Bruce Springsteen 1975-08-13 The Bottom Line New York, NY

 

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band
The Bottom Line
New York NY
August 13, 1975 Late Show

Source-Sony 110B mono cassette deck with builtin mic>

1.    For You-Bruce on piano
2.    Tenth Avenue Freezeout
3.    Spirit in the Night
4.    Every Time That You Walk in the Room
5.    Night-first known performance
6.    Growin’ Up
7.    It’s Hard to be a Saint in the City
8.    E Street Shuffle
9.    Born to Run
10.    She’s the One
11.    Thunder Road-Bruce on piano
12.    Kitty’s Back
13.    New York City Serenade
14.    Rosalita
15.    Fourth of July Asbury Park(Sandy)
16.    Quarter to Three

The story of Bruce’s early days has been documented many times, most recently in the current New
Yorker magazine.  As described therein, Bruce’s five night, ten show stint at The Bottom Line was crucial
to launching his third album, Born to Run.  Many executives at Columbia Records were frustrated with
Bruce’s lack of commercial success and Born to Run was likely his last chance with the label.  Columbia
reportedly bought a quarter of the 500 seats for each show to distribute among music industry people
to help spread the word.  Even so, tickets did not sell out immediately and a week after going on sale
they were available for any of the shows.  That all ended when the public heard WNEW’s broadcast of
show number 5.  The next two nights, fans were lined up around the corner with the hope of getting a
standing room spot at the bar to hear the new phenom.

This is the first recording of one of the late shows to surface.  It is the first night and this tape captures
all of the ambiance of this intimate club.  You can hear each breath and whisper  from Bruce while
dishes and glasses are shuffled on the tables. Bruce seems to just appear behind the piano and gets a
single reaction from the crowd as he opens solo with For You.  It is evident how he captures the crowd
more and more with each song.  By the time he hits the 20 minute versions of Kitty’s Back and New York
City Serenade, he has them in his hands.

Thanks to Mr. Anonymous who met the taper, ODoc55, thru  Dimeadozen.

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