On the Line is an album released by Gary U.S. Bonds in 1982, the second of two on which he collaborated with Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band, the first being Dedication, released the previous year, 1981.

Background

The musicians accompanying Bonds on the album include many members of the E Street Band. The album includes seven songs written by Springsteen, one written by Steven Van Zandt, and two written by Bonds himself ("Turn the Music Down", "Bring Her Back"), and features a duet with Steven Van Zandt on the track "Angelyne". The album produced one single, "Out of Work" which peaked at #21 on the Billboard Pop Singles charts. According to the liner notes on the Razor & Tie reissue, after recording the album, Columbia Records had Bruce Springsteen remove his vocals from the tracks, specifically from the track "Angelyne", so Van Zandt stepped up to record the duet instead. Because of this, although Springsteen can still be heard on several of the tracks, he is not credited in the original liner notes. Additionally, the liner notes state that three other songs were recorded for the album but not present on the final release including Springsteen's "Action in the Street", "Lion's Den", and "Savin' Up". Springsteen's studio version of "Lion's Den" and a live version of "Rendezvous" were eventually released in 1998 on his boxset Tracks, and "Savin' Up" appeared on Clarence Clemons' first solo album Rescue (1983); "Action in the Street" remains unreleased. Springsteen's studio version of "Rendezvous" was finally released in 2010 on The Promise. The album was re-released in 1992 on the Razor Edge label of Razor & Tie music, and then again in 2009 on BGO Records paired with Dedication.

Track listing

All songs written by Bruce Springsteen unless otherwise stated. Side one Side two

Personnel

Musicians

Additional musicians

Technical