Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band
1978-12-16 
Winterland Ballroom 
San Francisco, CA 
2018 low-gen. upgrade via JEMS Archive (w/ encore patch)

01_Bill Graham introduction
02_Good Rockin’ Tonight
03_Badlands
04_Rendezvous
05_Spirit in the Night
06_Darkness on the Edge of Town
07_Independence Day
08_The Promised Land
09_Prove It All Night
10_Racing in the Street
11_Thunder Road
12_Jungleland
13_(It’s Hard to Be a) Saint in the City
14_Christmas story
15_Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town
16_The Fever
17_Fire
18_Candy’s Room
19_Because the Night
20_Point Blank
21_Mona>Preacher’s Daughter>She’s the One
22_Backstreets
23_Rosalita
24_Born to Run
25_Detroit Medley (with “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On”) [patched]
26_Tenth Avenue Freeze-out [alternate source]
27_Quarter to Three [alternate source, incomplete]

JEMS 2018 Transfer: Low-generation cassettes > Nakamichi CR-7A azimuth-adjusted transfer > Sound Devices USBPre 2 > Audacity 2.0 capture > iZotope RX and Ozone mastering > FLAC

In the Bruce Springsteen story, the chapter on Winterland grows longer still. To wit: on a December afternoon in 2018, fans speculate on internet message boards whether Springsteen's penchant for releasing live recordings near the holidays will mean "Winterland" this year.

If so, will it bring the legendary first show (December 15), an FM radio broadcast that captured what many believe is his best performance, becoming one of his more famous? Or will the archive present the more relaxed but still-electrifying second night? Or both?

Given the 40th anniversary of the tour for Darkness on the Edge of Town, those questions seem natural, joining ones we’ve asked for a long time: was “Twist and Shout” really the last song on the 15th? Is Bill Graham’s videotaping of the shows apocryphal? If not, do tapes exist?

As tapers and collectors, we've always asked another question: why was sound from the circulating recording of night two (December 16) never that good? We deduced that the source had to be markedly better, and that copies made along the way — ones that became predominant in collecting circles — ushered in imperfections. Those simply got baked in and passed down.

In early 2018, we reached out to our brothers in the Grateful Dead community. We figured a San Francisco taper must have been present on December 16, and asked for help. In short order, we found our taper... but we've yet to succeed in getting the tapes. The search continues: few dates merit an exhaustive search for the true source like this one does.

Soon after putting out those feelers, we discovered a low-generation copy of what we believe to be that same recording. This tape source has been sitting in the JEMS Archive since the ’80s and came from our longtime ally WG, who can’t recall exactly where he got it. (His best guess was from a Bay Area collector who wasn’t the taper.) Given all that, the cassettes from which this transfer was made are at best second and more likely third generation. But this fileset should constitute an upgrade to extant versions. 

The one flaw: the torrent is missing a good deal of this source’s encore, from part way through “Detroit Medley,” on to “Tenth Avenue Freeze-out,” and finally “Quarter to Three.” We sent up a flare, and Brother mjk5510 graciously provided a pitch-corrected and EQd patch (at 7:31, track 25) and the last two songs as well.

In other places, more seamless listening meant applying fades and removing gaps; a few artifacts remain, proving more mysterious than troublesome. For me, this version sounds much better than others I recall. The separation is remarkable, which stems from Bruce Jackson's rich and full house mix. Sounds like the taper knew about hardware and position, too.

Bill Graham called the first night “magic,” and it was. But “Prove It All Night” wasn’t just a song title: it was a creed. That number really gets going here — listen for Roy Bittan’s piano on the instrumental lead-in, and Springsteen’s blazing guitar at the end. If you’re a fan of his Darkness-era guitar playing, listen to this show — I’ll leave it at that.

Springsteen sounds more relaxed than he did on the broadcast, and the music unfolds at a slower pace, too. There’s a false start here, a lyric flub there, even a miscue — he handles them with grace and humor. Set list changes come at the start, with “Good Rockin’ Tonight” setting the tone for “Rendezvous” (its first ’78 appearance), “Independence Day,” and “Saint in the City.” The seasonal “Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town” appears again, as do “The Fever” and “Fire” — the latter came out on the mammoth Live/1975-85 box set (with at least a couple of tweaks, apparently).

In all likelihood, professionally-recorded multi-track tapes exist for both Winterland concerts. Let’s hope official recordings appear soon — both shows please, and easy on the compression! For now, let’s go back in time and enjoy the music the way Bill Graham introduced it: on a Saturday night in San Francisco, Mr. Bruce Springsteen.

A big thank you to our fellow tapers in the Grateful Dead community who helped spur our search, and to BK from JEMS. He made the transfer and dialed in the sound, ensuring a great anniversary treat for everyone. Another tip of the hat to mjk5510 for service above and beyond.

Until next time… share it freely, and for free!

- slipkid68