Merry Christmas from Bruce Springsteen

The Boss.  Honest stories of working people as told by rich stars.  

Although never released one as the A Side, Bruce Springsteen was not a stranger to the Christmas single.  They popped up as B-Sides.  These were both live takes, which means they were most likely  recorded during the season.  The norm for the standard Christmas single was to record in late summer/fall to be ready by Thanksgiving.   

Bruce Springsteen - My Hometown b/w Santa Claus is Comin' to Town (Columbia 1981)

Long available as a promo single available to radio stations, Bruce finally released this to the general public as the B Side to one of the many singles pulled from Born in the USA.   The recording predates the release by six years.

Next up, Bruce throws in a Christmas song as the B-Side to a cover of Edwin Starr's 'War' from the massive 5 record live album.

Bruce Springsteen and the E-Street Band - War b/w Merry Christmas Baby (Columbia 1986)

Merry Christmas Baby was originally performed by Chuck Berry.