Notes: ONE show, double bill, with Springsteen and the boys headlining and PETER JOHNSON & THE MANIC DEPRESSIVES (Joe’s unofficial house band) opening. Joe’s Place has created its fair share of audio-related confusion over the years.
The long-circulating audience recording widely attributed to this night’s show is from the following night (see that listing for details). The live version of “Thundercrack” found on the 3CD set “DEEP DOWN IN THE VAULTS” (E Street Records) is not from this show, as is claimed in the liner notes. It’s the edited version of the performance from Max’s Kansas City on 31/01/73 (see that listing for details). An “orphaned” audience recording of “Does This Bus Stop At 82nd St” has been linked to either this show or the Child Harold gig of 06/12/73 (see that listing for details). However it is unlikely to be from either show.
An excellent quality soundboard recording of “Blinded By The Light” that first surfaced on the CD “DEEP DOWN IN THE VAULTS” is attributed to this show. It’s definitely not the version performed the following night but it’s an extremely close match and is highly likely to emanate from this show on the 5th. The long instrumental intro to the song (about 3 minutes worth) has been edited out. The unedited version is not currently circulating.
Notes: ONE show, double bill, with Springsteen headlining and PETER JOHNSON & THE MANIC DEPRESSIVES opening. The above-mentioned 15-song setlist represents Bruce’s complete show and can be found (correctly sequenced but with editing between some songs) on the 2CD “INTRODUCING ROSIE” (B Street Records). The source is an audience recording of fair quality that contains intermittent CB Radio interference. This final night at Joe’s was one of the lengthier single show performances up to this point and the original taper deserves credit for capturing the entire show, which consisted of two hour-long sets separated by an intermission. “Growin’ Up” is missing the opening 30 seconds and “Rosalita-Shotgun” is missing about 20 seconds mid song, seemingly the result of a tape glitch.
There are critical detailing inaccuracies in the liner notes of the “INTRODUCING ROSIE” CD. Despite what the CD claims, this is not the live debut of “Rosalita” – the song was performed throughout 1973 and two live recordings from early 1973 are in circulation. The “INTRODUCING ROSIE” CD also incorrectly lists the audio as coming from the 05/01/74 show. Yet comments made by club owner Joe Spadafora prior to “Twist And Shout” offer compelling evidence this recording is from the 06/01/74 show. In addition to the audience recording that constitutes the “INTRODUCING ROSIE” CD, there are currently soundboard recordings in circulation of three (3) tracks from this 06/01/74 show. Details are as follows:
SOUNDBOARD #1 - “Let The Four Winds Blow” - can be found (complete) on either the CDR “THE INNER VIEW” or the CD “THE BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN COLLECTION, VOLUME 2”. It can also be found on the CD “PLAY THE TUBA AND RUN”, which in some cases has the complete performance but in other cases has an incomplete version with the final 4 minutes missing.
SOUNDBOARD #2 - “Zero And Blind Terry” - can be found (complete) on the 4CD set “THE GENUINE TRACKS 1972-1996”. This same soundboard of “Zero And Blind Terry” is also circulating via a 4-song cassette auctioned off by Backstreets Magazine a couple of years ago.
SOUNDBOARD #3 - “Twist And Shout” - can be found (complete) on either the CD “THE INNER VIEW” or the CD “THE BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN COLLECTION, VOLUME 2”
Notes: One show, double bill, held in the sold-out 1,600-seat Student Union Center Ballroom, with Springsteen opening for headliner BLACK OAK ARKANSAS. Springsteen opened but played about 80 minutes. However the vast majority of the fans in attendance had come to see Black Oak Arkansas - so it was a very raucous audience. THERE IS NO CIRCULATING AUDIO FROM THIS SHOW. Please note that the widely circulating soundboard audio attributed to this show (most famously found on the CD "YOU MEAN SO MUCH TO ME" (Great Dane) is actually from a small club gig in Nashville ten days later
There were continual problems with feedback and echo inside the K.S.U. Ballroom during this show, prompting a scathing review by K.S.U. rock critic Clyde Hadlock following the concert. Hadlock felt the neither band had adequately
prepared their sound systems to fit the auditorium's dynamics. According to Hadlock "if the echo had been any worse we could have heard the show twice".
Hadlock's review of Springsteen's performance is positive and Hadlock makes no secret of the fact he felt the wrong band was headlining, calling Black Oak Arkansas "a bunch of backward crackers - they are to music what Roller Derby is to TV". Springsteen, on the other hand, he calls "a great poet". Hadlock doesn't articulate Springsteen's setlist in his review. However he gets very detailed about Bruce's final song at this show, "Rosalita". Says Hadlock in his
review…"My biggest complaint (about Springsteen) is that he marred his big show-closing piece, "Rosalita", by whipping into Junior Walker's "Shotgun" and then taking 10 minutes to introduce the band." This detailed information
concerning "Rosalita" is just one of many pieces of evidence that proves that the long-circulating soundboard audio assigned to this show is, in fact, NOT from this show.
Notes: This show is a rescheduling from30-Nov-1973 at the VCU.
Springsteen headlining and local outfit GOOSE CREEK SYMPHONY opening.
The above-mentioned 8-song (90-minute) setlist is from a circulating audience recording.
Notes: ONE show, double bill, with Springsteen opening for headlining Texas blues guitar legend FREDDIE KING (and his band). King was booked for a 6-night residency, however Springsteen was a special guest only for the first two nights. Bruce played before King both nights but was allowed to give a headliner-length performance. The above-mentioned 10-song setlist represents Bruce's complete performance and is from an excellent quality soundboard that is most commonly found on the widely circulating CD "YOU MEAN SO MUCH TO ME" (Great Dane). Unfortunately the folks at Great Dane incorrectly attributed this audio to a 19/01/74 show at Kent State University - and this erroneous information has widely propagated ever since. Please refer to the 19/01/74 Kent State listing for specific details about that show, which took place in a much larger venue before a substantially larger crowd.
Bruce's booking at this small, 300-seat club came about after Mike Appel became aware of a CBS Sales Convention taking place in Nashville and, additionally, that the entire CBS contingent would be staying in a hotel near this club. Appel conducted a handbill/leaflet drop to each room in the hotel, inviting nearly 200 CBS sales and marketing people to attend one the shows. However, according to Appel, nobody from CBS turned up and the club was painfully empty. The audio evidence certainly backs up Appel's recollection. There doesn't sound like there are more than 100 people in the club for Bruce's show. It is speculated this soundboard was recorded because Appel wanted to have momento material from the show to give to the CBS people he (wrongly) anticipated would show up. This was a single show consisting of two sets. There was a short intermission after "Thundercrack". The opening song of the second set, "You Mean So Much To Me", is missing its opening minute or so. Similarly "Blinded" was the final song in the 2nd set and the opening minute of the first encore, "Let The Four Winds Blow", is missing. "Rosalita" (which contains the "Shotgun" segment, as well as a very brief snippet of "High Heeled Sneakers") was the final encore
