Originally Posted by couchgrouch
Ps...there's a great Springsteen bootleg called How Nebraska was Born. Well worth seeking out for any roots/Americana/country writer. It has a treasure trove of his worktapes from the Nebraska/BitUSA era (they were basically the same project). It's been speculated he left his personal cassettes at the studio when he stepped out and an employee made copies and bootlegged them. You can hear him turning the pages in his notebook during the recordings.

Much of it will probably be released on the inevitable $150 fortieth anniversary box set. It might also be on YouTube.


I probably have heard every song he has ever done in some shape or form. When he was younger he used to himself work on the FBI raids of the factories that were bootlegging his live shows and songs. I remember seeing an episode of Geraldo lol where they showed how he'd be sitting in the FBI vans and when prompted he would enter the building. He said those companies had more money than he ever had, and could make better album covers than his label. He came from nothing remember.

His outtakes are sometimes better than the stuff he released. He can write country and Americana for sure, whether his fan base wants to hear it is another thing,