Inspired by the cold winter weather, last week's Friday Bruce Fix brought you two rather obscure tunes called 'Winter Song' and 'Randolph Street'. Inspired by little more than last week's obscurity, this week's Friday Bruce Fix dares to be perhaps even more obscure, although I'm not sure how we'd settle the debate over which week's fix is most obscure.
'Ride On Sweet William' is a song that made a few live appearances in 1974 and does not appear to have ever been recorded in studio. The audio recording in the clip that follows has been attributed to a concert at Liberty Hall in Houston on March 10, 1974, however the track listings I've seen from that show do not list 'Ride On Sweet William' or the song's other name, 'She's So Fine'. So, perhaps it is from another show. If anyone out there can clear up this confusion, please post a comment.
If the date is right, another obscure fact about this song is that the drummer was Ernest "Boom" Carter, who had joined the band just a couple of weeks previously, for what would turn out to be a short tenure as drummer for the E Street Band. Ernest's claim to fame is that he was the drummer on the officially released recording of 'Born to Run', his only recording credit with Bruce. If the date is wrong, then don't read this part about Ernest. Oops, too late.
I like 'Ride On Sweet William' musically more than lyrically. In fact, I suspect its lyrical shortcomings are the reason Bruce relegated this composition to his considerable scrap heap of discarded original songs. How are these for lyrical shortcomings?
"She's sweet, she's educated, she knows about history, geometry, she's so fine"
or
"I'll get in my car and burn it up, now switch on the radio and turn it up"
Now, ride on sweet William....
Speaking of obscure, here's a version of an early Bruce Springsteen composition that was and still is known for its lyrics. This is so obscure, that I had never heard it before, and was completely unaware of its existence, prior to finding it in my search for something obscure to go with 'Ride On Sweet William'. Should I try to use the word "obscure" one more time?
This funky arrangement of 'Blinded By The Light' is from the Allen Theatre in Cleveland on February 1, 1974, just a month or so before the previous clip. This band featured Vini "Mad Dog" Lopez on drums, and David Sancious on piano and keyboards, before they LEFT THE BAND (good idea guys....) and were replaced by Max Weinberg (after Ernest went "Boom") and Roy Bittan. I think it's safe to say that the musical character of the E Street Band shifted with this personnel change. It is also fair to say that extended jam intros of this type were not uncommon during the early 1970s.
Happy Obscure Friday!
Comments