The River
The title track of The River; our upload is the live version from Tempe, Arizona, on November 5, 1980.
Bruce Springsteen, from The River (1980)
Springsteen wrote it and recorded it at The Power Station in New York on August 26 and 29, 1979, produced by Landau, Springsteen and Van Zandt, with Springsteen on vocals, guitars and harmonica, Bittan on piano, Clemons on tambourine, Federici on organ, Tallent on bass, Van Zandt on guitar and harmony vocals and Weinberg on drums. It closes side two of the album, released on October 17, 1980, and came out as a single in April 1981 in several western European countries but not the US, with B-sides that varied by country: "Independence Day" in the UK, "Ramrod" in France and "I'm a Rocker" in Australia. It reached 5 in Norway, 6 in Denmark, 10 in Sweden and 24 in Ireland, is Gold in the US, Platinum in Australia and Silver in the UK, and Rolling Stone ranked it fifth on its 2018 list of his hundred greatest songs.
It debuted in September 1979 at the Musicians United for Safe Energy concerts at Madison Square Garden and is in the film No Nukes (1980). On the 1984 and 1985 tour it was often preceded by a long spoken story, and the 1999 and 2000 Reunion tour used a sax-featuring arrangement. Wikipedia counts almost 700 performances as of 2023. Our upload is from the concert film The River Tour, Tempe 1980, shot on November 5, 1980 and part of The Ties That Bind: The River Collection (2015).
On stage
- 1979-09, Madison Square Garden, New York The first live performance, at the MUSE concerts.
- 1980-11-05, Arizona State University, Tempe The source of our upload.
More songs by Bruce Springsteen
Born to Run, Nebraska, Born in the U.S.A., Thunder Road, Darkness on the Edge of Town, Jungleland, State Trooper, My Hometown, Wreck on the Highway, Stolen Car, Racing in the Street, Open All Night
Sources
- The River (Bruce Springsteen song), Wikipedia
- The River (Bruce Springsteen album), Wikipedia
- The Ties That Bind: The River Collection, Wikipedia