Live 31 Jan 1973 (early show) version
[Spoken intro:] This is a song, uh, about New York City. I wanna dedicate to uh, uh, buses!
Hey bus driver, keep the change, bless your children, give them names
Don't trust men who walk with canes
Drink this and you'll grow wings on your feet
Oh, Broadway Mary, Joan Fontaine, advertiser on a downtown train
Christmas crier bustin' cane, she's in love again
Where dock worker's dreams mix with panther schemes to someday own the rodeo
Tainted women in VistaVision perform for out-of-state kids at the late show, da!
Wizard imps! Sweat sock pimps! Interstellar mongrel nymphs
Rex said that lady left him limp
Oh, love's like that
Sure it is
And Queen of Diamonds, Ace of Spades, newly discovered lovers of the Everglades
Take out a full page ad in the trades to announce their arrival
Danny!
And Mary Lou, she found out how to cope, she rides to heaven on a gyroscope
The Daily News asked her for the dope
She said, "Man, the dope's that there's still hope"
Senorita, Spanish rose, wipes her eyes and blows her nose
Uptown in Harlem she throw a rose to some lucky young matador
Go ahead!
La la la la, la la la
The above lyrics are for the live 31 Jan 1973 (early show) performance of DOES THIS BUS STOP AT 82ND STREET? at Max's Kansas City in New York City, NY, during what is considered the Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J. Tour. Springsteen performed the song in a full-band arrangement with a guitar-and-saxophone-led introduction.
Bruce Springsteen opened for headliner Biff Rose in 1973 during a 6-night stand (from 31 January to 05 February, two shows each night) at Max's Kansas City in New York City, NY.
Soundboard recordings of both shows from the first night are in circulation among collectors. The recording from the early show consists of eight songs (two solo and six with the band) and is believed to be the complete show. The recording from the late show consists of only the first two songs of the show (the solo segment). The remaining setlist for the first night's late show (the band segment), as well as the setlists for the remaining ten shows from this six-night residency, are unknown. In the 17 Feb 1973 issue of Billboard magazine, Jim Melanson wrote a review on one of twelve shows Max's Kansas City mentioning five songs performed by Springsteen. The review could be for any of the twelve shows in the stand, but is more likely from one of the latter ones considering the late publication of the review.
The soundboard recordings from the 31 Jan 1973 shows were commercially released in Europe. Since 2005 some enterprising record labels in Europe (mostly in the UK) have been releasing Bruce Springsteen radio and TV broadcasts (and some soundboard recordings) from the seventies, eighties, and nineties. Though these releases are not authorized by Bruce Springsteen or his record company, they are lawful due to a legal loophole in Europe.
By prior arrangement with Columbia Records and Springsteen's then-manager Mike Appel, the D.I.R. Broadcasting Corp. (New York City, NY) recorded Bruce Springsteen's 31 Jan 1973 early and late shows at Max's Kansas City for use on its upcoming new weekly syndicated radio program called "King Biscuit Flower Hour". The D.I.R. Broadcasting engineers had been in Buffalo two days earlier recording the Mahavishnu Orchestra and the week before that in Dallas recording a Blood Sweat & Tears concert. The radio show used a two to four weeks delayed broadcast formula and made its debut on 18 Feb 1973. The debut episode featured mostly Blood Sweat & Tears who were major stars at this time, only one track by Mahavishnu Orchestra, and only one track by Bruce Springsteen (BISHOP DANCED). D.I.R. Broadcasting still retains in its archives a master tape of the entire 31 Jan 1973 early show and the solo segment from the late show. There are conflicting reports as to whether the company also has any of the band segment from the night's late show.
The company has repeatedly sought and been declined permission to commercially release its recording of the Springsteen show as part of its ongoing King Biscuit Flower Hour archive CD reissue series. The radio show ended in 2007, although new programming ceased in 1993 and previous shows were repeated from that point. During its prime time, the program was carried by more than 300 radio stations throughout the United States. In 2006, the King Biscuit Flower Hour tape archives were acquired by Wolfgang's Vault which began streaming concerts online, including Springsteen's original King Biscuit Flower Hour recording from 31 Jan 1973. Streaming of the Springsteen recording started in February 2008, and is considered to be a considerable improvement in sound quality over what has been circulating on bootlegs.
Thanks Jake (ol'catfishinthelake at BTX and Greasy Lake) for the lyrics help.
Some of the above info about the 31 Jan 1973 shows is taken from Brucebase.
List of available versions of DOES THIS BUS STOP AT 82ND STREET? on this website:
DOES THIS BUS STOP AT 82ND STREET? [Album version]
