PRETTY FLAMINGO

Live 24 Nov 1975 version

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Hmm hmm hmm
You ???
Hmm hmm hmm
???
Hmm hmm hmm, oh yeah
Hmm hmm hmm
???
Hmm hmm whoa whoa
Hmm hmm whoa whoa
Hmm hmm whoa whoa
Whoa whoa whoa whoa

[Spoken:] There used to be this, uh, this─ I used to live on this street, called South Street. And it was sort of like a... this Main Street in town, and uh... I used to sit down on my porch, and uh, there used to be this one girl, used to work downtown, used to work in town. And she walked by my house every day, you know. And me and Steve, we would sit out there and we would try to get, try to get each other to go up and find out what her name is and stuff, you know. ???. We'd sit there and, you know, I'd say, "Steve, Steve, tomorrow, tomorrow I'm gonna go up to her. I'm gonna say... I'm gonna say, 'What's your name, girl?'." You know. So right (chuckles)... So, like the next day'd come, like I'd stare, I wouldn't nothing, we watch her walk by. Then it'd be his turn, it was his turn to go up and say it. And uh, he sit there the next day and then we used to try and get... There was this kid on the, on the block that was, had this crazy kid, you know. I used to hang out with him for a while like... He used to go in the pool hall, like around midnight on Saturday night late. And he'd walk up to the table where like the heaviest cats was playing, and there was money down on the game, and he always, you know, hate, hate us to stand around. He'd like take, take like one of the balls, you know, and he'd like throw it across the table. And he was like ??? skinny little guy, he was real, like he was smaller than me. But like, nobody used to mess with him, nobody used to mess around because everybody thought he was crazy, everybody thought he was nuts. So they'd let him slide. So we tried to get him to go up to this girl, said, "Why don't you go up to her. She think she's crazy, so go up and find out what her name is, you know, find out, get the story." But no. He would, even he won't go up so we, we sat there for about two years watching... And then, then I moved away. So that like was easy ???. But we, we had a name... Didn't we have a name, Steve? (Steven Van Zandt: "I don't think we should tell anybody.") Yeah. We used to call her, uh... Exactly it was...

All the guys on my block call her flamingo
'Cause her hair shines like the sun
And her eyes light up the skies
When she walks, she moves so fine like a flamingo
Crimson dress she wore so tight
She was out of reach, she was out of sight

And when she walks by, she brightens up my neighborhood
And I know all of the guys they would make her theirs if they could
If she just would

Well someday I'll make her my pretty flamingo
Steve!
All you guys are gonna envy me
'Cause paradise, that's where I'm gonna be

We've been walking together, talking together
So fine, I will make her my girl
I know, I know, I know

And when she walks, she brightens up my neighborhood
And all of the guys they would make her theirs if they could
If she just would

But someday I'll make her my pretty flamingo
Clarence!
All them boys, all the boys are gonna envy me
Because paradise, that's where I'm gonna be
So nice, so nice
Clarence, we've been talking together, I've been talking to her.
So fine, gonna make her my girl

Sha la la, sha la la la, pretty flamingo
Sha la la, la la la la, (pretty flamingo)
???
(Sha la la) Yeah yeah, (sha la la la), pretty flamingo
Sha la la, sha la la la, pretty flamingo
Sha la la, la la la la, pretty flamingo
Sha la la, la la la la, pretty flamingo
Sha la la, la la la la, pretty flamingo
Yeah, yeah yeah
Sha la la, la la la la, pretty flamingo

[Spoken:] I've been talking... Clarence, Clarence, I've been thinking uh... I've been thinking of hiring a detective to find her, you know. Like uh, like got someone I'm gonna hire. You think I should do that, think that'd be a good idea? Sherlock Holmes? It's like I need a detective, I ain't seen her in a few years, you see. I gotta have a car though. And should have a gun. This may be dangerous. And when I catch up to her... I don't know, I don't know. Steve, you know, you know, Stevie, you know, I should've told her, I should've told her I was in a band or something, you know, play the guitar.

Pretty flamingo pretty flamingo

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Info

PRETTY FLAMINGO is a 1966 song by Manfred Mann. See the original Manfred Mann version for more details.

Live 24 Nov 1975 version

The above lyrics are for the live 24 Nov 1975 performance of PRETTY FLAMINGO at Hammersmith Odeon in London, England, during the Born To Run Tour.

The 24 Nov 1975 Show

Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band toured Europe for the first in 1975, during the Born To Run Tour. They performed a series of four concerts in England (18 and 24 Nov 1975), Sweden (21 Nov 1975), and The Netherlands (23 Nov 1975). It would be another six years before they return to Europe.

Unlike on the first show when they were under a lot of pressure, Springsteen and the band were much more at ease when they returned to Hammersmith Odeon in London, England six days later. The 24 Nov 1975 show was 6-song longer than the first one and featured nine covers most of which were not previously played on this European mini-tour.

In December 2020 the complete 24 Nov 1975 show was officially released on Live.BruceSpringsteen.net (see the "Official Live Downloads" section below for more details). It was recorded live to multi-track by Dave Fromberg. 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.

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.

Other Official Releases

Other versions of PRETTY FLAMINGO were also officially released.

Live History: on-tour

PRETTY FLAMINGO is known to have been performed at least 22 times during the Born To Run Tour (73 know dates / 81 known shows, July to December 1975). Some of that period's setlists are incomplete or unknown, and therefore, the song may have been played on some more dates during the Born To Run Tour. The live 24 Nov 1975 version of PRETTY FLAMINGO was released on the London 11/24/1975 official live download in 2020. The live 31 Dec 1975 version of PRETTY FLAMINGO was released on the Tower Theater, Philadelphia 1975 official live download in 2015.

PRETTY FLAMINGO is known to have been performed at least 7 times during the so-called Chicken Scratch Tour (35 know dates, March to May 1976). Some of that period's setlists are incomplete or unknown, and therefore, the song may have been played on some more dates during the Chicken Scratch Tour.

PRETTY FLAMINGO is known to have been performed at least 3 times during the Darkness On The Edge Of Town Tour (111 dates, May 1978 to January 1979), and the in the tour's last two weeks. A few of that period's setlists are incomplete or unknown, and therefore, the song may have been played on some more dates during the Darkness On The Edge Of Town Tour, but that's unlikely.

PRETTY FLAMINGO was performed twice during The Rising Tour (120 dates, August 2002 to October 2003), both in August 2003.

PRETTY FLAMINGO was performed once during the Magic Tour (100 dates, October 2007 to August 2008), on 31 Jul 2008 in East Rutherford, NJ.

PRETTY FLAMINGO was performed once during the Wrecking Ball Tour (133 dates, March 2012 to September 2013), on 27 Oct 2012 in Pittsburgh, PA.

PRETTY FLAMINGO was performed once during the High Hopes Tour (34 dates, January to May 2014), on 24 Apr 2014 in Raleigh, NC. Audio recordings for most High Hopes Tour shows are officially available for purchase.

PRETTY FLAMINGO was performed once during The River Tour 2016 (75 dates, January to September 2016), on 30 Aug 2016 in East Rutherford, NJ. Audio recordings for all The River Tour 2016 shows are officially available for purchase.

Live History: off-tour

PRETTY FLAMINGO was performed off-tour on 25 Aug 1978 at Toad's Place in New Haven, CT, during a guest appearance with Beaver Brown.

Available Versions

List of available versions of PRETTY FLAMINGO on this website:

PRETTY FLAMINGO [Live 24 Nov 1975 version]
PRETTY FLAMINGO [Original Manfred Mann version]

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Page last updated: 05 Dec 2020