Something Else #21: Odds And Ends

A mixture of various things on this final Musical Off-Day of 2008:

Bruce Springsteen - Fall 1981 - Almost 18 minutes of Springsteen feeling his way through what would become "Born In The USA" during the time he wrote the songs for Nebraska. Recorded at home with only his guitar and a tape recorder, this is an utterly fascinating look at the creative process, as Springsteen tries out various tempos and verses -- moving some lyrics around, getting rid of others, as the song slowly takes its now-familiar shape. (I've also included a demo called "Vietnam", which was apparently scrapped, but some of the melody and lyrical ideas were later used in BITUSA. Maybe listen to this one first.)

Bob Dylan - November 21, 2005 - He opens his encore at the Brixton Academy with a rough (and way too short) version of The Clash's "London Calling". The opening guitar is certainly recognizable, but I'll bet more than a few fans figured it was just another re-arrangement of a Dylan tune ... until he started singing.

Dylan - Dreamin' Of You - An outtake from "Time Out Of Mind", from his upcoming Bootleg Series release (downloaded from Dylan's website).

P.J. Harvey - November 13, 1999 - A cover of Dylan's "Shot of Love", recorded live in London.

REM - July 15, 2008 - Michael Stipe has some fun with the end of "Living Well Is The Best Revenge" during a Dresden soundcheck.

Long Ryders - August 9, 1986 - An amusing soundcheck fragment of "Looking For Lewis & Clark". (Though likely more amusing if you also know the original.)

Husker Du - June 4, 1984 - These guys often played "Love Is All Around" (the theme from The Mary Tyler Moore show, which was set in their home city) near the end of their shows. This comes from a show in Sweden and is played at a much slower pace than usual.

And some guy romps through a punky, f-bomb-laden version of one of his biggest hits at a mid-80s soundcheck.

Don't Forget To Explore: Archive.org (with 53,000+ concerts), TUBE, and Totally Fuzzy.