Album version
Crazy Janey and her mission man were back in the alley trading hands
'Long came Wild Billy with his friend G-Man all duded up for Saturday night
Well, Billy slammed on his coaster brakes and said, "Anybody wanna go on up to Greasy Lake?
It's about a mile down on the dark side of route eighty-eight, I got a bottle of rose so let's try it
We'll pick up Hazy Davy and Killer Joe and I'll take you all out to where the gypsy angels go
They're built like light
Ooh, and they dance like spirits in the night" (all night)
In the night (all night)
Oh, you don't know what they can do to you
Spirits in the night (all night)
Oh, in the night (all night)
Stand right up now and let it shoot through you
Well now Wild young Billy was a crazy cat and he shook some dust out of his coonskin cap
He said, "Trust some of this, it'll show you where you're at, or at least it'll help you really feel it"
Well, by the time we made it up to Greasy Lake I had my head out the window and Janey's fingers were in the cake
I think I really dug her 'cause I was too loose to fake
I said, "I'm hurt," she said, "Honey, let me heal it"
And we danced all night to a soul fairy band
And she kissed me just right like only a lonely angel can
She felt so nice, just as soft as a spirit in the night (all night)
In the night (all night)
Oh, Janey don't know what she do to you
Like a spirit in the night (all night)
All night (all night)
Stand right up and I let her shoot through me
(Ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh)
(Ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh)
(Ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh)
(Ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh)
Now the night was bright and the stars threw light on Billy and Davy
Dancing in the moonlight
They were down near the water in a stone mud fight
Killer Joe gone passed out on the lawn
Well now Hazy Davy got really hurt, he ran into the lake in just his socks and a shirt
Me and Crazy Janey was making love in the dirt, singing our birthday songs
Janey said it was time to go
So we closed our eyes and said goodbye to gypsy angel row, felt so right
Together we moved like spirits in the night (all night)
In the night (all night)
Oh, you don't know what they can do to you
Them spirits in the night (all night)
All night (all night)
Oh, stand right up and let it shoot through you
Like a spirit in the night (all night)
All night (all night)
All night (all night)
All night (all night)
All night (all night)
All night (all night)
All night, ooh, ooh, man, all night
The night
Be-da-ba the night
In the night
SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT is a song written by Bruce Springsteen and released on his 1973 album Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J.. The above lyrics are for Bruce Springsteen's album version of SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT as released in 1973.
The album version of SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT was included on The Essential Bruce Springsteen (2003 edition) compilation album and the Best Of Bruce Springsteen (digital edition) compilation album.
Bruce Springsteen's SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT was most notably covered and released by Manfred Mann's Earth Band. See Manfred Mann's Earth Band's cover version for more details.
Along with BLINDED BY THE LIGHT, SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT was composed in August 1972 and was completed by early September. These are the only two tracks on Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J. that feature Clarence Clemons, and they would both become the album's (unsuccessful) singles. See the "Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J." section below for more details.
At first, Mike Appel was against the band concept on the album; he envisioned a folk album. He later recalled, "I was too caught up in his lyrics. When Bruce came and played me 'Spirit In The Night' on guitar, I liked the song, but I didn't extend the tune into the band backing. Bruce said, 'It's just because you listened to it on guitar. You can't tell exactly how it will sound.'"
Dave Marsh wrote in his Springsteen biography Born To Run: The Bruce Springsteen Story that SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT took longer to write than any other song on the album. He adds, "'Spirit In the Night' is the heart of Greetings from Asbury Park, New Jersey, because it is the album's most fully realized song."
SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT was recorded late during the Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J. album recording sessions, sometime in August or early September 1972 at 914 Sound Studios in Blauvelt, NY. Bruce Springsteen plays piano and electric bass and sings vocals on this track, and is backed up by Clarence Clemons on saxophone and backing vocals and Vini Lopez on drums and backing vocals. All three provide clapping sound. The track, as well as the whole album, was produced by Mike Appel and Jimmy Cretecos. According to Sony's logs of Bruce Springsteen's studio sessions, SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT was cut on 11 Sep 1972 and on 26 Oct 1972 at 914 Sound Studios. The circulating studio version is probably from one of those two sessions.
Springsteen was asked about the background of SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT in a 1974 interview on a Richmond, VA radio station. He mentioned that in late 1971 and early 1972, one of the albums he was listening to a lot was The Band's then-new Cahoots album. That was their fourth album, released in September 1971. He mentioned that one of the Robbie Robertson songs on that album had a character called "Little John" that in a roundabout way became the "Hazy Davy" character in SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT. He also mentioned that he sort of borrowed one of Robertson's verses and scrambled it up a bit and used it in SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT.
During the interview, Springsteen couldn't recall the song title off the top of his head, but he must have been referring to the track THE MOON STRUCK ONE. That's one of the Robertson penned songs on the album, and it contains the following lyrics:
"Little John was stung by a snake over by the lake
And it looked like he's really, really hurt, he was lyin' in the dirt"
While Springsteen's SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT contains the following lyrics:
"Well now Hazy Davy got really hurt, he ran into the lake in just his socks and a shirt
Me and Crazy Janey was makin' love in the dirt"
In a November 2000 interview with Castiles.net's Torsten Mörke, David Hazlett claimed that he was the "Hazy Davy" referenced in the lyrics of SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT. He also mentioned that Bruce always called him "Hazy".
Hazlett was the drummer in Mercy Flight, a Richmond, VA based college rock band that existed between 1969 and 1973. The band opened for Bruce Springsteen's Steel Mill several times from late 1969 until August 1970, when the band's singer Robbin Thompson quit to join Steel Mill as a second lead singer and songwriter. In September 1970, Springsteen asked David Hazlett to substitute for Vini Lopez in Steel Mill for the upcoming 11 September show at Clearwater Swim Club in Atlantic Highlands, NJ. At the time, Lopez was stuck in Richmond for about a month sorting out some legal difficulties. Hazlett packed up and left for the Jersey shore, and he started rehearsing with Steel Mill on 06 September at Carl "Tinker" West's Challenger Eastern Surfboards factory in Wanamassa, NJ.
"Wild Billy" could very well be Bill, a law student who was none other than the ex of Diane Lozito, Bruce Springsteen's girlfriend between summer 1971 and early 1975. Springsteen wrote the lines "She kissed me just right / Like only a lonely angel can" about a romantic encounter with her. See ROSALITA (COME OUT TONIGHT) for more about Diane Lozito. "Wild Billy" would reappear in WILD BILLY'S CIRCUS STORY, in the title only, but nowhere in the song's lyrics.
Although Greasy Lake, where the action takes place, is a mythical place, drummer Vini Lopez has stated that it is actually a composite of two locations that band members used to visit. One was Lake Carasaljo, near the intersection of U.S. Route 9 and New Jersey Route 88 in Lakewood, New Jersey. The other was a swampy lake near Garden State Parkway exit 88.
Some have claimed that Greasy Lake is a lake near Howell, NJ. It gets its name from the idea that homeless people living around the lake used it for bathing, washing dishes, etc. The homeless people were known as "Gypsy Angels" or the "Spirits In The Night."
SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT inspired the name for Greasy Lake, a major fan-based Bruce Springsteen tribute website and discussion forum. The website is run from Denmark and has been online since 1998.
After signing the contract with CBS Records, Laurel Canyon Productions was to receive an immediate cash advance from CBS and this money was to be used to pay for the studio time to record Springsteen' debut album. A delay by CBS in delivering the advance money to Laurel Canyon Productions resulted in delaying the sessions till early July 1972. During June Springsteen had finalized the selection of the musicians that would be used for the initial sessions. The musicians chosen, with an ok from Appel and Cretecos, constituted the entire line-up of the former Bruce Springsteen Band: David Sancious on keyboards, Garry Tallent on bass, Vini Lopez on drums, and Steve Van Zandt on quitar. Van Zandt ended up partaking in almost none of the 914 Sound Studios band sessions because of a prior commitment to tour as a member of The Dovells backing group.
The recording sessions for Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J. spanned a period of five months, from early June to late October 1972 (the majority were in June), and they all took place at 914 Sound Studios in Blauvelt, NY. The core "band" sessions were completed in only about two weeks. No unreleased band recordings from the debut album sessions have surfaced. Following these band sessions the various band members scattered. It should be noted that Springsteen had not decided to form a touring band at this stage.
Springsteen spent the next few weeks recording solo material. It was during this period that differences of opinion surfaced about what material was going to dominate the eventually released album. There were two sides in this disagreement: Mike Appel and John Hammond wanted a solo-dominated LP while Jim Cretecos was in favor of a band-dominated one. Springsteen was undecided at first, but soon sided with Cretecos. Appel later said that he was so impressed by Bruce's lyrics and told him, "Who needs a band when you can write lyrics like that?" In early August a compromise was reached and the album track selection was decided upon, featuring five band recordings (DOES THIS BUS STOP AT 82ND STREET?, GROWIN' UP, IT'S HARD TO BE A SAINT IN THE CITY, FOR YOU, and LOST IN THE FLOOD) and five solo recordings (THE ANGEL, MARY QUEEN OF ARKANSAS, JAZZ MUSICIAN, ARABIAN NIGHTS, and VISITATION AT FORT HORN). On 10 Aug 1972 Laurel Canyon transferred the sound recording copyrights to these ten songs to CBS. It seemed the album was finalized, but when then CBS president Clive Davis listened to the tracks he commented that not only did he prefer the band tracks, but he also felt the album lacked a potential hit single. In essence Davis was siding with Springsteen's vision of the album as being more rock-orientated.
In August 1972 Springsteen composed two more commercial-sounding songs, BLINDED BY THE LIGHT and SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT. Consequently a further "band" session was required. However both Sancious and Tallent, then-employed at Alpha Sound Studios in Richmond, NJ, were unable to return to New York to record. Bruce wished to incorporate saxophone in both new songs and contacted Clarence Clemons, a then-member of Norman Seldin & The Joyful Noyze. So the studio session line-up for these two songs was Clemons, Lopez, and Springsteen who played all other instruments, except for the piano on BLINDED BY THE LIGHT which was handled by Harold Wheeler. BLINDED BY THE LIGHT and SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT were completed by early September. These two band recordings bumped three solo recordings: JAZZ MUSICIAN, ARABIAN NIGHTS, and VISITATION AT FORT HORN. Therefore the final album was reduced from 10 tracks to 9, encompassing 7 band tracks and 2 solo tracks. Columbia Records' original intention was to release the album in late November 1972, but decided the album might get overlooked among the massive amount of pre-Christmas releases so the LP was held back for until early January.
Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J. was released on Columbia Records on 05 Jan 1973. It was produced by Mike Appel and Jim Cretecos. The album received mixed but mostly positive reviews and some critics found it under-produced, as Appel and Cretecos tried to spend as little as possible from Columbia's $65,000 advance and recording budget. The album sold 25,000 copies only in its first year of release and did not chart until the summer of 1975 when the hype over the BORN TO RUN single attracted buyers to Springsteen's earlier albums.
The album features 9 new Springsteen compositions and clocks at 37:08.
SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT was the second single released from the Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J. album but it failed to appear on the music charts. The single was issued in May 1973 in the United States only, with FOR YOU on the B-side. This is one of the rarest Springsteen records, mainly due to its virtually non-existent original sales, but the promo issue is more common than its commercial counterpart. The song was also included a very rare US-only promo EP in 1974.
The album version of SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT was released in 1976 on "Born To Run / Spirit In The Night", a double-A single unique to North America, as part of Columbia's "Hall Of Fame" series in the United States and Canada and as part of Columbia's "Hall Of Fame / Disques D'Or" series in Canada. The single was reissued four more times in the United States: in 1984 as part of Columbia's "Hall Of Fame" series, in the late eighties as part of Columbia's "Collectables" series, in 1989 as part of Columbia's "Hall Of Fame" series, and in the mid-nighties on Columbia. SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT was also released as the B-side to BLINDED BY THE LIGHT in Spain in 1977.
The Essential Bruce Springsteen is a compilation album released as part of Sony BMG'S (previously Sony Music Entertainment) series of "Essential" sets. According to Springsteen's liner notes comments, the collection was intended as an introduction to his music for new fans who attended shows on The Rising Tour.
The collection is fundamentally a 2-disc set (clocking at 153:37) compiling songs from all of Springsteen's studio albums to date plus his Live In New York City release. A 3-disc limited edition (clocking at 201:04) was also released. It includes a bonus third disc comprising of a selection of rarities and previously unreleased recordings.
The Essential Bruce Springsteen was released on 11 Nov 2003 on Columbia Records. It debuted and peaked at #14 on the U.S. Billboard 200 album chart where it spent 13 weeks. It also reached #28 on the UK Albums Chart. The album was awarded certified gold and platinum records by the RIAA on 16 Dec 2003.
Disc 1:
Disc 2:
Disc 3:
The Essential Bruce Springsteen was reissued on 16 Oct 2015, this time as a 2-disc set (clocking at 156:25) with an updated track list, compiling songs from all of Springsteen's studio albums to date plus his Greatest Hits (1995 edition) collection. This 2015 reissue features remastered tracks not found in that form on other Springsteen releases.
Disc 1:
Disc 2:
Best Of Bruce Springsteen is a compilation album released on Columbia Records on 19 Apr 2024. The album is collection of original songs spanning Springsteen's entire career, from 1973 to 2020. The release was officially announced on 01 Mar 2024.
Two variants of the album were released: the 18-track physical releases and an expanded 31-track download-only version. The physical releases include a single-disc CD and as a two-disc LP set. Four editions of the vinyl release were issued: a regular edition on black vinyl, an Atlantic Blue vinyl exclusive to Europe, a Highway Yellow vinyl exclusive to independent retailers, and a Jersey Devil Red vinyl exclusive to Amazon Music.
The album version of SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT can be found on some Bruce Springsteen promo-only samplers.
Other versions of SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT were also officially released.
SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT is known to have been performed at least 15 times during what is considered the Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J. Tour (October 1972 to September 1973). Many of that period's setlists are incomplete or unknown, and therefore, the song must have been played on some more dates during the Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J. Tour. Bruce Springsteen opened for headliner Biff Rose in 1973 during a 6-night stand (from 31 January and 05 February, two shows each night) at Max's Kansas City in New York City, NY. 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, including SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT. 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. On this tour, the song was played in a full-band album-style arrangement, often featuring Springsteen on piano. The live 01 May 1973 version of SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT was released on the Wings For Wheels: The Making Of Born To Run home video in 2005.
SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT is known to have been performed at least 62 times during what is considered The Wild, The Innocent, & The E Street Shuffle Tour (September 1973 to March 1975). Some of that period's setlists are incomplete or unknown, and therefore, the song must have been played on some more dates during The Wild, The Innocent, & The E Street Shuffle Tour. On this tour, the song was played in a full-band album-style arrangement, and at least a few of these performances featured Springsteen on the piano. Most or all performances on the 1973 leg of the tour, plus a few in the early part of 1974, featured a "spooky" introduction including vocalizations by Springsteen (see the live 06 Jan 1974 version). Some performances from later in the tour featured a jazzy piano introduction (see the live 05 Feb 1975 version). Most versions from the tour featured at least a short saxophone introduction which will remain in most live performances of SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT hereafter.
SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT is known to have been performed at least 65 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 must have been played on some more dates during the Born To Run Tour; it may have been a stable number during the tour. On this tour, the song was played in its traditional full-band arrangement. A few of the tour's performances of SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT include the opening lines from the traditional song STAGGER LEE in the introduction (see the live 18 Nov 1975 version). The live 18 Nov 1975 version of SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT was released on the Hammersmith Odeon, London '75 album and home video in 2005. The live 24 Nov 1975 version of SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT was released on the London 11/24/1975 official live download in 2020. The live 31 Dec 1975 version of SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT was released on the Tower Theater, Philadelphia 1975 official live download in 2015.
SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT is known to have been performed at least 21 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 must have been played on some more dates during the Chicken Scratch Tour; it may have been a stable number during the tour. On this tour, the song was played in its traditional full-band arrangement. A few of the tour's performances of SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT include the opening lines from the traditional song STAGGER LEE in the introduction (see the live 13 May 1976 version).
SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT is known to have been performed at least 58 times during what is known as The Lawsuit Tour (62 know dates, August 1976 to March 1977). Some of that period's setlists are incomplete or unknown, and therefore, the song must have been played on some more dates during the Lawsuit Tour; it must have been a stable number during the tour. On this tour, the song was played in its traditional full-band arrangement. The live 07 Feb 1977 version of SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT was released on the Palace Theatre, Albany 1977 official live download in 2017. The live 08 Feb 1977 version of SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT was released on the Auditorium Theatre, Rochester, NY 1977 official live download in 2017.
In preparation for the Darkness On The Edge Of Town Tour, SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT is known to have been practiced on 19 May 1978 at Paramount Theatre in Asbury Park, NJ, during the only known/confirmed private rehearsal prior to the tour's start.
SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT is known to have been performed at least 107 times during the Darkness On The Edge Of Town Tour (111 dates, May 1978 to January 1979). A few of that period's setlists are incomplete or unknown, and therefore, the song must have been played on some more dates during the Darkness On The Edge Of Town Tour; it may have been a stable number during the tour. On this tour, the song was played in its traditional full-band arrangement. The live 01 Jul 1978 version of SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT was released on the Berkeley, July 1, 1978 official live download in 2021. The live 07 Jul 1978 version of SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT was released on the Live/1975-85 box set in 1986. The live 09 Aug 1978 version of SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT was released on The Agora, Cleveland 1978 official live download in 2014. The live 19 Sep 1978 version of SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT was released on the September 19, 1978 official live download in 2019. The live 20 Sep 1978 version of SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT was released on the Capitol Theatre, Passaic, NJ September 20, 1978 official live download in 2017. The live 30 Sep 1978 version of SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT was released on the September 30, 1978 official live download in 2020. The live 08 Dec 1978 version of SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT was released on The Promise: The Darkness On The Edge Of Town Story box set in 2010. The live 15 Dec 1978 version of SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT was released on the Winterland 12/15/78 official live download in 2019. The live 16 Dec 1978 version of SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT was released on the Winterland 12/16/78 official live download in 2019.
SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT is known to have been performed at least 3 times during The River Tour (138 dates, October 1980 to September 1981), all in December 1980. 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 River Tour, but that's very unlikely. On this tour, the song was played in its traditional full-band arrangement. The live 31 Dec 1980 version of SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT was released on the Nassau Coliseum, New York 1980 official live download in 2015.
SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT was performed 14 times during the Born In The U.S.A. Tour (156 dates, June 1984 to October 1985), all in August and September 1984. On this tour, the song was played in its traditional full-band arrangement. The live 06 Aug 1984 version of SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT was released on the Brendan Byrne Arena August 6, 1984 official live download in 2020. The live 20 Aug 1984 version of SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT was released on the Brendan Byrne Arena, NJ August 20, 1984 official live download in 2015.
SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT was performed 10 times during World Tour 1992-1993 (104 dates, June 1992 to June 1993), all during the 1992 North American leg. Nine of these performances featured Springsteen on acoustic guitar and vocals accompanied only by the backup singers on harmony vocals (see the live 06 Nov 1992 version), and one performance featured Springsteen on vocals accompanied only by Roya Bittan on synthesizer and the backup singers on harmony vocals (see the live 31 Oct 1992 version). That 31 Oct 1992 performance in Minneapolis, MN, also featured a synthesizer introduction by Roy Bittan who played a section of Bach's organ piece TOCCATA AND FUGUE IN D MINOR (BWV 565) as a Halloween special.
SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT was performed twice times during The Ghost Of Tom Joad Solo Acoustic Tour (128 dates, November 1995 to May 1997), both in November 1996 in New Jersey. The song was played in an acoustic "band" arrangement. See the live 25 Nov 1996 version and the live 26 Nov 1996 version for more details.
In preparation for The Reunion Tour, SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT was performed during one of the tour's two public warm-up rehearsal shows that took place in March 1999 in Asbury Park. The song was played in its traditional full-band arrangement. The song is also known to have been practiced during the private rehearsal that took place in April 1999 in Barcelona the day before the tour kicked off in Spain.
SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT was performed 14 times during what is known as The Reunion Tour (132 dates, April 1999 to July 2000). On this tour, the song was played in its traditional full-band arrangement. The "Can you feel the spirit?" introduction made its debut on this tour; it started on 14 Nov 1999 in Cleveland as "I can feel the spirit" and evolved over the next two performances to become the "Can you feel the spirit?" intro, which was used on the remainder of tour and on later E Street Band tours. See the below list of performances for more details.
SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT was performed 8 times during The Rising Tour (120 dates, August 2002 to October 2003). The first of these performances, from 2002, was a solo piano version, while the remaining seven, from 2003, were played in the traditional full-band arrangement, regularly (but not always) featuring the "Can you feel the spirit?" introduction, and sometimes using it as an outro as well. The live 16 Oct 2002 version of SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT was released on the Live In Barcelona home video in 2003.
SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT was performed once during the Devils & Dust Solo Acoustic Tour (72 dates, April to November 2005), on 22 Jun 2005 in Copenhagen, Denmark. The song was played in a solo piano arrangement. See the live 22 Jun 2005 version for more details.
SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT was performed 28 times during the Magic Tour (100 dates, October 2007 to August 2008). At first, it was rarely included on the setlist (performed only once in 2007), but then it became much more frequent and was played at almost every show during the tour's last three months. On this tour, the song was played in its traditional full-band arrangement and regularly, but not always, featuring the "Can you feel the spirit?" intro and outro. The first two performances, 22 Oct 2007 in Chicago and 20 Mar 2008 in Indianapolis, featured Danny Federici on organ. He was replaced by Charles Giordano starting from the first European leg (25 Nov 2007) so that he can get medical attention for his melanoma, but showed up in Indianapolis as an unannounced guest and played on a number of songs, including SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT. See the live 20 Mar 2008 version for more details. All remaining performances on the tour featured Charles Giordano on organ. The live 23 Aug 2008 version of SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT was released on the Scottrade Center, St. Louis, MO 8/23/2008 official live download in 2017.
SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT was performed 21 times during the Working On A Dream Tour (83 dates, April to November 2009). On this tour, the song was played in its traditional full-band arrangement and regularly, but not always, featuring the "Can you feel the spirit?" intro and outro. Among these 21 performances, Jay Weinberg played drums 4 times on SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT (see the live 25 Aug 2009 version), Vini Lopez once (see the live 20 Oct 2009 version), and Max Weinberg 16 times (see the live 22 Nov 2009 version). The live 20 Oct 2009 version of SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT was released on the Wachovia Spectrum, Philadelphia, PA 10/20/09 official live download in 2017. The live 22 Nov 2009 version of SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT was released on the HSBC Arena, Buffalo, NY 11/22/2009 official live download in 2016.
SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT was performed 82 times during the Wrecking Ball Tour (133 dates, March 2012 to September 2013).
SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT was performed 10 times during the High Hopes Tour (34 dates, January to May 2014). On this tour, the song was played in its traditional full-band arrangement and featured the"Can you feel the spirit?" intro and outro. Audio recordings for most High Hopes Tour shows are officially available for purchase. See the live 26 Jan 2014 version for more details.
SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT was performed off-tour on 21 Feb 1995 at Tramps nightclub in New York City, NY, during a reunion gig with the E Street Band. See the live 21 Feb 1995 version for more details.
SPIRIT IN THE NIGHTwas performed off-tour on 19 Dec 2004 at Harry's Roadhouse in Asbury Park, NJ, during both holiday jam shows that took place that day. The song was played in a full-band arrangement backed by Bobby Bandiera and his band, plus the Miami Horns. The late show performance also featured Patti Scialfa on backing vocals who was not present during the early show. See the live 19 Dec 2004 (late show) version.
SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT was performed off-tour on 12 Dec 2006 at Count Basie Theatre in Red Bank, NJ, during "The Bobby Bandiera All Star Holiday Concert". The song was played in a guitar-driven, full-band version featuring Springsteen backed by Bobby Bandiera's Rock And Soul Revue. See the live 12 Dec 2006 version for more details.
Since 2002, Springsteen has been playing private benefit shows for schools and colleges that his kids attended — Rumson Country Day School of Rumson, NJ, and Ranney School of Tinton Falls, NJ, and Boston College of Chestnut Hill, MA. SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT was performed at 10 of these fundraisers, always at The Stone Pony in Asbury Park, NJ, and backed by Bobby Bandiera and his band. On these shows the song was played in a full-band version.
Bruce Springsteen has been performing on almost all the annual Stand Up for Heroes benefits since 2007. SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT was performed during the fifth (2011) annual benefit. The song was played with the Max Weinberg Big Band.
SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT was performed on 16 Oct 2008 at Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City, NY, during the "Change Rocks" benefit show for Barack Obama's presidential campaign. The song was played in a full-band arrangement, with Billy Joel, India Arie, and John Legend on backing vocals. See the live 16 Oct 2008 version for more details.
At least 9 artists have recorded and released Bruce Springsteen's SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT.
Thanks Jake (ol'catfishinthelake at BTX and Greasy Lake) for the lyrics help.
Some of the above info about the studio recording and the live performances is taken from Brucebase.
Which Richmond, VA radio station conducted the 1974 interview with Bruce Springsteen? When did the interview take place? IS there an audio recording in circulation, or at least a transcript? If you can shed some light, please contact me.
Several sources state that Roy Bittan plays organ on all 1992 versions of SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT, but I cannot hear him, except on the live 31 Oct 1992 version of course. If you can shed some light, please contact me.
Please contact me if you have scans for or info about any official release containing SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT that's not mentioned on this page. Any additions, comments, or corrections to this page are welcome. You can contact me via the below form or by email: .
List of available versions of SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT on this website:
SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT [Album version]
