THE DEMO SESSIONS (APR 1972 - FEB 1973)

PART 1 – DEMO SESSIONS OVERVIEW

There is no doubt that 1972 was a massive songwriting period for Bruce. Although some have their genesis in 1971, Springsteen wrote most of the below-mentioned songs during calendar year 1972, prior to the Jan 1973 release of his debut album. The vast majority of the known recordings were made during a 3-4 month period, from May thru August 1972. However a few were recorded shortly beforehand and several weren’t recorded until early 1973. All but one feature Springsteen completely solo, on either acoustic guitar or keyboards. The one exception features an added, but barely discernable, bass guitar. From this large pool of recordings Appel-Cretecos selected and distributed some of them during 1973-74 - most notably to the UK – European based publisher Intersong Music Ltd. Some recordings were distributed on tape, others on acetates. Most of these acetates were manufactured at Media Sound in New York City and Angel Sound in Bedford, Mass. However (and this has been the source of much confusion over the years) Springsteen did NOT record at either of these locations. Intersong also pressed its own acetates for distribution within the industry. This audio gradually filtered into collector circles in the late 1970’s, often under the misnomer “the London Publishing Demos”.

The audio that has circulated to date was recorded at either: a) CBS Studios, b) Pocketful Of Sounds Studios, 3) 914 Sound Studios or 4) Jim Cretecos’ apartment. Interestingly neither the material recorded at CBS Studios (the so-called “Hammond tapes”) nor the material recorded in Jim Cretecos’ apartment (the so-called “Cretecos Tapes”) was ever sent to publishers. The Hammond tapes leaked out into collector circles hands in the1970’s via other sources. The Cretecos apartment tapes never circulated until the early 1990’s, when Jimmy Cretecos sold his private audio collection (which also included recordings from both the Pocketful Of Sounds and 914 Sound Sessions) to a third party – and it was this third party (JEC Music USA) that attempted to claim copyright of the material and to release it commercially. Springsteen took the matter to court in both the UK and USA – litigation that, all totaled, spanned nearly 7 years (1994 – 2001). In the end Bruce won both the UK and USA cases convincingly – however not before much of the material had leaked out on various unauthorized and/or bootleg CD releases.

Although the general time frame and sequencing of these Apr 72 – Feb 73 demo-recording sessions has become clearer, much of the finer details (i.e., exact dates and times for each recording) remain unclear. The full scope of Springsteen’s songwriting catalog that was actually committed to audio tape by Bruce during this period remains a mystery. As can be seen below, nearely half of the songs that Springsteen is believed to have written have yet to surface in any audio form.

PART 2 – DEMO SESSIONS DETAILS (BY SESSION)

TIMELINE: Springsteen signed Exclusive Recording and Exclusive Management Agreements with Laurel Canyon (Mike Appel and Jim Cretecos) in mid-March, 1972. However Springsteen did not sign any Songwriting Agreement at this time, apparently wishing to think this matter over a bit longer. During April Springsteen traveled to New York on occasions to visit Mike Appel at the publishing company Pocketful Of Tunes, where Mike Appel was then-employed. During April some spontaneous, “off-the-cuff” Springsteen performances were recorded in a songwriting room (not the studio) at Pocketful Of Tunes. To date only a couple of these demos have surfaced. There may have been other songs (titles unknown) similarly taped that have yet to circulate.

Probably recorded at Mike Appel’s office or home, New York, NY during April, 1972

Note Above: the U1 and U4 recordings are from a downstream generation source and un-enhanced - and therefore of reduced sound quality.

TIMELINE: - In late April 1972 Mike Appel was able procure a May 2nd meeting with CBS A&R Manager John Hammond so that Hammond could meet and listen to Bruce. Hammond loved what he heard and Springsteen’s first studio demo session took place at CBS Studios the following day (the so-called “John Hammond Demo Session”). Springsteen made 14 recordings. Session log information survives so it has been verified that these recordings encompass the complete session. John Hammond was prepared to sign Bruce on the spot on May 3rd. But administrative formalities within CBS meant that it would take several weeks for that to become reality. Mike Appel sent cassette copies of some (not all) of this May 3rd material to several record company executives during May in an attempt to create a bidding war for Springsteen’s services. However none of the other companies were interested in Bruce.

Recorded at CBS Studios, New York, NY on May 3, 1972. Produced by John Hammond. Recording Engineer: Phil Giambalvo

Note Above: all TRACKS recordings are professionally transferred from the master tape. The U3 and HDT recordings are each from different, downstream generation sources and of significantly reduced sound quality, particularly HDT audio.

TIMELINE: - A week or so following this May 3rd John Hammond demo session Springsteen finally signed his “Exclusive Songwriting Agreement” with publisher Sioux City Music (Appel & Cretecos). It was following the signing of this Agreement that Springsteen began a series of May-June demo sessions for Sioux City Music at two New York City locations: 1) Wes Farrell’s Pocketful Of Sounds Studios (where Appel was still employed) and 2) the apartment of Bruce’s co-manager Jim Cretecos. There were multiple sessions held at each location and the session dates at the two locations may have actually intertwined. Cretecos’ apartment was utilized due to the limited availability of the studio at Pocketful Of Sounds. Cretecos was an electronics engineer and was able to emulate a reasonable recording environment in his apartment – so much so that it is difficult to distinguish some of the recordings Bruce made in Cretecos’ apartment from those made in a professional studio.

Likely recorded at Jim Cretecos’ apartment, New York, NY during May-June, 1972. Produced by Jim Cretecos. Recording Engineer: Jim Cretecos.

Note Above: all the “BTF-UNE-PS-EY” recordings are professionally transferred from a copy of the master tape and have been further improved by modern technology.

Likely recorded at Pocketful Of Tunes Studio, New York, NY during May-June, 1972. Produced by Mike Appel and Jim Cretecos. Recording Engineer: Jim Cretecos.

Note Above: all the BTF or UNE or PS or EY recordings are professionally transferred from a copy of the master tape and professionally enhanced. All U1 or U4 or DT recordings are from a downstream generation source and of reduced sound quality. Note: Master tape quality versions of both “The Song” and “Cowboys Of The Sea” from this session are in very limited circulation in collector circles.

TIMELINE: Laurel Canyon Productions (Appel & Cretecos) finally signed a recording contract with CBS (“the CBS Agreement”) on June 9, 1972. Bruce was not signed directly to CBS - his services were subcontracted to CBS by Laurel Canyon. The recording sessions for Springsteen’s debut LP took place at 914 Sound Studios from early July thru early September. Individual recordings made by Springsteen under the CBS Agreement remained the property of Laurel Canyon until such point that they were assigned and delivered (transferred) to CBS. Since Laurel Canyon owned the un-assigned recordings some of them ended up serving as copyright/publishing demos for Laurel Canyon. Since this group of 914 Sound Studio material emanates from sessions intended to produce an album, they can be categorized as both Greetings LP outtakes AND publishing demos.

Likely recorded at 914 Sound Studio, Blauvelt, NY during July-Aug 1972. Produced by Mike Appel and Jim Cretecos. Recording Engineer: Louis Lahav.

Note Above: all BTF or UNE or PS or EY recordings are professionally transferred from a copy of the master tape that has been enhanced. The DT and U4 recordings are from a downstream generation source, un-enhanced and therefore of reduced sound quality. Since the above-mentioned 6 recordings appear to have been made during the sessions for the Greetings LP they are also listed in the Greetings LP sessions section.

TIMELINE: Following the completion of the debut LP sessions in September 1972, Springsteen continued composing new material. He was allegedly  supplied with a reel-to-reel recorder by Appel-Cretecos and is thought to have made some home demos on his own during this period (none of this audio has ever emerged). However at least two further publishing demo sessions were held at 914 Studios – one on Jan 29-30 and the other on Feb 19-20, 1973.

Recorded at 914 Sound Studio, Blauvelt, NY during Jan-Feb, 1973. Produced by Mike Appel and Jim Cretecos. Recording Engineer: Louis Lahav.

Note Above: all the U6 recordings are professionally transferred from a copy of the master tape.

PART 3 – DEMO SESSIONS DETAILS (BY SONG TITLE)

COMMENTS: Recorded at CBS Studios on May 3, 1972. V1 is an abandoned take. V2 is a complete take and has been officially issued on TRACKS.

COMMENTS: V1 recorded at CBS Studios on May 3, 1972 and officially issued on TRACKS. V2 likely recorded at Pocketful Of Tunes Studios, New York, NY in May-June, 1972.

COMMENTS: Recorded at CBS Studios on May 3, 1972 and officially issued on TRACKS.

COMMENTS: Recorded at CBS Studios on May 3, 1972 and officially issued on TRACKS.

COMMENTS: V1 recorded at CBS Studios on May 3, 1972.

COMMENTS: V1 probably recorded at Mike Appel’s office in New York  in April 1972. V2 was recorded at CBS Studios on May 3, 1972. V3 was recorded at 914 Sound Studios in July 1972. V1 features some tentative lyric lines. Each version is a more polished than its predecessor.

COMMENTS: written in 1971 and performed by Bruce (on piano) to Mike Appel during their first meeting in Nov 1971 (that version was not recorded). This performance is on acoustic guitar. Recorded at Jim Cretecos’ apartment in New York City in May-June, 1972.

COMMENTS: Recorded at 914 Sound Studios, Blauvelt, NY, in Jan-Feb, 1973. Tremendous.

COMMENTS: Recorded at Jim Cretecos’ apartment in New York City in May-June, 1972.

COMMENTS: Probably recorded at Pocketful Of Tunes Studios in May-June, 1972

COMMENTS: Written by Bruce in 1971. Performed with The Bruce Springsteen Band in late 1971 and early 1972. A wild, full band live performance at The Backdoor Club in Richmond in Feb 1972 is circulating. This seems to be the earliest of his compositions to incorporate substantial scattershot imagery. V1 recorded at CBS Studios on May 3, 1972. V2 recorded at Pocketful Of Tunes Studios in May-June, 1972. V3 probably recorded at 914 Sound Studios in July, 1972

COMMENTS: Recorded at Pocketful Of Tunes Studios in May-June, 1972

COMMENTS: Also known by the titles “California” or “California, You’re A Woman”. Both V1 and V2 likely recorded at Pocketful Of Tunes in May-June, 1972. The V1 take (which is definitely from Pocketful Studios as the control room engineer is heard giving Bruce a directive to begin) is delivered at a slower pace and is slightly off-key. V2 is likely a 2nd take and is the superior performance.

COMMENTS: Likely recorded at Pocketful Of Tunes Studios in May-June, 1972. A live audio-video solo performance from Aug 1972 at Max’s Kansas City is in circulation.

COMMENTS: Likely recorded at Jim Cretecos’ apartment in New York City in May-June, 1972.

COMMENTS: V1 probably recorded at Mike Appel office, New York in April 1972. V2 recorded at CBS Studios on May 3, 1972. V3 likely recorded at Pocketful Of Tunes Studio in May-June, 1972. All three feature Bruce on piano. V1 is performed at a slower pace and is not as polished as V2 or V3. According to comments by Bruce this was written in late 1970 or early 1971. Performed live at The Student Prince in the fall of 1971 and then (acoustically) on May 2, 1972 in John Hammond’s office. Neither of those performances are circulating.

COMMENTS: Recorded at 914 Sound Studios in Jan-Feb, 1973. The lyrics were written during 1972, although the melody was culled from a 1971 Springsteen composition performed live by the Bruce Springsteen Band called “Talkin About My Baby”.

COMMENTS: This series of audio is perhaps the most confusing of all the demo material. V1 and V2 were both recorded at CBS Studios on May 3, 1972. V3 was likely recorded at Pocketful Of Tunes Studios in May-June. V4, on the other hand, is likely to be from 914 Sound Studios in July. All four versions are piano-solo takes and each version is a slight improvement on its predecessor. However the V3 and V4 takes are remarkably similar in studio ambience and delivery – extremely difficult to tell apart. In V3 Bruce sings one line as “and you were pretty big in the south”. In V4 Bruce sings this line as “and, YEAH, you were pretty big in the south”. “Jazz Musician” was one of three songs bumped from Greetings to make way for last minute additions “Blinded By The Light” and “Spirit In The Night”. Some have speculated that the recording of the song that was eliminated from Greetings is another, yet-to-circulate take.

COMMENTS: Likely recorded at Jim Cretecos’ apartment in New York City in May-June 1972, although this is possibly from Pocketful Of Tunes Studios in May-June.

COMMENTS: V1 probably recorded in Mike Appel’s office in New York City in April 1972. V2 recorded at 914 Sound Studios in July 1972. V1 is a very tentative performance and the sound quality seems to indicate it was recorded on non-professional equipment. V2 is vastly superior on all levels.

COMMENTS: Recorded at Pocketful Of Tunes Studios, New York, NY in May-June, 1972

COMMENTS: Likely recorded at Pocketful Of Tunes Studios, New York in May-June, 1972. Bruce on piano. This is one of the masters purchased by JEC Music USA, registered by them at the Library Of Congress, but never issued on any of JEC’s associated CD releases (Prodigal Son – Unearthed - Before The Fame). Collectors will have to make do with the same (but lesser sound quality) recording found on U4.

COMMENTS: Likely recorded at Jim Cretecos’ apartment in New York City in May-June, 1972. One of Bruce’s major works from the period.

COMMENTS: Recorded at Jim Cretecos’ apartment in New York City in May-June, 1972. Written in 1971, maybe even earlier. About as autobiographical as anything Bruce has ever written.

COMMENTS: Written in late 1972. Performed live (on piano) by Bruce at a couple of shows in Jan 1973 (audio from 31/01/73 is circulating). The studio demo is performed on acoustic guitar and is more fully developed than the known January live performance. Recorded at 914 Sound Studios on Feb 19-20, 1973. A classic.

COMMENTS: V1 and V2 both recorded at Pocketful Of Tunes Studios in May-June, 1972. V1 is an abandoned (incomplete) take, with Bruce forgetting the words. V2 is complete. Written in 1971 and performed with The Bruce Springsteen Band in late 1971 and early 1972. A full band live performance from late 1971 is circulating.

COMMENTS: Likely recorded at Pocketful Of Tunes Studio in May-June 1972, but this is possibly from 914 Sound Studios in July. Written soon after the May 2 audition for John Hammond and found on a proposed track-listing document for the Greetings album. “Song To Orphans” was an occasional inclusion in Bruce’s opening solo segment during the first three months of the Greetings LP tour. A couple live audio performances from that period are circulating.

COMMENTS: V1 recorded at CBS Studios, New York, NY on May 3, 1972. V2 recorded at Pocketful Of Tunes Studios, New York, NY in May-June, 1972. Original Sioux City Music documentation has it titled as “Southern SUN”. However it is currently registered as “SON”.

COMMENTS: V1 recorded at CBS Studios, New York, NY on May 3, 1972. Bruce on piano. V2 probably recorded at Pocketful Of Tunes Studios in May-June, 1972 but possibly this is from 914 Sound Studios in July. Bruce plays an electric keyboard on V2. V2 is one of the master tape recordings purchased by JEC Music USA, registered by them at the Library Of Congress, but never issued on any of JEC’s associated CD releases (Prodigal Son – Unearthed - Before The Fame)

COMMENTS: Recorded at Pocketful Of Tunes Studios, New York in May-June, 1972. Historically this has been listed under the title ‘The Word” or “I Heard The Word”. However a perfect sound quality tape of this performance exists in limited collector circles and it includes the previously unheard introduction (“The Song, take 1”) – indicating the correct title is “The Song”.

COMMENTS: Recorded at Pocketful Of Tunes Studios, New York in May-June, 1972. Bruce on piano. Performed live occasionally by Bruce during 1973 and early 1974.

COMMENTS: V1 recorded at CBS Studios, New York, NY on May 3, 1972. Written in April 1972 and performed (tentatively, with a couple of words mumbled) by Bruce as part of the CBS Studio session on May 3rd. V2 recorded at 914 Sound Studios, Blauvelt, NY in July 1972. The 914 Sound Studios version (which features either Garry Tallent or Richard Davis on bass) is stunning.

COMMENTS: Recorded at Pocketful Of Tunes Studios, New York in May-June, 1972. Bruce on piano. U4 / DT / U2 feature the same recording, except that on the U2 version audience clapping has been spiced onto the end of the song (by a bootlegger many years ago) in order to fake a live performance. Bruce would later merge “Vibes Man” with his early 1973 composition “New York Song” to create the mid 1973 mini-epic “New York City Serenade”.

COMMENTS: Written by Bruce during June 1972. Recorded at 914 Sound Studios in July 1972. Bumped from the Greetings LP to make way for last minute additions “Blinded By The Light” and “Spirit In The Night”. Performed by Bruce live at least a couple of times during the Aug 1972-Jan 1973 period, although no live audio is circulating.

COMMENTS: Likely Recorded at Jim Cretecos’ apartment in New York City in May-June, 1972.

COMMENTS: Recorded at 914 Sound Studios, Blauvelt Jan-Feb, 1973. Bruce on piano. Haunting.

Last updated June 11, 2006

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