The Ties That Bind: The River Collection

Last updated
The Ties That Bind: The River Collection
Tiesthatbindspringsteen.jpg
Box set by
ReleasedDecember 4, 2015 (2015-12-04)
Recorded1979–80, 2015
Studio Power Station, NY (1979–80) and Stone Hill Studio, NJ (2015)
Genre
Length3:17:47
Label Columbia
Producer Various
Bruce Springsteen chronology
The Album Collection Vol. 1 1973–1984
(2014)
The Ties That Bind: The River Collection
(2015)
Chapter and Verse
(2016)
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band chronology
The Album Collection Vol. 1 1973–1984
(2014)
The Ties That Bind: The River Collection
(2015)
Chapter and Verse
(2016)
CD 1. The River – Record One
No.TitleLength
1."The Ties That Bind"3:33
2."Sherry Darling"4:02
3."Jackson Cage"3:04
4."Two Hearts"2:42
5."Independence Day"4:46
6."Hungry Heart"3:19
7."Out in the Street"4:17
8."Crush on You"3:10
9."You Can Look (But You Better Not Touch)"2:36
10."I Wanna Marry You"3:26
11."The River"4:59
Total length:39:54
CD 2. The River – Record Two
No.TitleLength
1."Point Blank"6:05
2."Cadillac Ranch"3:02
3."I'm a Rocker"3:34
4."Fade Away"4:40
5."Stolen Car"3:53
6."Ramrod"4:04
7."The Price You Pay"5:27
8."Drive All Night"8:26
9."Wreck on the Highway"3:53
Total length:43:04
CD 3. The River: Single Album
No.TitleLength
1."The Ties That Bind"3:36
2."Cindy"2:26
3."Hungry Heart"3:28
4."Stolen Car (Version 1)"4:31
5."Be True"3:54
6."The River"4:56
7."You Can Look (But You Better Not Touch) (Version 1)"2:09
8."The Price You Pay"5:51
9."I Wanna Marry You"3:28
10."Loose Ends"4:07
Total length:38:26
CD 4. The River: Outtakes
No.TitleLength
1."Meet Me in the City"3:36
2."The Man Who Got Away"3:31
3."Little White Lies"2:29
4."The Time That Never Was"3:39
5."Night Fire"4:44
6."Whitetown"3:23
7."Chain Lightning"2:50
8."Party Lights"3:10
9."Paradise by the 'C'"3:11
10."Stray Bullet"6:10
11."Mr. Outside"2:16
12."Roulette"3:54
13."Restless Nights"3:46
14."Where the Bands Are"3:46
15."Dollhouse"3:33
16."Living on the Edge of the World"4:19
17."Take 'em as They Come"4:31
18."Ricky Wants a Man of Her Own"2:47
19."I Wanna Be with You"3:24
20."Mary Lou"3:23
21."Held Up Without a Gun"1:19
22."From Small Things (Big Things One Day Come)"2:42
Total length:76:23
DVD 1. The Ties That Bind (Documentary)
No.TitleLength
1."Creative Life" 
2."Lost Boys" 
3."The River" 
4."Noisy Records" 
5."Searching for Something" 
6."The River Tour" 
7."Songs of Breadth and Depth" 
8."Personal Conversation" 
9."Credits" 
Total length:56:00
DVD 2. Thrill Hill Vault. The River Tour, Tempe 1980 Concert – Part 1
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Born to Run"  
2."Prove It All Night"  
3."Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out"  
4."Jackson Cage"  
5."Two Hearts"  
6."The Promised Land"  
7."Out in the Street"  
8."The River"  
9."Badlands"  
10."Thunder Road"  
11."No Money Down" Chuck Berry  
12."Cadillac Ranch"  
13."Hungry Heart"  
14."Fire"  
15."Sherry Darling"  
16."I Wanna Marry You"  
17."Crush on You"  
18."Ramrod"  
19."You Can Look (But You Better Not Touch)"  
Total length:101:00
DVD 3. Thrill Hill Vault. The River Tour, Tempe 1980 Concert – Part 2
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Drive All Night"  
2."Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)"  
3."I'm a Rocker"  
4."Jungleland"  
5."Detroit Medley"Various 
6."Where the Bands Are (Credits)"  
Bonus: The River Tour Rehearsals
No.TitleLength
7."Ramrod" 
8."Cadillac Ranch" 
9."Fire" 
10."Crush on You" 
11."Sherry Darling" 
Total length:57:00

Unreleased outtakes

Springsteen wrote a large amount of music during album sessions, and even with the 2015 box set, many songs still remain unreleased. Songs such as "Held Up Without a Gun", "Be True", and "Roulette" were featured as B-sides, the first two on the album's singles and the last on a Tunnel of Love single. "Loose Ends", “Roulette”, "Restless Nights", "Where the Bands Are", "Dollhouse", "Living on the Edge of the World", "Take 'em as They Come", "Ricky Wants a Man of Her Own", "I Wanna Be with You", "Mary Lou" were released on the Tracks box set, while "From Small Things (Big Things One Day Come)" was released on The Essential Bruce Springsteen collection in 2003. An alternate version of "Stolen Car" was released on Tracks. [13] [14] During The River sessions, Springsteen also recorded demos of "Jole Blon", "Dedication", "Your Love", and "This Little Girl", in preparation for summer recording sessions he was co-producing for Gary U.S. Bonds. "Janey Needs a Shooter" was given to Warren Zevon, which he re-worked and recorded under the title "Jeannie Needs a Shooter;" Springsteen's own version of the song was later re-recorded for the 2020 album Letter to You . None of the demos recorded at Telegraph Hill Studios in Holmdel (the converted barn on Springsteen's property) in 1979 have ever been released, probably because of quality issues ("Night Fire" and "Meet Me In the City", on the outtakes disc, both featured 1979 Power Station backing and 2015 re-recorded vocals). Most can be found on the Lost Masters bootleg collection, released in the 1990s. [15]

Personnel

Credits adapted from the box set liner notes. [12]

CD 3

CD 4 [lower-alpha 1]

  • Bruce Springsteen – lead vocals, guitar
  • Roy Bittan – vocals, piano
  • Clarence Clemons – percussion, saxophone
  • Danny Federici – organ, keyboards
  • Garry Tallent – bass
  • Stevie Van Zandt – vocals, guitar
  • Max Weinberg – drums
  • Bruce Springsteen, Jon Landau, Stevie Van Zandt – production
  • Neil Dorfsman, Bob Clearmountain – recording (tracks 1–10)
  • Toby Scott – additional recording (tracks 1–10)
    • Rob Lebret – assistant
  • Neil Dorfsman – recording (tracks 12–22)
    • Jeff Hendrickson, Garry Rindfuss, Raymond Willhard, James Farber, Bill Scheniman – assistants
  • Bob Clearmountain – mixing (tracks 1–10)
    • Sergio Ruelas Jr. – assistant
  • Ed Thacker – mixing (tracks 12–20)
    • Ross Petersen – assistant
  • Toby Scott, Chuck Plotkin – mixing (tracks 21, 22)
    • Dana Bisbee – assistant
  • Bob Ludwig – mastering
  1. unknown recording information on track 11

DVD 1

DVD 2 & 3

  • Bruce Springsteen – guitar, lead vocals, harmonica, maracas on "I Wanna Marry You"
  • Roy Bittan – keyboards, backing vocals, organ on "I'm a Rocker"
  • Clarence Clemons – saxophone, percussion, vocals
  • Danny Federici – organ, keyboards on "I'm a Rocker"
  • Garry Tallent – bass guitar, backing vocals on "I'm a Rocker"
  • Stevie Van Zandt – guitar, vocals
  • Max Weinberg – drums
  • Thom Zimny – producer, editor
  • Bruce Springsteen, Jon Landau, Barbara Carr, George Travis – executive producers
  • Barry Rebo – archival performance footage original producer and director
  • Zachary Russo – line producer
  • Bob Clearmountain – mixing
  • Bob Ludwig – mastering

Box set technical personnel

  • Toby Scott – recording project supervisor, archival research, retrieval & restoration
  • Jan Stabile – project coordinator
  • Shari Sutcliffe – musician contractor
  • Kevin Buell – guitars and technical services
  • Michelle Holme – art direction and design
  • Joel Bernstein, David Gahr, Lynn Goldsmith, Peter Howes, Lawrence Kirsch, Jim Marchese, Anastasia Pantsios, Jim Scott, Frank Stefanko, Jimmy Wachtel – photography
  • Mikal Gilmore – "American River" (introductory essay)

Charts

Chart (2015–2016)Peak
position
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria) [16] 39
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders) [17] 13
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia) [18] 92
Danish Albums (Hitlisten) [19] 27
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100) [20] 14
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista) [21] 27
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) [22] 12
Irish Albums (IRMA) [23] 24
Italian Albums (FIMI) [24] 14
Italian Albums ( Musica e Dischi ) [25] 39
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista) [26] 8
Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE) [27] 22
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan) [28] 5
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade) [29] 20
UK Albums (OCC) [30] 49
US Billboard 200 [31] 31

Certifications

RegionCertification Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI) [32] Silver60,000

Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

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