Bruce Springsteen 
November 21, 1995
State Theater 
New Brunswick, New Jersey

slipkid68 master recording + 2021 JEMS transfer and mastering, with post-production by mjk5510

Recording Gear: Sony TCD-D8 DAT Recorder > Sonic Studios DSM-6 mics

Master DAT > Tascam DA-302 DAT > Sound Devices USBPre2 > Audacity 2.0 > iZotope RX and Ozone > .wav > FLAC > tracking and finishing via Audacity 2.4.2 and TLH

01_intro
02_The Ghost of Tom Joad
03_Adam Raised a Cain
04_Straight Time
05_Highway 29
06_Darkness on the Edge of Town
07_Murder Incorporated
08_Nebraska
09_If I Should Fall Behind
10_Born in the U.S.A.
11_Dry Lightning
12_Spare Parts
13_Youngstown
14_Sinaloa Cowboys
15_The Line
16_Balboa Park
17_Across the Border
18_encore break
19_Does This Bus Stop at 82nd Street?
20_This Hard Land
21_Dead Man Walkin'
22_Galveston Bay
23_My Best Was Never Good Enough

This recording captures Bruce Springsteen in a public dress rehearsal the night before he began his Ghost of Tom Joad tour. Digital and analog copies have long circulated (e.g., “This Ain’t No Rock and Roll Show,” on the Doberman label). Now, the master offers key improvements.

Focused on songcraft, storytelling, and reinvention, this was Springsteen’s first solo tour and first as an acoustic performer. From his River-era interest in Woody Guthrie to “Nebraska” and the Christic Institute benefit concerts in 1990, the lone troubadour was waiting to get sprung; behind the Tom Joad LP (released this very day), he’d tour the world by himself for 18 months.

The show’s initial structure featured a straight-edge of hardship; a hint of redemption appeared in the set-closer “Across the Border,” and an encore lightened the mood. If you’re a fan of that early model, this is its first play, with new songs making up over half the set, including the premiere of the rarely-perfromed "Dead Man Walkin'."

Although Springsteen became more adept with each performance, he emerged from the wings this night in remarkably good form. Early in the set, I was struck by the duel instrumentation on “Adam Raised a Cain” and his vocals on “Highway 29,” both models of concentration.

Older numbers, deft in rearrangement and placement, included a version of “Born in the U.S.A” that left no room for misunderstanding. The trifecta of “Darkness on the Edge of Town,” “Murder Incorporated,” and “Nebraska” was stunning and dark. Conversely, “This Hard Land” was a ray of light. In this setting, each took on a new dimension.

Coupled with the Tom Joad narratives, largely set in migrant communities of the American west, the show formed one of Springsteen’s enduring artistic statements; some of his remarks, meanwhile, sound eerily prescient.

It wasn’t for everyone, of course, which is why Springsteen played in theaters and opera houses from Red Bank to Fresno to Warsaw. He loosened up considerably, but never veered far from the initial idea.

I recorded from the orchestra, about two-thirds of the way back, house right. The crowd was reasonably good, and the music came through. Working from the very DAT I recorded just over a quarter-century ago, BK put a new shine on a solid capture. Our chief-of-staff mjk5510 corrected a minor volume discrepancy. Thank you, gentlemen. And a shout-out to Tape Man Joe, whose recording sails under Volume 32 of his great series presented by G and buckshotspl.

Finally, a salute to Jared: he shipped a DAT recorder and mics for the occasion, making coverage of Springsteen’s 1995 tour a certainty before it began. Music is just one way we remember our great friends Jared and Stan.

Share it freely, and for free!

- slipkid68