‘The Ties That Bind: The River Collection’ 4CD/3DVD Box Set Out December 4th

[JerseyGirl]

‘The Ties That Bind: The River Collection’ 4CD/3DVD Box Set Out December 4th

Columbia Records will release Bruce Springsteen’s ‘The Ties That Bind: The River Collection’ on December 4th. A comprehensive look at ‘The River’ era, the set contains 52 tracks on 4 CDs with a wealth of unreleased material, and 4 hours of never-before-seen video on 3 DVDs. It is comprised of the original ‘The River’ double album; the first official release of ‘The River: Single Album;’ a CD of 1979/80 studio outtakes; a two-DVD film of never-released, newly edited multi-camera footage from Springsteen’s famed 1980 show in Tempe, AZ, long rumored but never-before-seen; rare tour rehearsal footage; a brand new documentary “The Ties That Bind” about ‘The River;’ and a coffee table book of 200 rare or previously unseen photos and memorabilia with a new essay by Mikal Gilmore.

‘The River,’ Springsteen’s fifth album, was released on October 17, 1980 as a double album and reached #1 on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart. In his notes, Gilmore calls ‘The River’ Springsteen’s “pivotal album—[the] hinge between the ambitious commotions that had preceded it and the more succinct musical riots, and sometimes terrifying storytelling, that followed.”

‘The River: Single Album’ is the 10-track album that Springsteen recorded in 1979 as a follow up to 1978’s ‘Darkness On The Edge Of Town’ but never released. “The songs lacked the kind of unity and conceptual intensity I liked my music to have. So we went back in the studio,” he wrote in the lyrics/photo book “Songs.” The early sessions marked the beginning of a prolific 18-month long journey of writing and recording. Seven of the 10 titles on ‘The River: Single Album’ eventually appeared on ‘The River,’ some with alternate lyrics and arrangements, with outtakes like “Cindy” and a rockabilly version of “You Can Look (But You Better Not Touch)” never released. Now for the first time ‘The River: Single Album’ will be officially available.

The fourth CD on the box set is ‘The River: Outtakes,’ which spans the entire ‘The River’ sessions in 1979 and 1980 and illustrate the depth and variety of Springsteen’s work during this period. Eleven songs are rarities that have never been released before, and for the most part are completely unheard and unknown even to fans, who have long considered Springsteen’s outtakes to be treasured secrets.

“The Ties That Bind” is a brand new 60-minute documentary produced and directed by Grammy and Emmy-winning filmmaker Thom Zimny that features an intimate interview with Springsteen as he reflects on the tumultuous, extended period writing and recording ‘The River.’ The film transitions between Springsteen telling the stories behind the music — and illustrating them with solo acoustic guitar performances — interspersed with period concert footage and rare photos of Bruce and the band in and out of the studio.

The final video component is “Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band: The River Tour, Tempe 1980,” a new film produced from footage professionally filmed in 1980 using four cameras and recorded in multitrack audio. The film features 24 songs — 2 hours, 40 minutes — on 2 DVDs from Springsteen’s November 5, 1980 concert at Arizona State University in Tempe, AZ. Widely regarded as one of Springsteen’s finest performances, this intense show features early live versions of over half of ‘The River’ songs. Also included is 20 minutes of footage from the late September, 1980 River Tour rehearsals held in Lititz, PA, showing Springsteen and The E Street Band working through live arrangements of what was then unreleased material from the upcoming album.

‘The Ties That Bind: The River Collection’ is packaged in a 10” x 12” box with a hardcover 148-page coffee table book containing 200 studio and live photographs — most of which have never been seen before — plus pages from Springsteen’s notebooks, single covers, images and outtakes from the original album package, and other memorabilia documenting the album.

‘The Ties That Bind: The River Collection’ is available for pre-order at Amazon (4CD/3DVDs or 4CD/2Blu-ray) and iTunes.


LINK: http://brucespringsteen.net/news/20...r-collection-4cd3dvd-box-set-out-december-4th


CONTENTS:

CD1

The River – Disc One

The Ties That Bind
Sherry Darling
Jackson Cage
Two Hearts
Independence Day
Hungry Heart
Out In The Street
Crush On You
You Can Look (But You Better Not Touch)
I Wanna Marry You
The River

CD2

The River – Disc Two

Point Blank
Cadillac Ranch
I’m A Rocker
Fade Away
Stolen Car
Ramrod
The Price You Pay
Drive All Night
Wreck On The Highway

CD3

The River: Single Album

The Ties That Bind
Cindy
Hungry Heart
Stolen Car (Vs.1)
Be True
The River
You Can Look (But You Better Not Touch) (Vs.1)
The Price You Pay
I Wanna Marry You
Loose End

CD4

The River: Outtakes

Record One

Meet Me In The City
The Man Who Got Away
Little White Lies
The Time That Never Was
Night Fire
Whitetown
Chain Lightning
Party Lights
Paradise By The “C”
Stray Bullet
Mr. Outside

Record Two

Roulette
Restless Nights
Where The Bands Are
Dollhouse
Living On The Edge Of The World
Take ’em As They Come
Ricky Wants A Man Of Her Own
I Wanna Be With You
Mary Lou
Held Up Without A Gun
From Small Things (Big Things One Day Come)

DVD 1

The Ties That Bind (Documentary)

DVD 2

The River Tour, Tempe 1980

Concert – Part 1

Born To Run
Prove It All Night
Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out
Jackson Cage
Two Hearts
The Promised Land
Out In The Street
The River
Badlands
Thunder Road
No Money Down
Cadillac Ranch
Hungry Heart
Fire
Sherry Darling
I Wanna Marry You
Crush On You
Ramrod
You Can Look (But You Better Not Touch)

DVD 3

The River Tour, Tempe 1980

Concert – Part 2

Drive All Night
Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)
I’m A Rocker
Jungleland
Detroit Medley
Where The Bands Are (Credits)

Bonus: The River Tour Rehersals

Ramrod
Cadillac Ranch
Fire
Crush On You
Sherry Darling

 

[JerseyGirl]

First release from the box set which seems to have updated vocals.

 

[JerseyGirl]

Box Set Trailer

 

[JimJam]

From the outtakes, i recognize the titles Roulette, Paradise by the 'C' and possibly Mary Lou. I don't know the Tempe concert but i have little doubt it's awesome.

 

[JerseyGirl]

'The Ties That Bind' documentary that was on HBO last night.

https://vimeo.com/147174188

 

[JerseyGirl]

Some outtakes that will no doubt be sounding better on the box set.

 

[JerseyGirl]

This one I love! <3

 

[JerseyGirl]

This is included in the concert DVD in the box set.

 

[JerseyGirl]

Bruce Springsteen, ‘The Ties That Bind: The River Collection': Album Review



Back in 1979, Bruce Springsteen was all set to release the follow-up to the previous year’s Darkness on the Edge of Town. After legal problems made the wait between that album and its predecessor, the breakthrough Born to Run, a long three years – an eternity in the ’70s – Springsteen was more than ready to get back into the studio.

He had written and recorded hundreds of songs for Darkness and its follow-up, which was going to be called The Ties That Bind. The single-record project, like the album before it, took on a somber tone, as Springsteen, approaching his 30s, explored grown-up themes like marriage and responsibility. But something happened on the way to the album’s release. Springsteen pulled the record and decided to revisit the project with more upbeat songs, and ended up with the double-LP epic The River in 1980 instead.

The Ties That Bind: The River Collection — a box set that gathers 52 songs from the sessions on four CDs, as well as three DVDs of video content from the era — tells the story of how one of music’s most determined artists scrapped a great album and replaced it with an even better one.

Lengthening the 10-song The Ties That Bind made the double-LP The River a more expansive record, and not just in physical size. By broadening his scope, Springsteen guaranteed The River wouldn’t be just Darkness on the Edge of Town Part II.

The original Ties That Bind — collected here in its entirety and made up of some songs that ended up on The River, some that didn’t and some that did in different versions — scales back the breadth of the two-record edition, tightening some of the loose ends and in some ways laying a more solid foundation for the songs. But The River works better as narrative and as the next step in Springsteen’s evolution as one of rock’s most powerful songwriters.

For further proof as to just how prolific and consistent he was during this period, check out the 22 outtakes from the album’s sessions. Several ended up as B-sides, bonus tracks and songs on 1998’s odds-and-ends box set Tracks, but they take on new perspective in this light, not only revealing that Springsteen had enough material for a four-LP set but also how differently The River might have sounded with some alterations.

Like 2010’s The Promise, which gathered a ton of Darkness on the Edge of Town leftovers, The Ties That Bind: The River Collection is more rewarding if you’re familiar with the original material. Songs like “Meet Me in the City,” “Roulette,” “Where the Bands Are,” “Living on the Edge of the World” and “Held Up Without a Gun” are great songs that fit into The River‘s concept, but what would they replace? It’s tough to say.

In the end, The River was the album Springsteen needed to make at that time. Not The Ties That Bind or any other record filled with the session songs found on this box. But the set uncovers an alternate history that bridges Springsteen’s first (his most significant) and second (his most commercially successful) decades. Would it have steered him away from Nebraska and in turn the superstar-making behemoth Born in the U.S.A.? Probably not, but this mammoth, exhaustive and terrific collection explores the possibilities.


Read More: Bruce Springsteen, ‘The Ties That Bind: The River Collection': Album Review | Bruce Springsteen,

 

[rtbuck]

I actually would like to get this set. Definitely sounds interesting.