AMERICAN LAND

Live 22 Jun 2006 version

[Spoken intro:] Welcome friends! Alright, hello New York. Hit it Larry! Alright, we got a... immigrant song for New York City.

Come on!

One, two!

Whoa!

What is this land America, so many travel there
I'm going now while I'm still young, my darling meet me there
Wish me luck my lovely, I'll send for you when I can
And we'll make our home in the American land

Over there the women wear silk and satin to their knees
And children dear, the sweets, I hear, are growing on the trees
Gold comes rushing out the rivers straight into your hands
If you make your home in the American land

There's diamonds in the sidewalks, there's gutters lined in song
Dear, I hear that beer flows through the faucets all night long
There's treasure for the taking, for any hard working man
Who'll make his home in the American land

Whoa!

I docked at Ellis Island in a city of light and spire
I wandered to the valley of red-hot steel and fire
We made the steel that built the cities with the sweat of our two hands
And I made my home in the American land

There's diamonds in the sidewalk, there's gutters lined in song
Dear, I hear that beer flows through the faucets all night long
There's treasure for the taking, for any hard working man
Who'll make his home in the American land

Whoa!

The McNicholas, the Posalskis, the Smiths, Zerillis too
The Blacks, the Irish, Italians, the Germans and the Jews
The ??? Asians, Arabs miles from home
Come across the water with a fire down below

They died building the railroads, worked to bones and skin
They died in the fields and factories, names scattered in the wind
They died to get here a hundred years ago, they're dying now
The hands that built the country we're always trying to keep down

There's diamonds in the sidewalk, there's gutters lined in song
Dear, I hear that beer flows through the faucets all night long
There's treasure for the taking, for any hard working man
Who'll make his home in the American land
Who'll make his home in the American land
Who'll make his home in the American land
Whoa!

Whoa!

[Spoken outro:] For all you travelers out there!

Page last updated: 24 Jan 2012

Info

The above lyrics are for the live 22 Jun 2006 performance of AMERICAN LAND at Madison Square Garden in New York City, NY, during The Seeger Sessions Tour. In this version, Springsteen uses the partially unintelligible "The ??? Asians, Arabs miles from home / Come across the water with a fire down below" lines in the fourth verse. These lines would soon after become "Come across the water a thousand miles from home / With nothin' in their bellies but the fire down below", as per the printed lyrics in the booklet of the "American Land Edition" of the We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions album.

Promotional poster for the 22 Jun 2006 show at Madison Square Garden, New York City, NY [Taken from Brucebase]

Ticket stub for the 22 Jun 2006 show at Madison Square Garden, New York City, NY

This live 22 Jun 2006 performance of AMERICAN LAND was released as a bonus track on the "American Land Edition" of the We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions album in 2006. A music video for the same performance was also included on the DVD accompanying the "American Land Edition" of the album. The video was directed by Thom Zimny and Chris Hilson, recorded by John Cooper, and mixed by Bob Clearmountain.

We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions

We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions is Bruce Springsteen's fourteenth studio album, released in 2006. It is his first and so far only album of cover material, and his second consecutive non-E Street Band and non-rock music project. The album contains Springsteen's interpretation of thirteen folk music songs, all of them associated with Pete Seeger, for whom the album is named.

The project began in late 1997, when Springsteen agreed to contribute a recording for an upcoming Pete Seeger tribute album on Appleseed Recordings. "Growing up a rock n' roll kid I didn't know a lot about Pete's music or the depth of his influence," Springsteen later wrote in the liner notes of the 2006 album. He headed to the record store, came back with an armful of Pete Seeger records, and proceeded to investigate and listen to his music. On 29 October, activist attorney and Appleseed founder Jim Musselman sent Springsteen a tape containing 14 Pete Seeger songs: JESSE JAMES, MY OKLAHOMA HOME, WE SHALL OVERCOME, HOBO'S LULLABY, I COME AND STAND AT EVERY DOOR, JOHN HENRY, MRS MCGRATH, IF I HAD A HAMMER, ROUTE 66 HIGHWAY BLUES, TALKING UNION, TIMES ARE GETTING HARD, WAIST DEEP IN THE BIG MUDDY, WALKING DOWN DEATH ROW, and WORDS WORDS WORDS.

Springsteen had heard about a New York City roots/bluegrass band called The Gotham Playboys via future E Street Band violinist Soozie Tyrell, who occasionally played live gigs with them. The band included Jeremy Chatzky, Sam Bardfeld, Larry Eagle, Will Holshouser, and Red Suydam. On 23 Sep 1997, Springsteen organized a private birthday party at his residence in Colts Neck, NJ, and hired The Gotham Playboys for the event. He allegedly joined in on some songs during the party. The band would later be invited to perform at two more birthday bashes at Springsteen's house, on 11 Oct 1998 and 14 Oct 2000.

When time came to record the Pete Seeger track, Springsteen decided to hire four members of The Gotham Playboys: Jeremy Chatzky, Sam Bardfeld, Larry Eagle, and Will Holshouser. Charles Giordano, an associate of The Gotham Playboys, substituted for Holshouser when a scheduling conflict prevented him from attending the recording sessions. This group, in addition to other friends and acquaintances, would eventually become "The Seeger Sessions Band", later renamed "The Sessions Band". Giordano would also join the E Street band in 2008.

The album was recorded over the course of nine years at East Thrill East, Springsteen's home studio in Colts Neck, NJ: a one-day on 02 Nov 1997, a one-day session in December 2005, and a one-day session in January 2006. During these sessions, all of the album's songs were cut live in the living room of Springsteen's farmhouse – they were not rehearsed and all arrangements were conducted by Springsteen as he and the band played them. "We were doing trapeze without a safety net," Sam Barfeld told Backstreets magazine. "He plays the song for you once, a couple of arrangement ideas. Have enough time to scrawl out a chord chart, and then boom! You record."

Six songs were recorded during the first session (02 Nov 1997): JESSE JAMES, MY OKLAHOMA HOME, WE SHALL OVERCOME (eventually selected for the Pete Seeger tribute album), HOBO'S LULLABY, I COME AND STAND AT EVERY DOOR, and PRETTY BY FLOYD.

Seven years later, soon after the conclusion of Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band's short Vote For Change Tour, Springsteen was liaising with manager Jon Landau regarding material for a potential future second volume of the Tracks boxed set. Some of the leftover material from the November 1997 session was being evaluated and out of those discussions came the idea of releasing this session material as a stand-alone album project. "Thanks to Jon Landau for another one of his 'I think we've got something here...' phone calls," Springsteen later wrote in the liner notes of the 2006 album.

There were not enough songs recorded in November 1997 to fill an album, so the original 1997 musicians were contacted again and an additional recording session took place on 19 Mar 2005, just prior to Springsteen embarking on his Devils & Dust Solo Acoustic Tour. Nine songs were recorded during the second session (19 Mar 2005): ERIE CANAL, JOHN HENRY, O MARY DON'T YOU WEEP, PAY ME MY MONEY DOWN, OLD DAN TUCKER, FROGGIE WENT A COURTIN', SHENANDOAH, MRS MCGRATH, and MICHAEL ROW YOUR BOAT ASHORE. Eight of the songs recorded during this second session would end up on the album.

Springsteen undertook a third and final studio session on 21 Jan 2006 following the Devils & Dust Solo Acoustic Tour. There were eight songs recorded during the third session (21 Jan 2006): JACOB'S LADDER, BUFFALO GALS, EYES ON THE PRIZE, HOW CAN I KEEP FROM SINGING, AMERICAN LAND, BRING 'EM HOME, IF I HAD A HAMMER, and WORRIED MAN BLUES.

For the first recording session, recording engineer Toby Scott and Springsteen's assistant Kevin Buell set up a video camera on a tripod to document the occasion. For the second and third recording sessions, Thom Zimny brought down a camera crew. Footage from the last two sessions was included as DVD bonus material with some editions of the 2006 album.

The album was recorded with a large ensemble of musicians, and more were added for The Seeger Session Tour.

• Bruce Springsteen (lead vocals, guitar, harmonica, B-3 organ, and percussion).
• Sam Bardfeld (violin) is a member of The Gotham Playboys and he played at the 23 Sep 1997 birthday bash. He participated in all three recording sessions and toured with The Seeger Sessions Band.
• Jeremy Chatzky (upright bass) is a member of The Gotham Playboys and he played at the 23 Sep 1997 birthday bash. He participated in all three recording sessions and toured with The Seeger Sessions Band.
• Larry Eagle (drums and percussion) is a member of The Gotham Playboys and he played at the 23 Sep 1997 birthday bash. He participated in all three recording sessions and toured with The Seeger Sessions Band.
• Charles Giordano (B-3 organ, piano, and accordion) often played with The Gotham Playboys. He participated in all three recording sessions and toured with The Seeger Sessions Band.
• Soozie Tyrell (violin and backing vocals) often played with The Gotham Playboys and became a member of the E Street band in 2002. She participated in all three recording sessions and toured with The Seeger Sessions Band.
• Patti Scialfa (backing vocals) is Springsteen's wife and a member of the E Street Band since 1984. She participated in all three recording sessions and toured with The Seeger Sessions Band on selected dates.
• Frank Bruno (guitar) is Bruce Springsteen's cousin. He participated in all three recording sessions and toured with The Seeger Sessions Band.
• Ed Manion (saxophone) is a member of The Miami Horns and he toured with the E Street band in 1988. He participated in all three recording sessions and toured with The Seeger Sessions Band.
• Mark Pender (trumpet and backing vocals) is a member of The Miami Horns and he toured with the E Street band in 1988. He participated in the last two of the three recording sessions, recorded studio overdubs, and toured with The Seeger Sessions Band in the United States only.
• Richie "La Bamba" Rosenberg (trombone and backing vocals) is a member of The Miami Horns and he toured with the E Street band in 1988. He participated in all three recording sessions and toured with The Seeger Sessions Band in the United States only.
• Mark Clifford (banjo) met Springsteen by chance and he participated in all three recording sessions, but did not tour with The Seeger Sessions Band.
• Lisa Lowell (backing vocals) has been singing backup vocals on several Springsteen albums since 1992. She participated in the last of the three recording sessions and toured with The Seeger Sessions Band.
• Art Baron (tuba) was recommended by the band. He recorded studio overdubs and toured with The Seeger Sessions Band.
• Greg Liszt (banjo) did not record on the album, but he toured with The Seeger Sessions Band.
• Marty Rifkin (pedal steel) did not record on the album, but he toured with The Seeger Sessions Band.
• Curtis king Jr. (vocals) did not record on the album, but he toured with The Seeger Sessions Band.
• Cindy Mizelle (vocals) did not record on the album, but she toured with The Seeger Sessions Band.
• Mark Anthony Thomson (guitar) did not record on the album, but he toured with The Seeger Sessions Band.
• Clark Gayton (trombone) did not record on the album, but he toured with The Seeger Sessions Band in Europe only.
• Curt Ramm (trumpet) did not record on the album, but he toured with The Seeger Sessions Band in Europe only.

Springsteen toured with The Seeger Sessions Band throughout 2006. During a break in the tour in mid-2006, and then in late 2006 shortly after the tour's conclusion, he recorded several other songs. Some of these later session details are now known and others are likely to emerge over time. A second version BRING 'EM HOME was recorded on 18 May 2006 at Disclab Studios in Oslo, Norway. A second version of AMERICAN LAND, with Springsteen solo, was recorded at his home studio sometime in 2006.

We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions was produced by Bruce Springsteen and Jon Landau and was released on Columbia Records on 25 Apr 2006. The album was issued in DualDisc format in the United States and Europe and a two-disc set (audio CD + DVD) in Europe and Japan. The full album is on the CD (or CD side), while the DVD (or DVD side) features a PCM Stereo version of the album plus a short film about the making and recording of the album. Two bonus songs also appear on the DVD. A 2-disc vinyl LP edition was also pressed in the U.S. and Holland.

The album was critically acclaimed. When asked about what he thought of it, Pete Seeger said, "It was a great honor. He's an extraordinary person, as well as an extraordinary singer." The album won the Grammy Award for Best Traditional Folk Album at the 49th Grammy Awards held in February 2007. On 03 Oct 2006, when the tour had just hit Europe for the second swing, the album was reissued as We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions - American Land Edition with five additional tracks (the two bonus tracks from before and three new live numbers that had been introduced and heavily featured on the tour), new videos, an expanded documentary, and liner notes. This edition was only released as a two-disc set (audio CD + DVD).

[Click thumbnail to enlarge/reduce artwork]

[Click thumbnail to enlarge/reduce artwork]

We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions album track listing:

1. OLD DAN TUCKER
2. JESSE JAMES
3. MRS MCGRATH
4. O MARY DON'T YOU WEEP
5. JOHN HENRY
6. ERIE CANAL
7. JACOB'S LADDER
8. MY OKLAHOMA HOME
9. EYES ON THE PRIZE
10. SHENANDOAH
11. PAY ME MY MONEY DOWN
12. WE SHALL OVERCOME
13. FROGGIE WENT A COURTIN'

We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions DVD side bonus tracks:

14. BUFFALO GALS
15. CAN I KEEP FROM SINGING

We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions "American Land Edition" bonus tracks:

14. BUFFALO GALS
15. CAN I KEEP FROM SINGING
16. HOW CAN A POOR MAN STAND SUCH TIMES AND LIVE [Live Apr 2006]
17. BRING 'EM HOME [Live 17 Jun 2006]
18. AMERICAN LAND [Live 22 Jun 2006]

Available Versions

List of available versions of AMERICAN LAND on this website:

• Album version
• Live 22 Jun 2006 version
• Live 25 Jun 2006 version
• Live 18 Nov 2006 version
• Live 28 Jun 2009 version

References

Most of the above info about the studio sessions is taken from Brucebase and the Spring 2007 issue (#86) of Backstreets magazine.

Request

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