Wednesday, August 21, 2013

Your Wednesday Moment of Hole E. Shit (An Occasional Series)

From sometime in 1973 or 1974, please behold in breathless wonder Bruce Springsteen and (the original) E-Street Band -- with, unless I am very much mistaken, Vini "Mad Dog" Lopez on drums and David Sancious on piano -- and an astounding live version of the widely bootlegged "Thundercrack."



Not too long after the above was taped, an engineer I knew who did some occasional work for Springsteen's then manager Mike Appell gave me a reel-to-reel of a whole bunch of unreleased Springsteen stuff, including "Thundercrack," and I practically wore the magnetic oxide off the thing over the next year or so.

In any case, when people -- and I'm one of them -- talk about seeing God when Springsteen played small clubs at the beginning of his career, this is the kind of thing they're talking about.

BTW, anybody recognize where this was shot? My first thought was Max's, but the more I look at it the less I think so.

[h/t Tony Jannelli]

20 comments:

buzzbabyjesus said...

Holy Shit that's good. I'm not a big fan of his albums, I've only heard a handful, but live, he kills.
I don't remember anything about "Thundercrack" except the band rocked and Bruce is a really good guitar player. The arrangement kicked my ass. Max is great, but "Mad Dog" is a much more powerful drummer.

Anonymous said...

Smiling still

Definitely Vini Lopez and dave sanscious in this band.

I saw them in 73 at the Villanova field house as the opener for Jackson Brown. This was what I remember. Two weeks later I caught them at the Main Point. A long and successful career at the top will attract critics. But he is one of the greatest we've ever seen out of rock and roll. To deny that is simply silly.

Question? Why did he fire Lopez who had a funkiness forever lost once he left.... pity.

Sal Nunziato said...

Jeebus! That made my morning.

MAD DOG!

steve simels said...

He fired Lopez because that asshole Jon Landau told him he needed a "rock" drummer.

Just one of many reasons I detest Jon Landau.

mister muleboy said...

Hm

I'll just never get it.

Although I quite like the drumming, and the wrenching leads

edward said...

No idea where it was shot, but how many times and in how many places in those days did he perform with a camera crew with that kind of access?

steve simels said...

I was wondering that myself.

And that's a really beautifully directed bit of footage....

steve simels said...

Food for thought: This song -- along with "Rosalita" (and pretty much the whole of the second album) is Bruce's version of Prog Rock.

Hell, if all Prog Rock was this good it might never have gone out of fashion.
:-)

1001Songs said...

On May 1, 1973 at the Ahmanson Theatre in LA, Bruce Springsteen and his E Street Band took the stage as the opening act for Dr Hook And The Medicine Show and headliners New Riders of The Purple Sage. The 40 minute set was shot by a film crew on behalf of CBS Records. Among the songs were "Spirit In The Night", "Wild Billy's Circus Story" from the forthcoming The Wild, The Innocent and the E Street Shuffle and fan favorite " Thundercrack".The footage stayed locked in CBS vaults for years before its release as part of the Wings for Wheels documentary in 2005.

By June the band would be opening for Chicago.

from my 1001Songs blog

Gene Oberto said...

Well, you can count me as one of those who has followed the man since he played at my high school dance.

It is Vinnie on drums, but I didn't notice David.

As to the venue, how about My Father's Place in Roslyn.
He played there a couple of times especially around 1973. Oh, to have a film from the Student Prince in Asbury....

steve simels said...

There's a piano stage right in the video. You don't actually see Sancious, though.

Brooklyn Girl said...

It's so weird to see them all as full-blown hippies ---

steve simels said...

Actually, at that point the long hair was less of a hippie thing and more of a blue collar signifier.

Anonymous said...

Somewhere in ..........Portland?

buzzbabyjesus said...

It was a rock thing. You were in a band you had long hair.
Bikers ain't hippies either.

Anonymous said...

This was during the era when David Sancious was in and out of the band before he returned from Richmond, VA. He was not out in LA for this show.

Allan Rosenberg

Anonymous said...

Max is good, Mad Dog and Ernie "Boom" were much better!

ROTP(lumber)

Brooklyn Girl said...

Yeah, true, by 1973 hippies themselves were passé, although the look they spawned wasn't.

Bill said...

Complete awesomeness!!!

Anonymous said...

By the way, I remember reading your reviews of the first albums in Stereo Review. You, along with Ed Sciaky at WMMR are responsible for starting my lifelong Bruce obsession. Bruce and Patti Smith I owe to you. Thanks.

Vince (formerly from Philly)

ps: also Procol Harum