Bruce Springsteen has shared another unreleased preview from his upcoming Tracks II: The Lost Albums box set, this time unveiling “Repo Man,” a track from the country-inspired Somewhere North of Nashville that he recorded at the same time as 1995’s The Ghost of Tom Joad.
As opposed to the “socially conscious” and largely acoustic The Ghost of Tom Joad, the rockabilly rocker “Repo Man” finds Springsteen having some honky tonk fun in the studio alongside a band that features Danny Federici, Garry Tallent, Gary Mallaber and pedal steel player Marty Rifkin, all of whom also played on Tom Joad.
“What happened was I wrote all these country songs at the same time I wrote The Ghost of Tom Joad. Those sessions completely overlap each other. I’m singing ‘Repo Man’ in the afternoon and ‘The Line’ at night. So the country record got made right along with The Ghost of Tom Joad,” Springsteen said in a statement.
“‘Streets of Philadelphia’ got me connected to my socially conscious or topical songwriting. So that’s where The Ghost of Tom Joad came from. But at the same time I had this country streak that was also running through those sessions and I ended up making a country record on the side.”
In addition to “Repo Man,” Somewhere North of Nashville also boasts “Stand On It” and “Janey Don’t You Lose Heart,” two tracks that dated back to the Born in the U.S.A. sessions, as well as the title track and “Tiger Rose,” another known outtake from the Tom Joad era.
Tracks II, due out June 27, begins with L.A. Garage Sessions ’83, which Springsteen recorded in the interim between Nebraska and Born in the U.S.A. The box set also features Streets of Philadelphia Sessions (with “Blind Spot“) and Inyo, a collection of songs from the road while promoting The Ghost of Tim Joad between 1995 and 1997.
Perfect World spotlights several songs he wrote with longtime collaborator Joe Grushecky, the songs on Faithless were recorded in 2005 and 2006 for a film that has yet to be made, and Twilight Hours was created at the same time as Western Stars in 2018 and is essentially a companion album; Springsteen previously shared “Faithless” from that latter LP.
“The Lost Albums were full records, some of them even to the point of being mixed and not released,” Springsteen previously said in a statement. “I’ve played this music to myself and often close friends for years now. I’m glad you’ll get a chance to finally hear them. I hope you enjoy them.”
In other Bruce news, Springsteen and the E Street Band’s Land of Hope and Dreams Tour in Europe kicks off tonight in Manchester, England.
