PROVE IT ALL NIGHT

Live 01 Jul 1978 version

I've been working real hard to get my hands clean
We'll drive that dusty road from Monroe to Angeline
To buy you a gold ring and a pretty dress of blue
Baby just one kiss will get these things for you
A kiss to seal our fate tonight, a kiss to

Prove it all night, prove it all night
There's nothing else that we can do
So prove it all night, prove it all night
And girl I'll prove it all night for you

Everybody's got a hunger, hunger they can't resist
There's so much that you want, you deserve much more than this
If dreams came true, ah wouldn't that be nice
But this ain't no dream we're living through tonight
You want it, you take it, you pay the price to

Prove it all night, prove it all night
Prove it all night, girl, and call the bluff
Well prove it all night, prove it all night
And girl I prove it all night for your love

Go!
Aha, aha
Aha

Baby tie your hair back in a long white bow
Meet me in the fields out behind the dynamo
You hear their voices telling you not to go
They made their choices and they'll never know
What it means to steal, to cheat, to lie, what it's like to live and die to

Prove it all night, prove it all night
There's nothing else that we can do
So prove it all night, prove it all night
Girl I'll prove it all night for you
I'll prove it all night, I'll prove it all night
I'll prove it all night, I'll prove it all night
I'll prove it all night, I'll prove it all night
I'll prove it all night, I'll prove it all night

Hoo hoo, hoo hoo
Hoo hoo, hoo hoo
Hoo hoo, hoo hoo
Hoo hoo, hoo hoo
All night long
Whoa whoa all night
I'll prove it all night (all night)
I'll prove it all night (all night)
I'll prove it all night (all night)
I'll prove it all (all night)

Info

The above lyrics are for the live 01 Jul 1978 performance of PROVE IT ALL NIGHT at Community Auditorium in Berkeley, CA, during the Darkness On The Edge Of Town Tour. The song features an extensive piano/guitar intro. This live 01 Jul 1978 performance of PROVE IT ALL NIGHT was distributed to radio station for promotional use.

Promotional poster for the 29 Jun 1978 show at San Jose Center For The Performing Arts, San Jose, CA and the 30 Jun and 01 Jul 1978 shows at Berkeley Community Theatre, Berkeley, CA

Ticket stub for the 01 Jul 1978 show at Berkeley Community Theatre, Berkeley, CA

Pass for the 01 Jul 1978 show at Berkeley Community Theatre, Berkeley, CA

PROVE IT ALL NIGHT and PARADISE BY THE "C" from the 01 Jul 1978 show in Berkeley, CA, were used as promo cuts for radio play. They debuted on air on 04 Jul 1978 on Los Angeles' KMET-FM when Bruce Springsteen, Jon Landau, and Dave Marsh turned up together at the station's studios at 6:30 p.m. for a lengthy live on-air Springsteen program hosted by DJ Mary Turner.

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band were staying at the Sunset Marquis in West Hollywood, CA. The previous night, 03 Jul 1978, Springsteen was up all night mixing tapes recorded at his 01 Jul 1978 concert in Berkeley, CA. Dave Marsh wrote in Rolling Stone magazine issue #272 (24 Aug 1978): "At noon [on 04 Jul 1978], producer/manager Jon Landau, Bruce and I disappear into Springsteen's room to play the Berkeley concert mixes. There are two mixes of an eight-minute rendition of 'Prove It All Night' that shatters the LP version, and one mix of an unnamed, shorter instrumental, often called 'Paradise by the Sea,' which opens the second half of his concerts. Even on a small cassette player, it's clear that something considerable is going on."

Columbia Records was planning to release the live 01 Jul 1978 version of PROVE IT ALL NIGHT as a promo-only 12-inch single, with the album version of the song on the B-side. The promo single, to which catalogue number AS480 was designated, was never released. The project, which was to capture the excitement of a Springsteen concert and was to be sent to radio stations to garner radio play similar to the SANTA CLAUS IS COMIN' TO TOWN [Live 12 Dec 1975 version] promo, was reportedly cancelled on Springsteen's orders at the last minute.

At least one one-sided 12-inch acetate is known to have been pressed. Labels were designed and 5x5" title stickers were printed. The stickers were supposed to be applied to plain white cardboard LP sleeves housing the discs. The below scans are for a surviving unused/unpeeled sticker and two pages of paperwork. The first sheet is the pressing plant's working sheet detailing everything about the single's production. The second sheet is Columbia Records' mock-up of what the promo labels were going to look like, showing the live version (clocking at 7:45) on one side and the album version on the other side.

Title sticker

Pressing plant's working sheet

Mock-up promo labels

In 1980, D.I.R. Broadcasting produced a radio special consisting of two 3-hour parts titled "Rock On The Road (A Million Miles of Rock 'N' Roll) Part 1: Great English Groups" and "Rock On The Road (A Million Miles of Rock 'N' Roll) Part 2: Great American Bands". Hosted by Scott Muni, the radio special featured unreleased live performances and interviews with a number of artists, including Bruce Springsteen. Each part was distributed to radio stations on a for-radio-play-only five-record set. Springsteen appears on part 2, which includes his live 31 Jan 1973 version of BISHOP DANCED and live 01 Jul 1978 version of PROVE IT ALL NIGHT and an excerpt from his 09 Jul 1978 interview with WNEW-FM's Dave Herman. In a Western Union mailgram printout sent along with the radio show (see scan below), D.I.R. Broadcasting made a request to radio stations not to run side 3 of the 5-LP set at any time; side 3 consists of the aforementioned two Springsteen songs and interview. This explains why these two tracks can be seen crossed out in the radio show's track list and cue sheet (see scans below). It seems that the two Springsteen recordings were banned from being played on air, probably at the request of Springsteen and the Jon Landau management in order to prevent bootlegging. Note that Springsteen and Columbia Records were fighting in court against some major bootleggers around that time. Part 2 of the radio special was assigned for broadcast on 07, 08, or 09 Nov 1980, depending on the choice of the radio stations. Interestingly, the mailgram was dated 08 Nov 1980.

Rock On The Road (A Million Miles of Rock 'N' Roll) Part 2: Great American Bands (promo sheet)

Rock On The Road (A Million Miles of Rock 'N' Roll) Part 2: Great American Bands (track list)

Rock On The Road (A Million Miles of Rock 'N' Roll) Part 2: Great American Bands (cue sheet, page 1 of 2)

Rock On The Road (A Million Miles of Rock 'N' Roll) Part 2: Great American Bands (side 3 label)

Rock On The Road (A Million Miles of Rock 'N' Roll) Part 2: Great American Bands (letter)

The 01 Jul 1978 Show

During the Darkness On The Edge Of Town Tour, Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band performed two consecutive sold-out shows at Berkeley Community Theatre in Berkeley, CA, on 30 Jun and 01 Jul 1978. The shows were promoted by Bill Graham. In its 15 Jul 1978 issue, Billboard reported that a total of 6,958 tickets were sold for the two nights, grossing $47,977 (ticket prices ranged between $5.50 and $7.50).

An incomplete soundboard recording of the 01 Jul 1978 show has long circulated among collectors. It consists of 14 out of the show's 21 songs ― all but the last song from the first set, the opening song of the second set, and the complete encore.

Promotional poster for the 29 Jun 1978 show at San Jose Center For The Performing Arts, San Jose, CA and the 30 Jun and 01 Jul 1978 shows at Berkeley Community Theatre, Berkeley, CA

Ticket stub for the 01 Jul 1978 show at Berkeley Community Theatre, Berkeley, CA

Pass for the 01 Jul 1978 show at Berkeley Community Theatre, Berkeley, CA

In Jun 2021 the complete 01 Jul 1978 concert was officially released on Live.BruceSpringsteen.net (see the "Official Live Downloads" section below for more details). The show was recorded live with the Record Plant Remote Truck by Jimmy Iovine. The two-inch, 24-track analog master reels were transferred by Jamie Howarth at Plangent Processes via Sonicraft in Freehold, NJ. The audio was mixed by Jon Altschiller, with additional engineering by Danielle Warman. It was mastered to DSD and PCM by Adam Ayan at Gateway Mastering in Portland, ME.

Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band -- Berkeley, July 1, 1978

One of the reel-to-reel tapes from which the official release was transferred (taken from backstreets.com)

Track sheet for the 24-track analog master reels (taken from backstreets.com)

Official Live Downloads

Prior to the High Hopes Tour, Bruce Springsteen's management announced a new service allowing fans to download concert recordings approximately 48 hours after each show. The initial plan required fans to purchase a special USB wristband, which could then be used to download a single High Hopes Tour show of the purchaser's choice and also functions as a regular reusable USB flash drive. The wristband, which could be purchased online or at the concert venue, was priced at $40. Following some negative response from fans over the high cost for the wristband, Springsteen's management subsequently announced a separate cheaper option for purchasing shows directly, without the need for the wristband. The shows were available for purchase and download via Live Nation, Bruce Springsteen's concert promoter, priced at $9.99 for MP3 and $14.99 for FLAC. Audio recordings for 31 of the 34 High Hopes Tour dates (all except 16 Feb 2014, 06 Apr 2014, and 03 May 2014) were released as such and they were available until 30 Jun 2014.

On 17 Nov 2014, Live.BruceSpringsteen.net was launched. It's a new addition to the official website, serving as an online store offering high-quality live concert recordings as well as high-resolution digital releases of Springsteen's album catalog. The download store is powered by Nugs.net in cooperation with Columbia Records. Audio recordings for 30 of the 34 High Hopes Tour dates (all except 16 Feb 2014, 06 Apr 2014, 03 May 2014, and 18 May 2014) were re-released on the new download store in multiple formats, including MP3, lossless CD-quality FLAC or ALAC, and 24-bit HD FLAC or ALAC or MQA, as well as audio CD-R with custom artwork. Nugs.net adopted the MQA (Master Quality Authenticated) format on 24 May 2017. From then on, all Bruce Springsteen live concert recordings, including the previously released ones, became also available in MQA.

Audio recordings for all 75 The River Tour 2016 dates were also released on Live.BruceSpringsteen.net in multiple formats, including MP3, lossless CD-quality FLAC or ALAC, and 24-bit HD FLAC or ALAC or MQA, as well as audio CD-R with custom artwork. Each show was generally released within a month after it took place.

Audio recordings for all 14 Summer '17 Tour dates were also released on Live.BruceSpringsteen.net in multiple formats, including MP3, lossless CD-quality FLAC or ALAC, and 24-bit HD FLAC or ALAC or MQA, as well as audio CD-R with custom artwork. Each show was generally released within a month after it took place.

Archival releases were periodically released on the same site, as part of the Bruce Springsteen Archive Series. These shows were also made available in multiple formats, including MP3, lossless FLAC or ALAC, 24-bit FLAC or ALAC or MQA, DSD, and audio CD-R. So far 90 shows (or sets of shows) were released from the ongoing series.

Credits

Thanks Atsushi Sakamoto for some of the Rock On The Road radio show scans.

Available Versions

List of available versions of PROVE IT ALL NIGHT on this website:

Page last updated: 10 Sep 2021