Bruce Springsteen The Promise released

The Promise Bruce Springsteen

Released: November 16, 2010 Recorded: 1977-78, 2010 Peak: 16 US, 7 UK, 27 CN, 22 AU, 14 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): 0.5 US, 0.1 UK, 0.85 world (includes US and UK) Genre: classic rock

Tracks, Disc 1: Click on a song titled for more details. Click for codes to charts. Racing in the Street (’78) Gotta Get That Feeling Outside Looking In Someday We’ll Be Together One Way Street Because the Night Wrong Side of the Street The Brokenhearted Rendezvous Candy’s Boy Tracks, Disc 2: Save My Love Ain’t Good Enough for You Fire Spanish Eyes It’s a Shame Come On (Let’s Go Tonight) Talk to Me The Little Things My Baby Does Breakaway The Promise City of Night The Way Total Running Time: 88:05 The Players: Bruce Springsteen (vocals, guitar, harmonica, producer) Roy Bittan (piano) Clarence Clemons (saxophone, percussion) Danny Federici (organ, glockenspiel) Garry Tallent (bass) Steven Van Zandt (guitar, harmony vocals, horn arrangement) Max Weinberg (drums)

Rating: 3.733 out of 5.00 (average of 18 ratings) Quotable: “As compelling an advert for the Boss’ beautiful, blue-collar soul as you’re likely to find outside of the hits.” – BBC Music Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Album: “Following Born to Run, Bruce Springsteen was proclaimed the savior of rock & roll classicism; it was hype that threatened to derail his career. In a bitter lawsuit with his former manager, he was locked out of a studio for two years but continued writing songs at fever pitch and rehearsing them on a farm in rural New Jersey. Some of these tunes – composed during an economic recession – reflect the tension between following one’s dreams and her/his responsibilities. Still others reveal the deep influence of early rock & roll on Springsteen.” TJ “When he was finally able to record, he cut enough material for four albums, and then pared it down to one. Darkness on the Edge of Town proved that Springsteen was no mere revivalist. The album was assembled from more sparsely produced, claustrophobic, and desperate ‘sound picture’ songs, about lives broken by work, family and perceived societal obligations, and are haunted by questions of ‘what if?’ They were a world away from the epic, busting-out-for-freedom maximalist tracks found on Born to Run.” TJ As Springsteen said, “Darkness was my 'samurai' record…stripped to the frame and ready to rumble. But the music that got left behind was substantial.” AZ The Promise gathers a large chunk of that substantial music, offering up “21 unreleased songs written (and mostly) recorded between 1976 and 1978. They offer an aural view as to what might have been had Springsteen been able to record immediately after Born to Run.” TJ In fact, Springsteen confirms, that this material “perhaps could have/ should have been released after Born to Run and before the collection of songs that Darkness on the Edge of Town became.” AZ “While some lyric themes here reflect the brokenness and hard choices found on Darkness, others are substantially more triumphant in their worldview; and musically, all the songs here contain more substantially production. These selections also lack the knife-edge, searing, angry guitar that saturates Darkness.” TJ “The Promise stands on its own as a great Bruce Springsteen record; it feels finished, focused, and above all, offers definitive proof that Springsteen was even at that early date, one of the greatest rock and pop songwriters America had to offer.” TJ As BBC Music said, the album “is as compelling an advert for the Boss’ beautiful, blue-collar soul as you’re likely to find outside of the hits; an indispensible portrait of an artist at the top of his game.” WK “According to long-time manager/producer Jon Landau, ‘There isn’t a weak card in this deck.’” AZ The Songs Here’s a breakdown of each of the individual songs.

Gotta Get That Feeling Bruce Springsteen

Writer(s): Bruce Springsteen Recorded: 8/12/1977 at Atlantic Studios in New York; 8/30/1977 at the Record Plant in New York; 2010 at Thrill Hill Recording in Colts Neck, New Jersey Released: The Promise (1978/2010) About the Song: “The galloping Gotta Get That Feeling summons Jack Nietszche’s production ears with its big mariachi brass.” TJ “This tune and numerous others contain open homages to Phil Spector’s ‘sha-na-na-na’ choruses. Clarence Clemons’ saxophone is much more prevalent on the songs of The Promise than it is on Darkness. His meat-and-potatoes tone adds heft and groove to these selections.” TJ

Outside Looking In Bruce Springsteen

Writer(s): Bruce Springsteen Recorded: 9/27/1977 at the Record Plant in New York Released: The Promise (1978/2010) About the Song: A

Someday We’ll Be Together Bruce Springsteen

Writer(s): Bruce Springsteen Recorded: September 29-30, 1977 at the Record Plant in New York; 2010 at Thrill Hill Recording in Colts Neck, New Jersey Released: The Promise (1978/2010) About the Song: Someday We’ll Be Together” is a “supreme pop opus.” AZ

One Way Street Bruce Springsteen

Writer(s): Bruce Springsteen Recorded: 7/17/1977 at Atlantic Studios in New York; 2010 at Thrill Hill Recording in Colts Neck, New Jersey Released: The Promise (1978/2010) About the Song: A

Because the Night Bruce Springsteen

Writer(s): Bruce Springsteen, Patti Smith Recorded: 9/27/197 at the Record Plant in New York; 2010 at Thrill Hill Recording in Colts Neck, New Jersey; live: 12/28/1980 Released: The Promise (1978/2010); live version: Live 1975/1985 (live box set, 1986), Greatest Hits (2009) First Charted: 12/6/1986 Peak: 22 AR, 6 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 11.2 video, 31.45 streaming Covered by: Patti Smith (1978 #13 BB, 10 CB, 17 HR, 19 RR, 4 CL, 3 CO, 5 UK, 7 DF), 10,000 Maniacs (1993, #11 BB, 9 CB, 7 RR, 9 AC, 7 MR, 65 UK, 12 DF) About the Song: “Included are his versions of singles farmed out to other artists – Because the Night (and while this version is terrific, it means something else in the end; Patti Smith’s version remains definitive).” TJ

Wrong Side of the Street Bruce Springsteen

Writer(s): Bruce Springsteen Recorded: 10/14/1977 at the Record Plant in New York; 2010 at Thrill Hill Recording in Colts Neck, New Jersey Released: The Promise (1978/2010) About the Song: A

The Brokenhearted Bruce Springsteen

Writer(s): Bruce Springsteen Recorded: 11/29/1977 at the Record Plant in New York; 2010 at Thrill Hill Recording in Colts Neck, New Jersey Released: The Promise (1978/2010) About the Song: The poignant love poetry in” TJ “the superb soul-based vocal performance on” AZ “The Brokenhearted and Spanish Eyes could have been written by Doc Pomus, and reveals the influence of Jerry Leiber’s ‘Spanish Harlem.’” TJ

Rendezvous Bruce Springsteen

Writer(s): Bruce Springsteen Recorded: studio: 9/29/1977; live: 12/31/1980 at the Record Plant Mobile in Los Angeles, CA Released: studio: The Promise (1978/2010); live: Tracks (box set, 1998), 18 Tracks (1999) Covered by: Greg Kihn Band (1979), Gary “U.S.” Bonds (1982) About the Song: Bruce first recorded this song during the sessions for Darkness on the Edge of Town. It didn’t make the cut, but the Greg Kihn Band and Gary “U.S.” Bonds both covered the song. “Musically, it’s a Springsteen-style rock song, with a glockenspiel, a wall of guitars and a dash of pop.” MG-396

Candy’s Boy Bruce Springsteen

Writer(s): Bruce Springsteen Recorded: 6/3/1977, 6/6/1977, 6/27/1977, 8/24/1977 and 9/2/1977 at Atlantic Studios in New York Released: The Promise (1978/2010) About the Song: “Candy’s Boy begins lyrically in the same place as ‘Candy’s Room,’ [which appeared on Darkness on the Edge of Town] but is a very different song melodically and thematically.” TJ

Save My Love Bruce Springsteen

Writer(s): Bruce Springsteen Recorded: 1976 (written but not recorded), 7/22/2010 at Thrill Hill Recording in Colts Neck, New Jersey Released: 11/1/2010 as a single, The Promise (1978/2010) About the Song: In releasing The Promise (an extension of Darkness on the Edge of Town album), Springsteen relied on the vaults as a starting point but often did some rerecording of the songs to get them up to snuff. In the case of “Save My Love,” Springsteen wrote the song in 1976 but didn’t record it although there is video of the E Street Band rehearsing the song. It is a “musically finished but lyrically rough song.” ESS Thom Zinny found it “while scouring footage for the documentary that would accompany the anniversary box set for Darkness on the Edge of Town. Zimny loved the song, and Bruce was fascinated by it as well – enough to finish the lyrics and summon the E Street Band to his home studio to record it.” ESS They had to learn the song by watching the video. ESS The song recalls a time when “a handful of radio stations facilitated the only semblance of on-line community.” ESS The song is about a “long-distance Romeo [who] sends a silent message out to his girl, pledging and pleading for fidelity, relying on the power of radio to keep their emotional connection strong.” ESS

Ain’t Good Enough for You Bruce Springsteen

Writer(s): Bruce Springsteen Recorded: 9/26/1977 at the Record Plant in New York Released: The Promise (1978/2010) About the Song: The “hilarious” AZ “Ain't Good Enough for You is pure handclap, call-and-response, verse and chorus, approaching a doo wop celebration.” TJ

Fire Bruce Springsteen

Writer(s): Bruce Springsteen Recorded: 6/17/1977 at Atlantic Studios in New York; 2010 at Thrill Hill Recording in Colts Neck, New Jersey; live version: 12/16/1978 Released: January 1987 as a single (live version), The Promise (1978/2010); live version: Live 1975/1985 (live box set, 1986), Greatest Hits (2009) B-Side: “Incident on 57th Street” (live) Charted: 11/22/1986 as an album cut (live version) Peak: 46 BB, 36 GR, 14 AR, 54 UK, 42 CN, 82 AU, 3 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 27.1 video, 25.94 streaming Covered by: the Pointer Sisters (1978 #2 BB, 2 CB, 2 R, 2 RR, 21 AC, 14 RB, 34 UK, 3 CN, 7 AU, 3 DF) About the Song: Bruce gave “the gritty, soulful Fire…to the Pointer Sisters who scored big with their classy version.” TJ It peaked at #2, making it the second-highest charting Bruce Springsteen-penned song – tied with “Dancing in the Dark” but just behind Manfred Mann’s chart-topping version of “Blinded by the Light.”

Spanish Eyes Bruce Springsteen

Writer(s): Bruce Springsteen Recorded: 6/30/1977, 7/13/1977, 8/13/1977 at Atlantic Studios in New York; 2010 at Thrill Hill Recording in Colts Neck, New Jersey Released: The Promise (1978/2010) About the Song: The poignant love poetry in” TJ “the superb soul-based vocal performance on” AZ “The Brokenhearted and Spanish Eyes could have been written by Doc Pomus, and reveals the influence of Jerry Leiber’s ‘Spanish Harlem.’” TJ

It’s a Shame Bruce Springsteen

Writer(s): Bruce Springsteen Recorded: 6/14/1977 at Atlantic Studios in New York; 2010 at Thrill Hill Recording in Colts Neck, New Jersey Released: The Promise (1978/2010) About the Song: A

Come On (Let’s Go Tonight) Bruce Springsteen

Writer(s): Bruce Springsteen Recorded: 12/9/1977 and 12/29/1977 at the Record Plant in New York; 2010 at Thrill Hill Recording in Colts Neck, New Jersey Released: The Promise (1978/2010) About the Song: Come On (Let's Go Tonight) is an early version of ‘Factory,’” TJ which appeared on Darkness on the Edge of Town.

Talk to Me Bruce Springsteen

Writer(s): Bruce Springsteen Recorded: 10/14/1077 at the Record Plant in New York; 2010 at Thrill Hill Recording in Colts Neck, New Jersey Released: The Promise (1978/2010) About the Song: A

The Little Things My Baby Does Bruce Springsteen

Writer(s): Bruce Springsteen Recorded: 8/15/1977 at the Record Plant or Atlantic Records in New York; 2010 at Thrill Hill Recording in Colts Neck, New Jersey Released: The Promise (1978/2010) About the Song: A

Breakaway Bruce Springsteen

Writer(s): Bruce Springsteen Recorded: 6/1/1977 (?) at Atlantic Studios in New York; 2010 at Thrill Hill Recording in Colts Neck, New Jersey Released: The Promise (1978/2010) About the Song: Breakaway” is “utterly haunting.” AZ

The Promise Bruce Springsteen

Writer(s): Bruce Springsteen Recorded: 9/28/1977 at the Record Plant in New York; February 1999; 2010 at Thrill Hill Recording in Colts Neck, New Jersey Released: The Promise (1978/2010), 18 Tracks (1999) About the Song: The “fully orchestrated masterpiece and title song,” AZ The Promise, “is the only cut that might have added something to Darkness that isn’t already there. Its sense of bewilderment, betrayal, uncertainty, and regret is total. That said, the addition of strings draws it outside Darkness’ skeletal purview, underscoring the fact that Darkness is perfect as it is.” TJ

City of Night Bruce Springsteen

Writer(s): Bruce Springsteen Recorded: 10/14/1977 at the Record Plant in New York; 2010 at Thrill Hill Recording in Colts Neck, New Jersey Released: The Promise (1978/2010) About the Song: A

The Way Bruce Springsteen

Writer(s): Bruce Springsteen Recorded: 8/15/1977 at the Record Plant or Atlantic Studios in New York Released: The Promise (1978/2010) About the Song: A

Resources/References: AZ Amazon.com TJ AllMusic.com review by Thom Jurek ESS EStreetShuffle.com MG Philippe Margotin & Jean-Michel Guesdon (2020). Bruce Springsteen – All The Songs: The Story Behind Every Track. Cassel (an imprint of Octopus Publishing Group Ltd.): Great Britain. WK Wikipedia Related DMDB Pages: First posted 1/26/2011; last updated 8/1/2025.