Great Covers, B.r.u.c.e. Style

Over his nearly 50-year recording career, Bruce Springsteen has amassed an enormous catalog. He could easily fill up his 3 to 4-hour shows he routinely plays with just his own songs and still not even perform half of the tunes he has written over the decades. Yet The Boss has always liked to mix up his sets with covers. Why? I think it’s because Springsteen loves great music and to honor the artists behind it.

The latest reminder is The Live Series: Songs Under Cover Vol. 2, a new album released on March 5 as part of Springsteen’s ongoing series of concert releases. It’s available via digital download at https://live.brucespringsteen.net and on music streaming services. With The E Street Band, Springsteen has the perfect group of road-tested warriors to back him. Just like Tom Petty’s Heartbreakers used to do, these guys can play anything. The new album triggered the idea to do a post on covers, B.r.u.c.e. style.

In the Midnight Hour

I couldn’t think of a better tune to kick things off than with a Stax gem. Here’s Springsteen’s version of In the Midnight Hour. Apparently, this was captured at Nassau Veterans Coliseum on Long Island, N.Y. in 1980 during The River Tour. Written by Wilson Pickett and Steve Cropper, the song was first recorded by Pickett, one of my favorite Stax artists, and appeared in June 1965. It also became the title track of Pickett’s second studio album that appeared in the same year.

Who’ll Stop the Rain

Who’ll Stop the Rain is one of my long-time favorite tunes by Creedence Clearwater Revival. Written by John Fogerty, the track was included on the band’s fifth studio album Cosmo’s Factory from July 1970. It’s one of the covers included on Springstreen’s new live release. This was recorded at London’s Wembley Arena in June 1981. Great version. I love the sax work by “The Big Man” Clarence Clemons – just wish his solo would have been longer!

Sweet Soul Music

Here’s an amazing version of Sweet Soul Music, another soul classic. Co-written by Sam Cooke, Arthur Conley and Otis Redding, the tune was recorded at FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Ala., and first released by Conley in 1967. Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band were on fire that night in Stockholm, Sweden in July 1988. It was around the same time I saw Springsteen first in Frankfurt, Germany. I will never forget that show. Springsteen and the E Street Band belted out one cover after the other for more than one hour. Technically, I guess this was the encore. If I recall it correctly, they also played Sweet Soul Music in addition to gems like In the Midnight Hour, Land of a Thousand Dances and Shout. It was just unbelievable!

Highway 61 Revisited

Bob Dylan’s Highway 61 Revisited is another highlight from Springsteen’s latest live release. For this rendition at Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles in December 1990, Springsteen got a little help from his friends Jackson Browne and Bonnie Raitt. It really doesn’t get much better! Written by Dylan, Highway 61 Revisited became the title track of his sixth studio album from August 1965. Check this out – this is to die for!

Twist & Shout/La Bamba

This fantastic medley of Twist & Shout and La Bamba was captured during the Human Rights Now! Tour, a series of 20 benefit concerts conducted in 1988 to raise awareness of Amnesty International during the year of the 40th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Twist & Shout, co-written by Bert Berns and Phil Medley, was first recorded and released by American R&B vocal group The Top Notes in 1961. La Bamba, a Mexican folk song, became broadly popular in 1968 through the amazing rendition by Ritchie Valens – one of the artists who died in that plane crash near Mason City, Iowa in the early morning hours of February 3, 1959, together with Buddy Holly.

Rockin’ All Over the World

Let’s wrap up this post with another John Fogerty classic that became the title track for Status Quo’s 10th studio album from November 1977, and a huge hit for the British boogie rockers. Fogerty originally recorded Rockin’ All Over the World for his self-titled sophomore solo album that came out in September 1975. Bruce and the boys played the song during a gig at Olympiastadion in Helsinki, Finland in July 2012. As Springsteen said, “let’s do it right – alright!” Man, would I have loved to be there!

Source: Wikipedia; YouTube

On This Day in Rock & Roll History: March 22

Today, my recurring music history feature is hitting a bit of a milestone with the 50th installment. While 50 sounds like an impressive number, it means I still have 315 dates left to cover! The music nerd in me tells me that’s actually not a bad thing! Plus, it turns out there’s lots of fodder for March 22, so let’s get to it.

1963: Please Please Me, the debut studio album by The Beatles, appeared in the UK. According to The Beatles Bible, the record was rush-released to capitalize on the success of the singles Love Me Do and Please Please Me. Both singles were on the album, along with their b-sides P.S. I Love You and Ask Me Why, respectively. The remaining 10 tracks were recorded during a marathon session on February 11, 1963, which lasted just under 10 hours. The other fun fact about the record is that George Martin initially had planned to call it Off The Beatle Track – kind of clever, though he obviously abandoned the idea. Naming it after a successful single probably was also part of the plan to maximize sales. As was common on the early Beatles albums, Please Please Me featured various covers. Here’s one of my favorites: Twist and Shout, co-written by Phil Medley and Bert Berns, and first recorded by U.S. R&B vocal group The Top Notes in 1961.

1965: Robert Allen Zimmerman, the genius known as Bob Dylan, released his fifth studio album Bringing It All Back Home. It marked his first top 10 record in the U.S., climbing to no. 6 on the Billboard 200, and his second no. 1 studio release in the UK, following The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan from May 1963. Perhaps more significantly, Bringing It All Back Home was also Dylan’s first album to feature recordings with electric instruments; in fact, on the entire A-side, he was backed by an electric band. The b-side was acoustic. Four months later, on July 25, the electric controversy turned into a firestorm with Dylan’s appearance at the Newport Folk Festival. Here’s Maggie’s Farm. It was the much faster and more aggressive performance of that song at Newport, which caused most of the controversy there.

1971: John Lennon released his fifth solo single Power to the People in the U.S., 10 days after its debut in the UK. Credited to Lennon and Plastic Ono Band, the non-album tune peaked at no. 11 on the Billboard Hot 100, marking Lennon’s second most successful single to date. In the UK, the song climbed to no. 6. It performed best in Norway where it hit no. 3. Power to the People was recorded at Ascot Sound Studios in Berkshire, England as part of sessions that also yielded tunes for Lennon’s second solo album Imagine. “I wrote ‘Power to the People’ the same way I wrote ‘Give Peace a Chance,’ as something for the people to sing,” Lennon reportedly said. “I make singles like broadsheets. It was another quickie, done at Ascot.” Quickie or not, I think it’s safe to say it wasn’t his best tune.

1974: The Eagles dropped their third studio album On the Border. After two country-rock records, the band decided they wanted a more rock-oriented sound. Therefore, most of the album was produced by Bill Szymczyk, who had previously worked with then-future Eagles member Joe Walsh and The James Gang, among others. It also marked the band’s first record with rock guitarist Don Felder. Here’s Already Gone, featuring Felder on lead guitar and Glenn Frey on lead vocals. Co-written by Jack Tempchin and Robb Strandlund, the tune also appeared separately as the album’s lead single. It’s one of my favorite rockers by the Eagles.

1975: Led Zeppelin hit no. 1 on the Billboard 200 with their sixth studio album Physical Graffiti. The double LP, which includes recordings spanning from January 1970 to February 1974, maintained the top spot for 6 weeks and marked Zeppelin’s fourth no. 1 record in the U.S. The album also topped the charts in the UK and Canada. Viewed as one of the band’s strongest albums, Physical Graffiti was certified 16x Platinum in the U.S. in 2006, which means sales of more than eight million copies – unreal from today’s perspective! Here’s the bombastic Kashmir, co-written by Jon Bonham, Jimmy Page and Robert Plant. It’s one of the most unusual rock songs I know; frankly, it wasn’t exactly love at first sight for me, though over the years, I’ve come to dig it.

1977: Stevie Wonder released Sir Duke, the third single off his 18th studio gem Songs in the Key of Life. Both are long-time favorites in my book. The tribute to jazz legend Duke Ellington marked Wonder’s fifth and last no. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 during the ’70s. It also topped the R&B chart and became a hit internationally, reaching no.1 in Canada and top 10 positions in Germany, Switzerland and the UK. I just love the groove of this tune. The horn work is outstanding – take it away, Stevie!

1980: Pink Floyd scored their only no. 1 hit in the U.S. on the Billboard Hot 100 with Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2), where it would stay for four weeks. Given the Roger Waters song, off Floyd’s 11th studio album The Wall, was their most pop-oriented, radio-friendly tune, perhaps that’s not exactly a surprise. It also became a chart-topper in the UK, Austria, France, Germany, Switzerland and New Zealand. I can confirm firsthand that it was played to death on the radio in Germany. On a lighter note, I also recall a funny incident at a school party when I was in seventh grade. For some reason, which I can’t remember, we had a little get-together in our classroom. When our English and homeroom teacher walked in, the song was blasting out of a boom box. He couldn’t suppress a brief smile before looking serious again. What happens when you think you don’t need no education is now vividly on display among some young people in the U.S. and other countries, who continue to hang out in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic as if nothing had happened.

Sources: Wikipedia; The Beatles Bible; This Day In Music; Songfacts Music History Calendar; YouTube