Bruce and the band sound like they’re having a blast working this one out in their 1979 rehearsal sessions for The River.
No wonder: “Out on the Run” has a killer riff going for it. That riff had been floating around looking for a home for a couple of years, ever since Bruce tried it out for “Don’t Say No” and “I Want to Be Wild” during the Darkness on the Edge of Town sessions.
Maddeningly, though, just as with “Don’t Say No” and “I Want to Be Wild,” it’s almost impossible to make out Bruce’s lyrics due to the muddy vocals. (Bruce was focusing on capturing the band performances at the time rather than his singing.)
Take a listen to these additional takes and see if you can make out anything worthwhile.
Alas, the third time was not the charm. “Out on the Run” ultimately went nowhere.
It wasn’t a total loss, though–six months later, Bruce took the verse melody from “Out on the Run” and built a new song around it: “Crush on You.” Then he sped it up and turned it into “Held Up Without a Gun.”
Even Bruce’s abandoned experiments often point the way to something better.
Bonus: Here’s an early 1979 recording of Bruce working on the riff alone at home, prior to the rehearsal sessions above.
Out on the Run
Recorded: March 30, 1979 (rehearsals only)
Never released
Never performed
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