Live 75-85 Overdubs

Very, very little intstrumental or vocal overdubbing done on the LIVE 75-85 Box. It's just urban myth that there was a lot of it. Dave Marsh says in the book "Glory Days" that there was no overdubbing in the Live 75-85 Box. That's not 100% accurate - although Dave writes for a mainstream market and his statement is close enough to accurate not to be a point worth whining about.

There was some audience overdubs and some editing for sure - all of which made sense and all of which rendered the Box set more palatable for the wider market. Remember, they didn't release the Box set to cater for 25,000 anal-retentive fanatics worldwide. They wanted to sell millions of copies of the box.

Things that were done (all quite minor in the overall scheme of things) include:

* spoken intro to "Paradise By The C" edited out for legal reasons

* part of the middle monologue of "Growin' Up" edited out for legal reasons

* the long "Sad Eyes" middle interlude section of "Backstreets" was removed. I'm sure it was a wonderful and powerful variation on the night for those at the show - but it's tedious on a repeat listening basis (or for radio airplay)....plus it took up too much space (majority of sales in 1986-87 were still vinyl).

* there were club audience sounds added/mixed into "Sandy" to give it initmacy and consistency with the other "club" environment songs that surround it.

* the intro to the CLUB performance of "Fire" (from Roxy) was added to the ARENA performance of "Fire" (from Winteralnd) that was selected for the Box - again to give the song intimacy and blend with the other club performances that surround it.

* Bruce's spoken vocal intro to "I'm On Fire" was deleted - the recording is better without it within the context of such an Anthology package.

* not 100% certain here......but I think there was a very minor vocal overdub done by Bruce in 1986 to the live "Rosalita" used in the box - to make up for the fact he briefly/accidently moved his mouth away from the microphone during the Roxy performance of it. So they cleaned/fixed that up.

* there was a problem with bleed into the following song during "Incident On 57th Street" so they did some audience overdubbing/editing so that the song ended smoothly. Due to space considerations it turned out "Incident" didn't make the box set (it was originally intended to fit in with the "club" material from early in the box). But it ended up issued as a b-side in 1987.

* it seems Springsteen didn't like aspects of his guitar solo on the version of "Because The Night" that they selected for the Live 75-85 Box. Consequently Springsteen's solo was either substituted with another live solo from a different show or, alternatively, Bruce re-did that solo in the studio in 1986. One would probably need to see the 1986 session logs to know exactly how it was done.

I heard that the solos for "BITUSA" and "War" were recut. I have to say I haven't heard any boot from around that time where the solos sound even close to what's on the Live set.

Also, wasn't the intro for "This Land is Your Land" lifted from a different Nassau show?

Cool, thanks. Very interesting and makes sense I guess.
Hazy

I think they redubbed more than we know; if some one has info on the backstreets list would be great

for sure
nils ' solo in war
clarence's jersey girl final solo
percussion added at the end of incedent

probably
guitar solo in because the night
drums in sandy

Leave it to Bruce and Landau to screw up a live box set of the greatest live band in history. The box is not standing the test of time very well. Springsteen fanatics don't seem to listen to it much at all. And the masses seem to have forgotten about it.

I guess that's what happens when money considerations get in the way of authenticity.

..and the worst edit of them all:
The horrible snare drum sound making the ?78 club shows sounding like Born in the USA.
From my point of view, Bobby G nails it.

Indeed. A snare drum is not supposed to sound like a 10-megaton explosion.

I just went back and listened to the Incident b-side (which may be one of the best b-sides of all time, btw).

However, after the end of the song, it sounds like they mixed in the sound of clinking cocktail glasses, ostensibly to give it a "club" feel (even though it was recorded at Nassau Coliseum).

Yuck.

-----------------

Not standing the test of time? Whose time?

The 'LIVE 1975-85' album has sold (to date) about 6,600,000 copies worldwide (4,400,000 of those in the USA). It is the biggest-selling 3cd (4/5LP) set of all time, both in the USA and worldwide.

'Live 1975-85' has sold about 400,000 copies in the USA in the 17 years 1991-2008...similar sales during the same period as 'Tunnel of Love' and 'The River' - more than 'Nebraska'. So, no, it's not in the back-catalog sales class of the BITUSA or BTR albums - but it's right up there in back catalog sales in America with Bruce's other 70's and 80's albums.

I don't have the 'Live 1975-85' set myself anymore - gave it away about 10 or 11 years ago to a young kid to get him interested in Springsteen - that kid now has most of Springsteen's albums.

'Live 1975-85' was/is not designed for folks that collect audio of complete individual shows. It's just a broad-brush live anthology.

I call it the "Big Boom"...
I HATED IT.. and Still DO.. !!
You also have to remember that Max had just released his book,
"The Big Boom"...
and (I think) it was Chuck Plotkin that had a hand in the final mastering of the release... and yup.. he did BITUSA...
"Sandy" sounds rediculous with the Big Bang drums...

I can understand the Audience mixes into the final release...
you have to feather the mixes from one venue to another, let alone from one tour to another...
and the intro's... yeah.. it doesn't make for good 'popular audience' airplay.
But I'm still pissed about the 'Sad Eyes' thing...
It's not like Backstreets is all that radio friendly...
It's already too long for the radio...
2 cents worth..
conan

There was an issue of CD space as well. They didn't have 80 minute CDs in 1986.

I don't have the dates handy but I'm pretty sure the CD version was released after the 5LP and 3MC versions.

Are you sure? A good indication the CD box came a bit later, if you are. Would add up with what ShabbyDog thinks. I think he is right, and I am about 10 years his senior (and thus remember that part of history better, I guess).
I recall a TV interview ("Glory Days"?) where I am 99.9 % sure that Bruce talked about the selection of material for the box set, saying that "nothing HAD to be in" and he would like some more stuff to be in. He said that one just couldn't have more than 80 min on one cd, it was THE LIMIT, and that 3 cds was the limit. It means that they were planning the CDs simultaneously with the LP set, IF my memory serves me well.

By the way, I recall that MOUNTAIN of LP sets at my dealer (can't recall seeing CD box "mountains", but that COULD be due to that I myself needed the LP set) - and I spent the whole evening playing it all. It was like Christmas TWICE!

In the USA, they were all released at the same time November 10, 1986.

Maximum length of a CD in 1986 would have been 74 minutes, running time of CD1 is 73:32. Something would have to be dropped in order to fit on Sad Eyes.

It may sound a bit flat now (anyone know if the recent re-issue is mixed louder?) but at the time it was a perfect release meant to appeal to the masses. That obviously meant dropping Sad Eyes and fixing a few imperfections. It's not meant to represent a warts and all live performance. Only a tiny % would notice the messed with drums on Sandy. I never did.

Here are two additions to Earthslayer's list:

- "Jersey Girl" originally featured a short spoken intro by Bruce (addressing and thanking his loyal New Jersey audience) edited out for the album release. However, that intro is intact on the international "Cover Me" 7" vinyl single (most pressings at least), where "Jersey Girl" first appeared as a B-side in 1984.

- "Seeds" originally had a lengthier monologue about the song's origins spoken over the musical intro. That also was edited out.

I'm very sure. I bought the CDs on release day. There's a reason why Hungry Heart and Two Hearts are on CD 1, and out of place. Similarly, why Born in the USA and Seeds are on CD 2, and out of place. It wasn't tracklisted for CDs. It was tracklisted for albums and cassettes. How they would fit on a CD was an afterthought. There are three distinct parts to the 75-85. The club (1). The arena(2). BITUSA/arena-stadium(3). This was designed around the album and cassette format.

The CD, Cassette, and Album boxes were identical, except for the color of the font. I believe, if memory serves, that the CDs font was white, the album-red, and the cassettes -blue. They were all packaged in the same size box. The mountain of boxes you saw probably were mostly albums and cassettes. This was 1986 after all, and many people still didn't own CD players. Though I'm sure there were CD boxes sprinkled in between the ones you saw.

Bruce has a poor memory. Shocking, I know...."the screen door slams <look at teleprompter>, mary's dress waves <look at teleprompter>." CDs were ~74 minutes in 1986.

You're correct about the cassettes, but the vinyl box had white type and the CD box red type. Oh, and let's not forget the set of three 8-track cartridges - this also came in the standard 12" box, which featured yellow lettering.

Just because Bruce sold a gazillion box sets doesn't mean its standing the test of time as a musical statement. If people aren't listening to it (it seems very few people here do), it ain't worth much.

I'd be willing to bet that the vast majority of the box sets out there are in LP or cassette format, and are slowly rotting in basements, closets, and attics throughout the world, never to be listened to again.

... just like my Clapton set, Led Zep set, and Jimmy Buffet set...

A lot of people still listen to live Springsteen recordings....just not the '75-'85 Box.

Confirmed. My copy of "CBS 450227 1" - bought on the first possible day after release is 5-ish meters from me in my shelf, and has white type.

Amazing how memory is the first to go. I guess mine went a while ago.

CDs were red, that's right.
My cassette box (still have it) has blue type.
The album version had white type (in the US, at least).

I think all of them were white on the front. But color change was on the side of the box.

"they didn't release the Box set to cater for 25,000 anal-retentive fanatics worldwide"


I suppose we number among the 25,000

During the Piano intro on Incident from Nassau , right before the drums kick in Bruce mentioned something about the lights and that was edited out I believe also on the Japanese release