Recommend me a good Springsteen bootleg from the Wild, The Innocent...era

The Bottom Line shows from 1975 are the best of this era. Also, seek out the DVD of the Hammersmith Odeon show, included on the Born To Run reissue--it's a revelation.

There's also a ton of great material that never made that album, it's included on Disc 1 of the Tracks boxset (used to be collected on a great bootleg called Fire On The Fingertips)

Best songs to seek out: Hey Santa Ana (how could you leave that one off, Bruce?) Seaside Bar Song

The 5 Feb 1975 show at the Main Point in Bryn Mawr (often called "The Saint, The Incident & The Main Point Shuffle") is incredible, probably my fav Springsteen record. It opens with an incredible piano + violin performance of "Incident on 57th Street"---just listen to how he sings "upstairs the band was playing, and the singer was singing something about going home": it's like the Platonic ideal of homesickness. He covers Dylan's "I Want You" in a way that makes the original unnecessary (accompanied by a harmonium?).

yes, that's the one. the violinist was only in the band for six months and I'm not sure how many other recordings of that lineup exist. Clinton Heylin talks about it a fair amount in his Bootleg book. my favorite Springsteen, by far.

The Wild & Innocent-era live stuff on the Born to Run DVD is also worth a look. Agree on the Main Point show, amazing stuff. Question though -- the version I have, the first half is recorded much better than the second. I know it was taped off the radio, figured maybe two different tapes were spliced together. Anyone else notice the sound quality differential.

I never noticed the sound quality differential between halves. I confess I rarely make it past the first six songs without just going back to song #1 again, and again, until I get called away.

Also recommended:
Gaston Hall, Washington D.C. 3-3-74
Union College, Schenectady, NY 10-19-74
Kent State 1-19-74