ALWAYS A FRIEND^©

Live 14 Apr 2008 version

Page last updated: 08 Aug 2008

Intro

Music and lyrics by Alejandro Escovedo and Chuck Prophet, ALWAYS A FRIEND is from Escovedo's 2008 album Real Animal. Check out Alejandro Escovedo's original version for more details.

Performance with Bruce Springsteen

In April 2008, it was announced that Alejandro Escovedo will be managed by Jon Landau (Bruce Springsteen's longtime manager) and Barbara Carr. During the 14 Apr 2008 Magic Tour show at Toyota Center, Houston, TX, Springsteen pays homage to the songwriter, Alejandro Escovedo, who "has been making great music for a long, long time". Escovedo takes the stage and performs the lead single from his forthcoming album Real Animal as a duet with Springsteen. The above lyrics are for that 14 Apr 2008 live performance.

Escovedo tells Backstreets Magazine, "We were driving towards Houston,when I got a text message from [manager] Jan that said Bruce wants to do 'Always a Friend.' 'Are you in? Can you make soundcheck in 45 minutes?' We were two hours out!" Despite missing out on soundcheck, Alejandro and Bruce ran through the song twice acoustically before he called the entire E Street Band into the dressing room. "There's Soozie, and Little Steven, and Max, and Garry... I mean, they're giants," Escovedo continued, "Just giants. And so we ran through it once acoustically in the dressing room. And then I went out to see my first Bruce Springsteen show. I've seen a lot of music in my life: you know punk rock, The Stooges... everything. But this is one of the most powerful things, if not the most powerful thing I've ever seen."

About the experience, he comments that "Those four minutes on stage with Bruce were more important than the 33 years I've been playing music. It just changed my life. It was like being blessed by the Dali Lama. Suddenly all those years of working really hard and struggling, someone said, 'You're alright. You're good at what you do. You deserve to be up here.'"

Bruce Springsteen and Alejandro Escovedo performing
ALWAYS A FRIEND on 14 Apr 2008 at Toyota Center, Houston, TX.

Official Release

On 15 Jul 2008, Columbia Records released Magic Tour Highlights, a Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band download-only digital EP consisting of four live audio tracks and their accompanying videos. The performances were recorded in Mar-Apr 2008 during the Magic Tour, and feature guest musicians, as well as Danny Federici's last performance with the group. Bob Clearmountain mixed and Bob Ludwig mastered the songs. Frequent Springsteen collaborator and Grammy and Emmy Award winner Thom Zimny edited the videos.

• ALWAYS A FRIEND, performed with Alejandro Escovedo on 14 Apr 2008 at Toyota Center, Houston, TX
• THE GHOST OF TOM JOAD, performed with Tom Morello on 07 Apr 2008 at Honda Center, Anaheim, CA
• TURN! TURN! TURN!, performed with Roger McGuinn on 23 Apr 2008 at Amway Arena, Orlando, FL
• 4TH OF JULY, ASBURY PARK (SANDY), Danny Federici's final performance with the E Street Band, 20 Mar 2008 at Conseco Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, IN

The EP is not really the Magic Tour's "highlights". It's actually more of a terrific sampling of some of the tour's best guest spots, and one truly moving moment among old friends.

The EP is available for download from all digital downloads stores, including the iTunes Store and Amazon.com. The net proceeds from the sales of Magic Tour Highlights will support The Danny Federici Melanoma Fund. These include the artists', the songwriters', and the music publishers' royalties, in addition to all Columbia Records' net profits. The iTunes Store is donating their first year's net profits as well.

The Danny Federici Melanoma Fund was started shortly after Frederici's death, and is dedicated to the research and development treatments for melanoma through funding for clinical trials at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. The fund also aims to help raise awareness for the disease.

Available Versions

List of available versions of ALWAYS A FRIEND on this website:

• Live 14 Apr 2008 version
• Alejandro Escovedo's original version

Credits

Thanks John Eick for the help.