The Agora, Cleveland 1978

Untitled

The Agora, Cleveland 1978 is a live album by Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band, released in December 2014 and was the second official release through the Bruce Springsteen Archives. The concert is available on CD and digital download at http://live.brucespringsteen.net.

Recorded at The Agora Ballroom in Cleveland, Ohio on August 9, 1978, during the band's Darkness Tour, the show is considered by many fans and critics to be one of the most essential live recordings by Springsteen and the E Street Band. Rolling Stone said of the recording "This is simply the greatest live LP this greatest of live rockers has ever officially released."

The show was originally broadcast live on the radio with bootlegs circulating for years but this marks the first official release of the album, completely restored and remastered.

Background

According to producer Tony Scott: "I found the seven Agora tape reels in a box that had been returned from the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame. The tapes were part of an exclusive Springsteen exhibit “Asbury Park to the Promised Land”. It wasn’t until the request to release this show came up that the tapes needed to be found. Not at Sony, not at Thrill Hill Archives, not at the archiving company. Last known location was the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame. They informed me what box to look in and there they were, marked with the original indication of speed, tracks and show date.

I had the tapes delivered to Plangent Processes for evaluation and transfer, if they seemed to be of adequate quality. After comparison to other copies of this show, this was the best version and potentially the original master tapes. Plangent transferred all seven reels using their unique process, which corrects any speed variations for accurate playback. This eliminates the wow and flutter usually found in the playback of any analog tape. This new transfer to the digital domain was done at 192 (samples per second) with 24 bit resolution. The resulting digital files were sent to Gateway Mastering for evaluation and mastering, as was done to the Box Set Volume 1, recently released to critical acclaim. The resulting new master will give a renewed vigor to the already exciting show."

Track listing

All songs by Bruce Springsteen, except as noted.

Set One

1. "Summertime Blues" - 3:20 (Cochran, Capehart)
   • Originally Recorded by Eddie Cochran
2. "Badlands" - 4:46
3. "Spirit in the Night" - 8:04
4. "Darkness on the Edge of Town" - 5:36
5. "Factory" - 3:22
6. "The Promised Land" - 6:00
7. "Prove It All Night" - 11:49
8. "Racing in the Street" - 8:58
9. "Thunder Road" - 6:44
10. "Jungleland" - 10:18

Set Two

1. "Paradise By the "C" - 4:04
2. "Fire" - 3:06
3. "Sherry Darling" - 6:12
4. "Not Fade Away/Gloria/She's the One" - 14:53 (Hardin, Petty/Morrison/Springsteen)
   • Contains a portions of "Not Fade Away" by Buddy Holly and "Gloria" by Them
5. "Growin' Up" - 13:02
6. "Backstreets" - 14:02
7. "Rosalita (Come Out Tonight) - 12:51

First Encore

1. "4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)" - 8:44
2. "Born to Run" - 6:09
3. "Because the Night" - 8:12
4. "Raise Your Hand" - 6:37 (Cropper, Floyd, Isbell)
   • Originally Recorded by Eddie Floyd

Second Encore

1. "Twist and Shout" - 7:24 (Medley, Berns)
   • Most Famously by The Isley Brothers

Personnel

• Bruce Springsteen - lead vocals, guitars, harmonica
• Roy Bittan - piano, background vocals
• Clarence Clemons - saxophone, percussion, background vocals, clarinet
• Danny Federici - organ, electronic glockenspiel, accordion
• Garry Tallent - bass guitar
• Steven Van Zandt - guitars, background vocals
• Max Weinberg - drums