IF I SHOULD FALL BEHIND

25 Sep 1999 sound-check version

Info

The above lyrics are for a performance of IF I SHOULD FALL BEHIND filmed during the sound-check prior to the 25 Sep 1999 show at First Union Center in Philadelphia, PA. The video was shot by director Jonathan Demme with a single camera on 16mm film and in one unedited take. Kyle Rudolph was the director of photography.

The previously unreleased video was included on Springsteen's The Complete Video Anthology / 1978-2000 in 2001 and was included on the Japanese Singles Collection -Greatest Hits- compilation album. It was also posted on Bruce Springsteen's VEVO YouTube channel in February 2014.

Date and Location

The Complete Video Anthology / 1978-2000 DVD credits and liner notes do not specify when and where the IF I SHOULD FALL BEHIND video was filmed. All what's noted is: "Director: Jonathan Demme (2000)". There have been different claims that the video was filmed at First Union Center in Philadelphia in 1999, at United Center in Chicago in 1999, and at Madison Square Garden in New York City in 2000.

In the Fall 1999 issue (#64) of Backstreets magazine, it was reported that Jonathan Demme filmed a performance video of IF I SHOULD FALL BEHIND during the Chicago stand — Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band played three shows at United Center in Chicago, IL, on 27, 28, and 30 Sep 1999.

At the time when The Complete Video Anthology / 1978-2000 DVD was released, it was stated in a press release that appeared in some fanzines that the IF I SHOULD FALL BEHIND video was recorded in "2000 live at Madison Square Garden with the E Street Band".

However, a frame taken from the IF I SHOULD FALL BEHIND video, from the same video shoot or even from the same take, was published in the Spring 2000 of the now-defunct DoubleTake magazine (compare the below scan with the above video). The film frame was captioned "From If I Should Fall Behind. A 16mm documentary." The accompanying article clearly describes the 21 Sep 1999 show at First Union Center, but never claims that the frame came from Philadelphia. Also note that the Spring 2000 issue of the magazine was on the newsstands in April 2000, which is well before the Madison Square Garden stand took place.

Bruce Springsteen and Carl D'Errico at the D'Errico residence in November 1976 (photo by Didi D'Errico)

Additionally, in the Spring 2001 issue (#70) of Backstreets magazine, in a "viewer's guide" to The Complete Video Anthology / 1978-2000 release, Chris Phillips wrote that the IF I SHOULD FALL BEHIND video was recorded during a sound-check in September 1999 at First Union Center in Philadelphia, PA. Phillips also mentioned the teaser that Springsteen fans saw the previous year in DoubleTake, noting that "the video itself remained unreleased until the new Anthology."

Bruce Springsteen: In His Own Words, a Springsteen documentary that premiered on 29 Dec 2016 on Britain's Channel 4, uses a snippet of this version of IF I SHOULD FALL BEHIND, annotated "Philadelphia 1999" — Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band played five shows at Philadelphia's First Union Center during The Reunion Tour, on 13, 15, 20, 21, and 25 Sep 1999.

Snapshot from the IF I SHOULD FALL BEHIND video snippet used in the "Bruce Springsteen: In His Own Words" documentary (taken from the Channel 4 broadcast)

In July 2020, following the release of the First Union Center, Philadelphia September 25, 1999 official live download, Backstreets.com revealed that the video for IF I SHOULD FALL BEHIND was shot specifically at the sound-check prior to the last night of the Philadelphia stand, on 25 Sep 1999.

"I lit it as a pool of light anchored by the microphone that the vocalists would be drawn to for their turn," cinematographer Kyle Rudolph told Backstreets. "There was a large white card just below the frame which lifted the shadows to see the subtlety of expression — and boy, was there expression! JD told me to feel it, so I vamped on Clarence's sax solo, and crept out on the zoom as all members joined the finish. I think it worked out quite well." Rudolph also said that, "Bruce was somewhat conflicted that the non-singing members of the band [Garry Tallent and Max Weinberg] were not represented."

Video Anthology Home Video

Video Anthology / 1978-88 is a collection of 18 Bruce Springsteen music videos and concert performances, released on VHS on 31 Jan 1989. The home video was also released on LaserDisc.

Bruce Springsteen -- Video Anthology / 1978-88 (USA VHS cover art)

Bruce Springsteen -- Video Anthology / 1978-88 (USA LaserDisc cover art)

Bruce Springsteen -- Video Anthology / 1978-88 (Japan LaserDisc cover art)

Sonny reissued the video on DVD on 16 Jan 2001. Titled The Complete Video Anthology / 1978-2000, the new expanded release added a second disc with 15 additional music video, concert performances, and television appearances.

Bruce Springsteen -- The Complete Video Anthology / 1978-2000 (DVD cover art)

Japanese Singles Collection -Greatest Hits-

Japanese Singles Collection -Greatest Hits- is a Bruce Springsteen compilation album released by Sony Music Japan in 2023. The compilation, which was exclusively released in Japan, consists of previously released 35 audio tracks and 62 video tracks. The collection is part of a 26-title reissue campaign to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Bruce Springsteen's debut album. The series, issued in three waves (25 Oct 2023, 22 Nov 2023, and 20 Dec 2023), includes 25 albums originally released between 1973 and 2014 plus a new compilation album that includes all of Springsteen's singles released in Japan from 1975 to 1999. All audio CD's were manufactured using Sony Japan's Blu-spec CD2 format.

Bruce Springsteen -- Japanese Singles Collection -Greatest Hits-

Credits

Thanks jauzins (at Greasy Lake) for the help.

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Available Versions

List of available versions of IF I SHOULD FALL BEHIND on this website:

Page last updated: 25 Jul 2020