Bruce Springsteen has released the “Born to Run” outtake, “Lonely Night in the Park.”
Aug. 25 will mark the 50th anniversary of the release of Bruce Springsteen’s career-changing Born to Run album. And at midnight Aug. 21, he released a previously unavailable outtake from the album, “Lonely Night in the Park.” You can listen to it below.
As far as I know, this song came out with no official announcement. It just appeared on outlets such as YouTube and Spotify.
To me, the song has a loose, almost jazzy feel that almost makes it seem more like a The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle outtake than something that was considered for Born to Run. Possibly that has something to do with why it was left off.
The song’s credits are below. As with many Springsteen vault releases, it is difficult if not impossible to say what elements of the song are from the original session, and what might have been added later. Stevie Van Zandt, who does not play guitar on the Born to Run album, is credited with guitar; Ron Aniello, who began working with Springsteen well after Born to Run, is also credited with guitar, and co-produces. The late Clarence Clemons and the late Danny Federici, who were both members of the E Street Band in 1975 (though Federici is featured on just one Born to Run track), are not on “Lonely Night in the Park.”
Piano: Roy Bittan
Organ, Guitar, Celeste, Tambourine, Vocal, Producer: Bruce Springsteen
Bass: Garry Tallent
Guitar: Stevie Van Zandt
Drums: Max Weinberg
Producer, Guitar: Ron Aniello
Producer: Mike Appel
Producer: Jon Landau
Recording Engineer: Louis Lahav
Recording Engineer: Jimmy Iovine
Recording Engineer: Rob Lebret
Assistant Engineer: Thom Panunzio
Assistant Engineer: Andy Abrams
Mixing Engineer: Bob Clearmountain
Assistant Mixing Engineer: Sergio Ruelas Jr.
Mastering Engineer: Ted Jensen
(UPDATE, 9 A.M. AUG. 22: A press release has now been issued saying, in part: “On Aug. 25, Bruce Springsteen’s era-defining classic ‘Born to Run’ will turn 50 — and to mark the milestone, Sony Music has shared the first official release of 1975 studio outtake ‘Lonely Night in the Park.’ Tracked during the legendary Record Plant sessions for ‘Born to Run,’ and heavily considered for album inclusion at the time, ‘Lonely Night in the Park’ arrives today in studio quality as it has never been heard before.”)
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