Darkness on the Edge of Town is the fourth studio album by Bruce Springsteen, released in the late spring of 1978. The album marked the end of a three-year gap between albums brought on by contractual obligations and legal battling with former manager Mike Appel. Although the album did not produce high-charting singles, it nevertheless remained on the charts for 97 weeks. A steady seller in Springsteen’s catalogue, it has been certified triple-platinum by the RIAA. In 2003, Rolling Stone Magazine ranked it at #151 on their list of the greatest albums of all time. (More from Wikipedia)
While recording their third and most successful album, Easter, Patti Smith Group encountered Bruce Springsteen who was recording his fourth album, Darkness at the Edge of Town in the adjoining studio. The Boss had recorded “Because the Night” but was unsatisfied with it and did not include it on the album. Jimmy Iovine was the producer and engineer on both albums; he passed along a copy of the tape of the song to Patti Smith, who recast the song and included it on her album. The first performance of “Because the Night” was at a Patti Smith Group concert on December 30, 1977 at New York’s CBGB club, with Bruce Springsteen joining in on guitar and vocals. Bruce and Patti share songwriting credits on “Because the Night”, which is probably Patti Smith’s best known song. Easter also includes several songs about Patti Smith’s feelings on organized religion; and her debut album, Horses includes her version of Van Morrison’s “Gloria” that had the spoken-word introduction, “Jesus died for somebody’s sins but not mine”.
(February 2014)
