Image: Sony Music
In The Long Ago Before Times (1982), Bruce Springsteen recorded a bunch of stripped-down tunes on a four track in his bedroom. He then rerecorded them with the E Street Band, but in the end he decided that the originals were better – and so that’s what we got on the Nebraska album.
Now, though, he’s getting ready to unveil the mythical long-lost electric version of Nebraska. That’s part of the four-disc box set Nebraska ’82 which will drop Friday October 17; it also contains a remastered version of the original album, some previously unheard Nebraska outtakes, and a new concert film in which he plays the album in sequence for the first time.
The outtakes disc also contains an early version of Born In The U.S.A., which he tracked in 1982 with just Max Weinberg and Gary Tallent backing him. Says Bruce: “We threw out the keyboards and played basically as a three-piece,. It was kinda like punk rockabilly. We were trying to bring Nebraska into the electric world.”
Tracklist:
CD1 (Nebraska Outtakes):
01 Born In The USA
02 Losin’ Kind
03 Downbound Train
04 Child Bride
05 Pink Cadillac
06 The Big Payback
07 Working On The Highway
08 On The Prowl
09 Gun In Every Home
CD2 (Electric Nebraska):
01 Nebraska
02 Atlantic City
03 Mansion On The Hill
04 Johnny 99
05 Downbound Train
06 Open All Night
07 Born In The USA
08 Reason To Believe
CD3 (Nebraska, Count Basie Theatre, Red Bank, NJ):
01 Nebraska
02 Atlantic City
03 Mansion On The Hill
04 Johnny 99
05 Highway Patrolman
06 State Trooper
07 Used Cars
08 Open All Night
09 My Father’s House
10 Reason To Believe
CD4 (2025 Remaster):
01 Nebraska
02 Atlantic City
03 Mansion On The Hill
04 Johnny 99
05 Highway Patrolman
06 State Trooper
07 Used Cars
08 Open All Night
09 My Father’s House
10 Reason To Believe
CD5 (Nebraska, Count Basie Theatre, Red Bank, NJ Blu-Ray):
01 Nebraska
02 Atlantic City
03 Mansion On The Hill
04 Johnny 99
05 Highway Patrolman
06 State Trooper
07 Used Cars
08 Open All Night
09 My Father’s House
10 Reason To Believe
Love, Dr. Scott James
