Nebraska is the sixth studio album by Bruce Springsteen, released in 1982.
Sparsely-recorded on a cassette-tape Portastudio, Nebraska was originally intended as a demonstration for later expansion into a "proper" album with a full band. However, Springsteen ultimately decided to release the demos as a standalone album. Nebraska remains one of the most highly-regarded albums in his catalog. Nebraska is classic Springsteen in the sense that the songs deal with ordinary, blue collar characters who face a challenge or a turning point in their lives. There is very little of the grace or salvation which can be seen in other albums.
History
Initially, Springsteen recorded demos for the album at his home with 4-track cassette recorder. The demos were sparse, using only acoustic guitar, electric guitar (on "Open All Night"), harmonica, and Springsteen's voice.
Springsteen then recorded the album in a studio with the E Street Band. However, he and the producers and engineers working with him felt that a raw, haunted folk essence present on the home tapes was lacking in the band treatments, and so they ultimately decided to release the demo version as the final album. Complications with mastering of the tapes ensued because of low recording volume, but the problem was overcome with sophisticated noise reduction techniques.
Springsteen fans have long speculated whether Springsteen's full-band recording of the album, nicknamed Electric Nebraska, will ever surface (in a 2006 interview, manager Jon Landau said it was unlikely and that "the right version of Nebraska came out").[1] Somewhat different band arrangements of most of these songs were heard on the 1984-1985 Born in the U.S.A. Tour and have been played in various guises ever since.
Other songs demoed during the Nebraska sessions include "Born in the U.S.A.," "Downbound Train," "Child Bride" (later retitled "Working on the Highway"), "Pink Cadillac" and more. Some have leaked on bootlegs.
Themes
The album begins with "Nebraska", a first-person narrative based on the true story of 19-year-old spree killer Charles Starkweather and his fourteen-year-old girlfriend, Caril Ann Fugate, and ends with "Reason to Believe," a complex narrative that renders its title phrase into contemptuous sarcasm. The remaining songs are largely of the same bleak tone, including the dark "State Trooper," influenced by Suicide's "Frankie Teardrop"[2]. Criminal behavior continues as a theme in the song "Highway Patrolman": even though the protagonist works for the law, he can be seen letting his brother escape after he has shot someone (this became the basis for the Sean Penn-directed film The Indian Runner). "Open All Night," a Chuck Berry-style lone guitar rave-up, does manage a dose of defiant, humming-towards-the-gallows exuberance.
A music video was produced for the song "Atlantic City"; it features stark, black-and-white images of the city, which had not yet undergone its later transformation and was still rather bleak and depressed. "Atlantic City" was released as a single in the UK and some other European countries, but not the U.S.
Critical praise
In 1989, Nebraska was ranked #43 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 100 greatest albums of the 1980s. In 2003, the album was ranked number 224 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. Pitchfork Media listed it the 60th greatest album of the 1980s.
Homage
Country music icon Johnny Cash's 1983 album Johnny 99 featured versions of two of Springsteen's songs from Nebraska: "Johnny 99" and "Highway Patrolman".
Cash also contributed to a widely-praised tribute album, Badlands - A Tribute to Bruce Springsteen's Nebraska, which was released on the Sub Pop label in 2000 and produced by Jim Sampas. It featured covers of the Nebraska songs recorded in the stripped-down spirit of the original recordings by a wide-ranging group of artists including Hank Williams III, Los Lobos, Dar Williams, Deana Carter, Ani DiFranco, Son Volt, Ben Harper, Aimee Mann & Michael Penn. Three additional tracks covered other Springsteen songs in the same vein: Johnny Cash's contribution was I'm On Fire, a track from Springsteen's best-selling album Born In The USA.
The Nebraska Project took place at Winter Garden/World Financial Center, New York City, on January 14, 2006, as the opening night concert of the 2006 New York Guitar Festival (www.newyorkguitarfestival.org). This live celebration and re-creation of the seminal album, produced by Festival creator and artistic director David Spelman and co-produced by A.J. Benson, and hosted by WFUV DJ John Platt, presented a diverse line-up of artists who covered the songs in album sequence. Line-up was as follows: "Nebraska": Michelle Shocked / "Atlantic City": Jesse Harris / "Mansion on the Hill": The National / "Johnny 99": Chocolate Genius / "Highway Patrolman": Martha Wainwright with Marc Ribot / "State Trooper": Dan Zanes with Vernon Reid / "Used Cars": Laura Cantrell / "Open All Night": Otis Taylor / "My Father's House": Mark Eitzel / "Reason to Believe": Kevin Kinney with Lenny Kaye / Encore (comprising all artists, plus special guest Bruce Springsteen): Oklahoma Hills / Plus instrumental interludes by Gary Lucas, Harry Manx, Marc Ribot, Kerryn Tolhurst & David Spelman.
Kelly Clarkson compared her effort to move away from mainstream to edgier and more personal music on her third studio album My December to Springsteen's Nebraska.[3]
Track listing
All songs written by Bruce Springsteen
- "Nebraska" – 4:32
- "Atlantic City" – 4:00
- "Mansion on the Hill" – 4:08
- "Johnny 99" – 3:44
- "Highway Patrolman" – 5:40
- "State Trooper" – 3:17
- "Used Cars" – 3:11
- "Open All Night" – 2:58
- "My Father's House" – 5:07
- "Reason to Believe" – 4:11
Alternate Master (1st CD Master)
The first CD release of the album in Japan used a different master tape than the one used on the LP or U.S. and European CD releases. The tape speed appears to be slightly faster than the original master tape, leading to shorter track lengths. "My Father's House" feature an additional 28 seconds of synthesizer not included in other versions of the album. This version of CD, which was released twice in Japan, is now unavailable except on the collector's market.
- "Nebraska" – 4:25
- "Atlantic City" – 3:50
- "Mansion on the Hill" – 4:01
- "Johnny 99" – 3:41
- "Highway Patrolman" – 5:41
- "State Trooper" – 3:09
- "Used Cars" – 3:04
- "Open All Night" – 2:52
- "My Father's House" – 5:36
- "Reason to Believe" – 4:06
Personnel
- Production
Chart positions
- Album
- Album tracks
References
External links
