Bruce Springsteen - Cover Songs, Volume 10: 1995-1997

Here's volume 10 in the Bruce Springsteen cover songs series. This one deals with the years 1995 to 1997.

As the last volume hinted, the music changed somewhat because Springsteen when in a "folky" direction around 1996, with the all-acoustic "The Ghost of Tom Joad" album and subsequent all acoustic-tour. The first few songs from 1995 are still rocking. But most of the songs from 1996 and 1997 are folk songs.

Note that the song "Tom Joad" (a.k.a. "The Ballad of Tom Joad") is a different song than the Springsteen original "The Ghost of Tom Joad." The name "Tom Joad" comes from a character in the John Steinbeck novel "The Grapes of Wrath."

Regarding sound quality, it turns out that every single song on this album is officially unreleased. As I've mentioned previously, Springsteen has officially released on-line recordings of many dozens of his concerts in recent years, but not many of them deal with the 1995 to 1997 era. However, luckily, the sound quality is good on these.

Speaking of bands, one thing I really like about Springsteen is that he loves music so much that even when he's not on tour, he often drops into local clubs in New Jersey and joins in with bands that play his type of music. In the case of "All Along the Watchtower" here, he joined Solar Circus, a local New Jersey band that few had heard of. The version of the song isn't that great, since he was just winging it with a band he didn't know from Adam, but I've included it because he sang lead vocals.

Oh, one thing I forgot to mention for the past couple of albums is that from about 1988 until 1999, Springsteen pretty much played all his concerts without the E Street Band. (However, he often played with this or that member of the band during those years.) I haven't been that clear about labeling his backing bands during this series. But assume it's not the E Street Band for the years mentioned above.

01 Highway 61 Revisited (Bruce Springsteen with Wolfgang Niedecken & His Leopardefellband)
02 All Along the Watchtower (Bruce Springsteen & Solar Circus)
03 Shake, Rattle and Roll (Bruce Springsteen)
04 Forever Young (Bob Dylan & Bruce Springsteen)
05 Angel Eyes (Bruce Springsteen)
06 Goin' Down the Road Feelin' Bad [Blowin' Down This Road] (Bruce Springsteen & Joe Ely)
07 Oklahoma Hills (Arlo Gurthrie, Bruce Springsteen & Joe Ely)
08 Tom Joad [The Ballad of Tom Joad] (Bruce Springsteen)
09 Riding in My Car (Bruce Springsteen)
10 I Don't Want to Go Home (Bruce Springsteen & Steven Van Zandt)
11 One Headlight (Wallflowers & Bruce Springsteen)
12 The Times They Are A-Changin' (Bruce Springsteen)

https://www.imagenetz.de/bDda9

The cover art photo is of Springsteen on "The Late Show with Jay Leno" in 1995.