Bruce Springsteen The Soul Crusaders: Toronto Broadcast 1977 (2-CD)

At 3 a.m. on 28th May 1977, after ten months of legal battles, and nearly two years after Born to Run had catapulted him to national celebrity, Bruce Springsteen and his former manager, Mike Appel, settled their differences and parted ways forever. The move finally enabled Springsteen to begin recording a follow up album, with Jon Landau as his new producer of choice. But despite pronouncements of satisfaction with the terms of the settlement, both sides paid dearly for the truce. Three months earlier however, in February '77, the outcome was less than certain, and as the Born To Run Tour stretched into its third year, Bruce and the E Street Band were still unable to enter a studio. Despite this seemingly grave and stressful situation, the group continued to perform quite remarkable shows, of which they played 33 dates across North America in early '77. One particular highlight was their performance at Toronto's Maple Leaf Gardens on 13th February, the entirety of which is now released for the first time on this two disc set. Recorded for live FM broadcast, the band play a broad selection of cuts from across their catalogue to date, a fine range of covers, and a rarity in the form of 'Action In The Streets', a Springsteen original which has yet to see any kind of studio version made available.