Bruce Springsteen [Child/Steel Mill]
September 20, 1969
The Center at Free University
Richmond, VA

Source:  Aud
Taper/Label:  Unknown

We are happy to present a partial upgrade of what is probably the earliest recording of Bruce Springsteen after the Castiles. 

The tracks: 
1. Sister Teresa (3:54)
2. Resurrection (8:07)
3. Garden State Parkway Blues (20:34)
4. The War Is Over (11:11)
5. KT88 (3:48)
6. Goin' Down Slow (15:15)
Total = 1:02:49 


The show: 
This is the only recording to preserve the Steel Mill classic "Sister Teresa." It seems to be the earliest circulating recording of the band, possibly still known as Child at this point. Brucebase assigns this recording to September 20. 1969 at the Center on the campus of Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, VA (https://brucebase.wikispaces.com/1969#200969), and this is a possible date. Certainty about the date and venue, or even high probability, is out of reach, however. Steel Mill tapes are badly and conflictingly labeled. Many Steel Mill gigs probably remain undocumented (since most are known only because of a surviving poster or newspaper reference), so this recording need not even belong to a known performance. A thunderstorm can be heard at one point, but this does little to narrow the potential dates, especially in Richmond, which has relatively mild climate. 


This version: 
Previously this show has circulated as "A Night Worth Spending in Richmond." In Brucebase, the entry says that the source was the master tape, but this is incorrect. While the source seems to have been low generation, it was not the master. We found an alternate source, which is still not the master and is mostly inferior to ANWSiR, but it did provide some improvements: 
- The first two tracks, "Sister Teresa" and "Resurrection," seem on this source to have been carefully mastered from the vinyl boot "Resurrection," which in turn was perhaps sourced from the master, or at least closer to it. The sound is clearer and fuller on these tracks, and the beginning of "Sister Teresa" lacks the swooshing sound that is heard on the ANWSiR version. 
- "Garden State Parkway Blues" is complete, adding an additional minute to the track.  Since the new version is inferior, this last minute has been grafted onto the ANWSiR version. 
- Finally, on ANWSiR, toward the end of the "Goin' Down Slow," the end of "The War Is Over" is heard playing again.  Unfortunately, the new source ended several minutes earlier, so we could not graft a cleaner ending this time. At least part of the offending repetition was trimmed off, but for the last 20 seconds you can still hear both performances playing simultaneously. 

We hope you enjoy the show (and that you enjoyed our earlier compilation, "The Pre-Street Shuffle"). We are working to document, circulate and upgrade as much as we can of these early recordings. If you are interested or can help us out, please let us know!