Columbia Records is set to release Bruce Springsteen’s highly anticipated ‘The Ties That Bind: The River Collection’ on December 4th. This extensive set offers a comprehensive look at the ‘The River’...
Columbia Records is set to release Bruce Springsteen’s highly anticipated ‘The Ties That Bind: The River Collection’ on December 4th. This extensive set offers a comprehensive look at the ‘The River’ era and includes an impressive 52 tracks spread across 4 CDs, featuring a wealth of unreleased material. Additionally, it contains 4 hours of never-before-seen video across 3 DVDs.
The collection features:
‘The River,’ Springsteen’s fifth album, was originally released on October 17, 1980, as a double album and reached #1 on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart. Gilmore describes it as Springsteen’s “pivotal album” that bridges the ambitious works preceding it with the more succinct musical expressions and storytelling that followed.
The ‘The River: Single Album’ is a 10-track album recorded in 1979 as a follow-up to 1978’s ‘Darkness On The Edge Of Town’, which Springsteen initially shelved. This album, now officially available for the first time, features early versions of songs that later appeared on ‘The River,’ including outtakes like “Cindy” and a rockabilly rendition of “You Can Look (But You Better Not Touch).”
The fourth CD, ‘The River: Outtakes,’ spans the 1979-1980 recording sessions, showcasing the depth and variety of Springsteen’s work from this period. Eleven tracks are unreleased rarities, offering fans a glimpse into previously hidden gems.
The collection also includes “The Ties That Bind,” a 60-minute documentary directed by Grammy and Emmy-winning filmmaker Thom Zimny. The documentary features an intimate interview with Springsteen, providing insights into the creation of ‘The River’ and showcasing acoustic performances alongside period concert footage and rare photos.
Additionally, “Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band: The River Tour, Tempe 1980” is a new film featuring 24 songs from Springsteen’s November 5, 1980 concert at Arizona State University, Tempe. Known as one of Springsteen’s finest performances, the film includes early live versions of many ‘The River’ tracks, plus 20 minutes of rehearsal footage from late September 1980.
Packaged in a 10” x 12” box, ‘The Ties That Bind: The River Collection’ includes a hardcover 148-page coffee table book with 200 studio and live photographs, along with pages from Springsteen’s notebooks, single covers, images, and outtakes from the original album package, and other memorabilia.
