJ album Springsteen undertook an extensive solo tour that lasted for 17 months - until late May 1997.  Bruce has mentioned that he wrote numerous songs while on this tour, some of which he actually premiered live during the tour. During breaks in this tour Bruce recorded new material - from June to Aug, 1996 and then from Mar to April, 1997. Both sessions were held at Thrill Hill East (Bruce’s NJ home studio). Both were solo sessions.

In Nov 1997, several months following the completion of the GOTJ Tour, Springsteen undertook studio further sessions at his NJ home studio. About 7 non-original compositions were recorded with a group of musicians Bruce had not previously recorded with. These have now become known as “The Seeger Sessions-Phase1”. Since the above-mentioned session produced recordings that Bruce subsequently decided to release on a stand-alone album, then please refer to THE SEEGER SESSIONS section for details on these recordings. Soon after (in Dec 1997 – Jan 1998) Springsteen undertook a songwriting collaboration session with Joe Grushecky at Bruce’s home studio. Song titles are known from this period but recording session details, if any, are unknown.

According to comments made by engineer Toby Scott it was in the early spring of 1998 (shortly before Bruce’s father passed away) that Springsteen told Scott the time was right to proceed with the long-anticipated box set of archived, unreleased studio takes. Although the TRACKS project dominated activities during the remainder of 1998 Springsteen also recorded numerous new songs at his home studio during the Feb 1998 – Feb 1999 period, although little has been released.

Springsteen re-assembled the E Street Band for the Reunion (Tracks) Tour. This tour lasted for 16 months, from March 1999 thru June 2000. Although no studio sessions took place during this touring period, there was an expectation that studio work with the E Street Band would follow this tour and a resulting new E Street Band album would emerge in late 1999 or early 2000 – however we now know that no such E Street Band sessions ever took place.

In spite of the lack of E Street Band involvement in the studio Springsteen did in fact conduct scattered solo sessions at his Thrill Hill East home studio during the Sept 2000-Jan 2001 period. Numerous songs were recorded – but details remain very sketchy. It is suspected that the base recording of 1 of the 15 songs issued on THE RISING album emanates from these sessions.

Springsteen finally entered the studio with The E Street Band in March 2001 – their first sessions together since Jan 1995. The spring 2001 sessions were produced by Springsteen and Chuck Plotkin and recorded by Toby Scott. Several songs (titles unconfirmed) were recorded during this session – but only one “American Skin (41 Shots)” has been released.

Following the tragic events of Sept 11, 2001 Springsteen wrote a number of new songs that were influenced by the disaster. A new series of studio sessions with the E Street Band took place in Atlanta from late Jan to mid March 2002. Comments made by Garry Tallent and Danny Federici would indicate that the amount of time the E Street Band were together in Atlanta was actually very brief – a far cry from the E Street Band studio session formula of the 1973-84 era. All Southern Tracks Studios sessions were produced by Brendan O’Brien and recorded by Nick Didia, neither of whom had worked with Springsteen previously. O’Brien also handled the mixing. It would appear that 14 of the 15 recordings issued on THE RISING album were recorded at these sessions, although only about half of the songs that appear on the album were actually composed after 9/11.

PART 2 – RISING SESSIONS DETAILS

Note: Written and originally recorded at THRILL HILL EAST (Bruce’s NJ home studio sometime during the 1999-2001 period. The base recording from one of these home sessions was utilized and then embellished with additional instruments and production at Southern Tracks Studio in early 2002 and released on The Rising album. This is the only recording issued on the album that was not recorded from scratch at the Atlanta sessions.

Note: Written by Bruce in 1994 and recorded during that period (this version is not circulating). Re-recorded at Southern Tracks Studio in early 2002 and released on The Rising album.

Note: Written and recorded at Thrill Hill East by Bruce sometime during 1998. That recording has not surfaced. The song was practiced at rehearsals for the E Street Reunion Tour in early 1999 and a complete band version was performed during the soundcheck for the June 17, 1999 show in Germany - but it was not played during the show or at any later show on the 1999-2000 tour. Re-recorded in Atlanta in early 2002 with the E Street Band and issued on the album.

Note: Written by Springsteen in 1999 or early 2000 and premiered live on June 14, 2000. The version found on the Rising album was recorded at Southen Tracks in Atlanta in early 2002, although an earlier studio version with the E Street Band from Mar 2001 may exist in the vaults.

Note: Written by Springsteen in Nov 2000 and premiered live on Dec 17, 2000 at a benefit gig in Asbury Park.

Note: Written in 2000. These are two different recordings, both emanating from Southern Tracks Studios in Atlanta in Feb-Mar, 2002. V1 is with E Street Band backing. V2 (which was also videoed on Super8 film) is a country-blues arrangement performed solo by Springsteen on acoustic guitar.

Note: It remains unclear if this composition was written before or after 9/11. Recorded at Southern Tracks, Atlanta, during Feb-Mar, 2002.

Note: It remains unclear if this composition was written before or after 9/11. Recorded at Southern Tracks, Atlanta, during Feb-Mar, 2002.

Note: song composed post 9/11. Recorded at Southern Tracks, Atlanta, during Feb-Mar, 2002.

Note: song composed post 9/11. Recorded at Southern Tracks, Atlanta, during Feb-Mar, 2002.

Note: song composed post 9/11. Recorded at Southern Tracks, Atlanta, during Feb-Mar, 2002.

Note: song composed post 9/11. Recorded at Southern Tracks, Atlanta, during Feb-Mar, 2002.

Note: song composed post 9/11. Recorded at Southern Tracks, Atlanta, during Feb-Mar, 2002.

Note: song composed post 9/11. Recorded in Atlanta at Southern Tracks during Feb-Mar, 2002. V1a is the official album track. V1b, usually referred to as “the 25th Hr Remix”, includes slightly different editing and features an added string/orchestra arrangement/overlay written during the fall of 2002 by conductor Terence Blanchard for the Spike Lee-directed movie “25TH Hour” (released in Dec 2002). The V1b remix of the song is heard during the film’s closing credits, although neither V1a nor V1b were issued on the film soundtrack album (released Jan 2003) – V1b remains officially unreleased except as heard in the movie itself.

Note: song composed post 9/11. Recorded at Southern Tracks, Atlanta, during Feb-Mar, 2002. The background parts contributed by Asif Ali Khan and group were recorded by Chuck Plotkin at Henson Studios in Hollywood, CA.

Note: Recorded at THRILL HILL EAST (Bruce’s NJ home studio) on Aug 24, 1998. Produced by Springsteen and Chuck Plotkin. Bruce handles vocals all instruments except for keyboards (Roy Bitten).

Note: Recorded at THRILL HILL EAST (Bruce’s NJ home studio) sometime Oct 1998-Jan 1999. Produced by Springsteen (alone). Bruce handles vocals and all instruments. Written by Bruce specifically for the John Sayles movie “Limbo” and first released on the movie soundtrack LP in June 1999.

Note: Recorded at THRILL HILL EAST (Bruce’s NJ home studio) on Feb 12, 1999. Produced by Springsteen (alone). Bruce solo, on vocals and piano. Specifically recorded for release in April 1999 on the 18 TRACKS compilation.

Note: Written by Johnny Cash. Recorded at THRILL HILL EAST (Bruce’s NJ home studio) in Feb 1999. Produced by Springsteen (alone). Bruce solo, on vocals and guitar. The performance was also video recorded and first broadcast commercially on April 18, 1999 as part of the Johnny Cash Tribute special on the USA’s TNT network. The recording was not officially released until Sept 2002 on the Cash “Kindred Spirits” tribute album. The video of the performance has yet to be officially issued, although it circulates among collectors via copies of the original TV broadcast.

Note: Written by Springsteen during the spring of 2000 and premiered live on June 4, 2000 at a show with the E Street Band in Atlanta. Recorded with the E Street Band at The Hit Factory, New York City on March 2, 2001. Produced by Springsteen and Chuck Plotkin. Released on a promotion-only single in June 2001

Note: Written by Bruce during Dec 1995 and early Jan 1996 while on the GOTJ Tour and premiered live on Jan 10, 1996.

Note: Written by Bruce in Mar-April 1996 while on the GOTJ Tour and premiered live on April 16, 1996.

Note: Also known as “There Will Never Be Any Other For Me But You”. Written by Bruce in mid 1996 while on the GOTJ Tour and premiered live on September 19, 1996.

Note: Written by Bruce in the summer and autumn of 1996 while on the GOTJ Tour and premiered live on Sept 24, 1996 as “In Michigan” and then revised and premiered as “In Freehold” on Nov 8, 1996.

Note: Written by Bruce in the summer or early autumn of 1996 while on the GOTJ Tour and premiered live on October 16, 1996. Recorded during studio sessions in 1998 (this version is un-circulating). Re-recorded in 2004 and released on the Devils And Dust album.

Note: Written by Bruce in the autumn of 1996 while on the GOTJ Tour and premiered live on November 13, 1996. Recorded during studio sessions in 1998 (this version is un-circulating). Re-recorded in 2004 and released on the Devils And Dust album.

Note: Co-written by Bruce and Joe Grushecky during Dec 1997-Jan 1998. Springsteen premiered the song live on June 12, 2000 and released a live version (recorded June 29, 2000) on ESSENTIAL in 2003. A Grushecky studio version (with Bruce on support vocals) was released on his album “A GOOD LIFE” in July 2006.

Note: Written sometime between late 1997 and early 2000. There remains some confusion if “Another Thin Line” is a writing collaboration with Joe Grushecky or if it was composed entirely by Springsteen. Springsteen premiered the song live on June 22, 2000. He then prefaced another performance of the song on June 29th by commenting “here’s something I wrote with Joe Grushecky”. However a publishing registration, as well as the official US Copyright filing (July 21, 2000) lists the song as a Springsteen-only composition. Neither artist has officially released a recorded version.

Note: Written Dec 1997 - Jan 1998. There remains some confusion if “The Wall” is a collaboration with Joe Grushecky or if it was written entirely by Springsteen. Bruce premiered the song live on Feb 19, 2003 and prefaced the performance by mentioning that he’d visited the Vietnam Memorial in Washington in Dec 1997 and that several days later Grushecky (in advance of their songwriting sessions) sent Bruce a newspaper clipping about the Vietnam Memorial. Springsteen then states to the audience: “we kinda wrote the song together in some fashion”. However a couple of brief comments Bruce has made since that show seem to imply that “The Wall” is a Springsteen-only composition - which may explain Bruce’s weird use of the words “kinda” and “in some fashion” in the above quote. In a somewhat confusing twist Grushecky subsequently wrote a different, but similarly themed, song called “On The Wall” that appeared on his 2002 Fingertips LP.

Note: Written by Bruce sometime in 1998 or early 1999. The song was premiered live with the E Street Band on March 18, 1999. A later live version with the E Street Band was officially released on the “Live In New York City” package.

Note: A mysterious history. A ballad written by Springsteen sometime between 1998 and 2000 and inspired by Bruce’s reading of Harry Potter books to his youngest son Sam. This is not a children’s song however. Sometime in early 2001 Bruce made the song available to director Chris Columbus, who at the time was shooting the first of the Potter movies. A Springsteen recording of the song was filed with the US Copyright Office on June 13, 2001. However the Springsteen song was ultimately rejected due to Harry Potter novelist/creator JK Rowling’s contractual stipulation that no commercial songs of any type be used in the Potter film series, Warner Bros Music President Gary Lemel, who was involved in the Potter music, was asked by USA Today about this Springsteen song but said he preferred not to comment publicly – but in doing so seemingly verified the basic truth in the story. In September or October 2001 Springsteen donated the song to fellow Sony artist (and Latin/Salsa star) Marc Anthony, who recorded a cover version. In late 2001 both Sony and Anthony issued press releases specifically promoting the Springsteen composition and mentioning it would be one of the tracks on Anthony’s forthcoming album “Mended” (and likely the lead single off the album). Strangely, when the “Mended” album was finally released in April 2002, the song was not on the album, nor was it issued as a single. A later special edition of the Mended album with bonus tracks also didn’t include the song. There has been no explanation as to why the Springsteen composition was not issued.

Note: Written by Springsteen in 2001. The song is not related, either musically or lyrically, to “Mary’s Place” – they merely happen to share the same word in the title. “Harry’s Place” was recorded with the E Street Band at the Atlanta Rising Sessions in early 2002. Springsteen confirmed in a July 31, 2002 TV interview with journalist Ted Koppel that 17 songs were recorded in Atlanta and that “Harry’s Place” was one of the two songs that didn’t make the final 15-song lineup for the Rising LP – Bruce felt this rocker about a fictitious local kingpin didn’t blend in well with the rest of the LP’s material. During that TV interview Springsteen, upon request of Koppel, actually recited the entire first verse of this song’s lyrics. It should be noted that “Hard Drive” (often mentioned in the same breath as “Harry’s Place”) was not a Rising-era recording or song – rather it was a never developed (i.e., no lyrics/music) title found in Springsteen’s Rising sessions songwriting notebook that had first been seen and noted by journalist Jon Pareles in a July 2002 interview with Springsteen at Bruce’s home.