What happened to the rumors of E Street Band shows in December? Well, assembling the band may not be as easy as Bruce expected. While Bruce probably celebrates his birthday with his family, rumors are swirling about the destiny of the E Street Band. And we must emphasize that what you read here are rumors. None of it may be true. The word is that when Bruce at the Sony convention in July indirectly announced that he would tour with the E Street Band by saying that "people would be happy with his choice of band", he apparently didn't clear this with the band in question (for the clueless: The E Street Band). Now the rumors suggest that one or two of the band members may not be all that interested. Max is most often mentioned in that connection. He has his job on the Conan O'Brian show and seems very contend with that, although other rumors say that he did agree on touring. However, Max may not be the only matter of dispute. Even Clarence has been mentioned, even though he has always appeared to be the most eager member when it came to a reunion so take this rumor with a grain of salt. One can argue that there is no E Street Band without Clarence. While these speculations are going on, it seems more and more likely that Bruce will do some shows in some shape or another in connection with the Box. Rumors are pretty unambiguous on this point, although you never know with the guy. He can always change his mind. Read more

   

Two months is a long time to wait for a new Bruce album. E Street Records is ready to make the wait for Tracks easier. We have earlier reported the release of E Street Records' triple CD set with hitherto uncirculated outtakes and live material. It looks like they will keep their promise and release it before the official box set. And it doesn't look less interesting with the details starting to seep out. Bruce chose not to put the title track of his unreleased 1994 album Waiting for the End of the World on his box, but E Street Records somehow got their hands on it and is planning to include it. Apart from that we will get alternate versions of "Blood Brothers" and "Secret Garden", both from the Greatest Hits sessions. From the Tramps show in February 1995 where Bruce performed live with the E Street Band for the first time in six and a half years, we'll get an extended version of "Murder Incorporated" plus "Little Latin Lupe Lu". There will also be tracks from the Seventies, among others versions of "Born to Run" and "Jungleland" with strings. And from the early Seventies an 18 minute song whose title remains unrevealed. There will be about 40 tracks all in all, and the sound is said to be astonishing. Read more

   

Finally the tension is relieved. The final track listing of Tracks 1972-98 is here. Even though we're still waiting for the official press released, we can now present the contents of the upcoming box set: CD1 (Hammond Demos 1972) Mary Queen of Arkansas Saint in the City Growin Up Does This Bus Stop (1973-74) Bishop Dance Hey Santa Anna Seaside Bar Song Zero And Blind Terry Linda Lrt Me Be the One Thundercrack (Darkness 1977-78) Rendezvous Give the Girl A Kiss The Iceman Bring on the Night So Young and In Love Hearts of Stone Don't Look Back CD2 (The River 1979-80) Restless Nights A Good Man is Hard To Find Roulette Doll House Where the Bands Are Loose Ends Living on the Edge of the World Wages of Sin Take 'Em As They Come Be True Rickie Wants A Man I Wanna Be With You Mary Lou Stolen Car (Born in the USA/Nebraska 1982-84) Born in the USA (acoustic) Johnny By By Shut Out the Light CD3 Cynthia My Love Will Not Let You Down This Hard Land Frankie TV Movie Stand On It Lion's Den Car Wash Rockaway the Days Brothers Under the Bridges Man At the Top Pink Cadillac (1985-95 - when exactly the rest of the songs are from is hard to tell since most of them are previously unknown) Two For the Road Janey Don't Lose Heart When You need Me The Wish The Honeymooners Lucky Man CD4 Leavin' Train Seven Angels Give It A Name Sad Eyes My Lover Man Over the Rise When the Lights Go Out Loose Change Trouble in Paradise Happy Part Man, Part Monkey Goin' Cali Back in Your Arms Brothers Under the Bridges '95 What should be noted first and foremost is the inclusion of more than 20 tracks whose existance haven't even been rumored before. On the negative side, where is "The Promise"? A song that fans have been begging for since it was first performed live in 1976. Perhaps there will be room for it as a b-side on one of the singles which will be released from the box. But let's not dwell on what's missing. Most of the songs that should be there are there, such as "Frankie", "Thundercrack", "Back in Your Arms", "Loose Ends" and others. All in all, this whole project is still almost too good to be true and now we just have to wait until it's released... probably November 16th in the States and November 17th in Europe. Read more

   

The official press release that we're all waiting for should have been publiziced on Thursday the 10th, but it was postponed, possibly because "someone" wasn't satisfied with the wording. Instead we can most likely expect it in the upcoming week. Keep an eye on this space. As you may already have read elsewhere, the press release will probably mention a four CD box set of which the first CD will include solely live material, number two, studio recordings from Born to Run to The River, number three, studio recordings from the Nebraska/Born in the USA period, and finally, number four studio recordings from Tunnel of Love up till now. The number of songs should be 57-60, unfortunately a pretty long shot from the 80-100 we expected at some point. A list of songs from the first of the four CDs has leaked out and can be seen at The Boots newsroom. Looks pretty interesting, but still no '78 version of "Prove It All Night" (we're never satisfied, are we?). The release date of the box is still expected to be November 17... this year! Read more

   

An official announcement of the box set release is expected next week. Contrary to what you've been reading here, it will most likely be four CDs. Sorry for the misinformation. Read more

   

The Stone Pony in Asbury Park will reopen at the end of September as a dance club called Vinyl. But first there will be a farewell weekend. The weekend of September 18, 19 and 20 may be the last time you have the chance to visit the Stone Pony under its current, legendary name. On those three days, the newly renovated club will have a three-night closing party after which the name will change to Vinyl and the place will turn into a dance club. The party will feature several live bands such as Cats plus a final jam session on Sunday night. Don't expect Bruce to turn up. He hasn't played the club since November 22, 1995, and the word is that he had a disagreement with the club owner Steve Nassar. But then again, you never know. In any case, it's sad that Asbury Park will lose yet another landmark only a few months after it was announced that the Palace Amusements will be torn down. We can only hope that the Stone Pony at some point will be resurrected. Read more

   

More and more evidence point to the fact that the box set will indeed contain six CDs as was originally planned. Most recently a source inside Sony US has allegedly confirmed that Tracks 1973-1998 will be six CDs. If this is true plans have once again changed in the Bruce's camp. According to the same source 15% of the songs will be material that has never surfaced among bootleggers. At the same time, other rumors are suggesting that the box will contain live tracks. Our guess is that Bruce may not have had time to prepare six CDs worth of studio material if the box was going to be finished in time for the Christmas sale. He then decided to cut it down to four CDs, but then changed his mind again when the idea of using live tracks as fillers arose. Live tracks that may have been leftovers from the Live 1975-'85 set and therefore didn't need much extra work. Speaking against this theory is another rumor which has started to circulate: the box may be delayed until next year. If this is the case - and let's hope it's not - Bruce would have plenty of time to prepare enough studio material for six CDs. Again, we can only wait and see, but so far things are looking good in regard to the number of CDs. Read more

   

The shot was taken backstage at the Main Point or the Bottom Line, probably in 1975. At the same time as this has leaked out, word is that Bruce has settled for the title Tracks 1973-1998 as it has been rumored earlier. The release date looks more and more like around November 16 or 17, but this could vary from country to country. In Australia it's scheduled for "the first week of November". E Street Band rumors are continuing to swirl. Several newspapers in the States have reported that Bruce will record new material with the E Street Band in the coming weeks, but that hasn't been confirmed by anyone. Concerts are also only on the rumor stage, although they are very strong and persistent rumors. But so were the same rumors in 1995 after Greatest Hits. Read more

   

Badlands reports today that Sony UK has scheduled the box set for release on November 16. There still hasn't been an official announcement of the Box anywhere in the world, and it's unclear whether the November 16 release is a fact or just a provisional date which can be changed. If the date is true, it looks as if the Box has been pushed as far back as possible if it's still going to be a major Christmas seller as Sony no doubt hopes. This could indicate, as has been suggested by some sources, that Bruce, the perfectionist, has trouble making the deadline. In other news (or should we put this in the "silly rumor" department?) Bruce will perform with the E Street Band on New Years Eve. Of course, Bruce has played some legendary shows on New Years Eve earlier in his career, but these days he seems like too much of a family man to agree to a project like this. He hasn't performed on New Years Eve since 1980, not even on guest spots. Read more

   

An anonymous industry source now says that contrary to popular belief, the upcoming Box set will include the originally planned 6 CDs. The same source says that each CD will feature a bonus track of newly recorded material with the E Street Band. At the same time, more song titles are leaking out. We should get among others: "Rendezvous", "The Way", "Zero and Blind Terry", "Brothers Under the Bridges", and "Thundercrack". However, the source also says that there will be some heavy overdubbing for the old tracks. Are you confused? So are we. All we can do is wait for the official announcement which is believed to appear within the next two weeks. Keep an eye on this page! Read more