'Gotta Get That Feeling/Racing In the Street ('78)' Live 10'' by Bruce Springsteen & the E. Street Band

By Justin Schwier

Columbia Records

April 16, 2011

Rating: 3/5

The second annual Bruce Springsteen Record Store Day 10'', being a huge fan of the Boss, this was another must-find for me this year. It’s basically a single for the song, “Gotta Get That Feeling” from last year's “The Promise: The Making of Darkness on the Edge of Town” box set/album of outtakes. The A side is a studio recording of this great song, quite indicative of the Darkness-era of the band. It's earnest and triumphant, but with a full horn section, that definitely adds the '70s-era E. Street Band flavor to the song. When you consider the context of the album it was recorded for, it’s understandable that it didn’t make the cut, but it’s a solid outtake (like virtually all of his B sides - see his “Tracks” box set) and I’m excited that it’s been polished up and re-released to the world.

Side B was the reason that I needed to have this: a 1978 live version of “Racing In the Street;” my favorite Bruce Springsteen song. First off, this is a crystal clear-sounding recording and not only is this song quite catchier and more upbeat than the original that appears on “Darkness,” but it has a violin player on it, which oddly enough makes it sound like a more recent version of the song as the E. Street Band usually has a violinist on tour with them these days. I still prefer the original album version, but I love to hear these alternate takes, another thing the “Tracks” set is good for.

Additionally, I must address the fact that the art department at Columbia misprinted the word “Street” on the back cover of the record that’s in huge print letters in the “Racing In the Street (‘78)” song title, which is a pretty impressive screw-up if you ask me. That aside, this is a cool EP. The notes on the back cover also state that the tracks come from the forthcoming single disc version of the “The Promise” DVD with some minor added live footage and other expanded nerd-dom. If you picked up the box set version, you won’t need to get it. Kind of like this 10''; you don’t need it, but if you have one, you enjoy it.