Album version
Sparks fly on E Street when the boy prophets walk it handsome and hot
All the little girls' souls grow weak when the man-child gives them a double shot
Them schoolboy pops pull out all the stops on a Friday night
Them teenage tramps in skin-tight pants do the E Street dance and everything's all right
Well, the kids down there either dancing or hooked up in a scuffle
Dressed in snake-skin suits packed with Detroit muscle
They're doing the E Street Shuffle
Now those E Street brats in twilight duel flashlight phantoms in full star stream
Down fire trails on silver nights with blonde girls pledged sweet sixteen
The newsboys say the heat's been bad since Power Thirteen gave a trooper all he had in a summer scuffle
And Power's girl, Little Angel, been on the corner keeping those crazy boys out of trouble
Little Angel steps the shuffle like she ain't got no brains
She's deaf in combat down on Lover's Lane
She drives all them local boys insane
Yes, she does
Little Angel say, "Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
(Whoa, oh, oh, oh, everybody form a line)
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh (oh, oh, oh, oh, oh)
Oh, everybody form a line"
(Come on, baby!) (Come on, baby!) (You gotta get ready!) (Come on, girl!) (Oh!)
When the sparks light on E Street when the boy-prophets walk it handsome and hot
All them little girls' souls grow weak when the man-child gives them a double shot
Oh, Little Angel hangs out at Easy Joe's, it's a club where all the riot squad goes when they're cashin' in for a cheap hustle
But them boys are still on the corner loose and doin' that lazy E Street Shuffle
And as them sweet summer nights turn into summer dreams
Little Angel picks up Power and he slips on his jeans
And they move on out down to the scene
All the kids are dancing
Ha, hey!
[shouting]
THE E STREET SHUFFLE is a song written by Bruce Springsteen and released on his 1973 album The Wild, The Innocent, & The E Street Shuffle. The above lyrics are for Bruce Springsteen's album version of THE E STREET SHUFFLE as released in 1973.
In his 1998 book Songs, Springsteen wrote: "The [album] opening cut, 'The E Street Shuffle,' is a reflection of a community that was partly imagined and partly real. It was the early 70's: blues, R&B, and soul on Major Lance's '60s hit 'Monkey Time,' a dance song. The cast of characters came vaguely from Asbury Park at the turn of the decade. I wanted to describe a neighborhood, a way of life, and I wanted to invent a dance with no exact steps. It was just the dance you did every day and every night to get by."
In an October 2020 interview on BBC Radio 2, Dermot O'Leary asked Springsteen about THE E STREET SHUFFLE. Springsteen replied: "That's a quirky tune, you know, quirky song. First of all, comes on with that Salvation Army horn sound, which was played by the guys in the E Street Band. Mainly Mad Dog Vincent Lopez, Albee Tellone played the sax or something. All these different guys played what they knew of horns. And that's the sound that we ended up with. So I put in front the tune, because I thought it was funny, and then basically the tune is funk soul. You know, the band was a rock and soul band at the time. It wasn't a straight rock and roll band. We played rock and soul and funk and a little bit of jazz. It was a very eclectic group of musicians at that moment. So 'E Street Shuffle', where I took the main riff from 'Mickey's Monkey', the Major Lance song (imitates the music vocally)... That's basically, (singing:) 'There's a place across the tracks, whenever you're ready,' it's 'Mickey's Monkey'. So I took the riff from 'Mickey's Monkey' and I wrote my own song around it, with my crazy lyrics, and it ended up─ and then I took this little sort of last part where the band jams like crazy from a Curtis Mayfield song that I was into at the, at the end of the time, sort of a funk jazz (imitates the music vocally). So it was a crazy piece of music." Of course, Springsteen was mistaken. He meant to say THE MONKEY TIME, not MICKEY'S MONKEY. The Curtis Mayfield song he was referencing is likely MOVE ON UP.
THE E STREET SHUFFLE was written in mid-1973; it was one of the final songs written and recorded for The Wild, The Innocent, & The E Street Shuffle album. Albee Tellone, sound manager on Springsteen's road crew from November 1972 to December 1973, told Brucebase that the song was in its infancy when David Sancious joined the recording sessions on 22 June 1973. In fact, Springsteen hadn't even rehearsed the song until Sancious joined in. It's Albee's opinion that it was Sancious' presence that inspired the tune. Albee says: "I went to David's house with Bruce to learn it while David played his piano. I thought that they had written it together." He goes on to say: "We all went to the studio and played 'live' together in the large room just like we had rehearsed it in the garage in Deal, NJ. Bruce sang it 'live' then too. I was told that they were going to keep only the drums and bass parts and build overdubs from there. Bruce played rhythm on his Telecaster but replaced it later as the tracks were added. I came back on another day to overdub my sax part. We also recorded the 'tune-up' intro with tuba and cornet separately when I came back to play the baritone sax part."
The band line-up on this track is Bruce Springsteen, Clarence Clemons, Danny Federici, Garry Tallent, Vini Lopez, and David Sancious, plus additional musicians Richard Blackwell and Albany Al Tellone. The track, as well as the whole album, was recorded at Sound Studios in Blauvelt, NY and produced by Mike Appel and Jimmy Creteco. Tellone plays baritone sax on THE E STREET SHUFFLE, the only time he's credited on a Bruce Springsteen recording. He would be a special guest on the song during the first three months of The Wild, The Innocent & The E Street Shuffle Tour (October to December 1973).
A handwritten lyrics sheet containing an early draft of THE E STREET SHUFFLE was auctioned in 2003. See the early draft for more details.
The Wild, The Innocent & The E Street Shuffle is Bruce Springsteen's second studio album. It was recorded between mid-May 1973 and mid-September 1973 at 914 Sound Studios in Blauvelt, NY. Studio time was slotted in during various itinerary breaks in the Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J. Tour, but recording sessions dragged on much longer than originally anticipated and this eventually caused some gig rescheduling and cancellations during the period from July to September 1973.
The album's recording sessions can be split into distinct phases:
Most of the basic ensemble recording of The Wild, The Innocent & The E Street Shuffle emanates from the first phase of sessions, prior to the arrival of David Sancious to the sessions on 22 Jun 1973. Sancious verified in a late seventies interview with Thunder Road magazine that most of the session songs had already been recorded (as basic tracks) by the time he joined. He then overdubbed his parts onto these recordings. THE E STREET SHUFFLE is an exception, which was written after Sancious became a member of the band. The latter phase of the sessions involved embellishing additional "frills" instrumentation, vocals, and experimenting with different mixes. No audio evidence has yet emerged that any of the basic recordings of were re-recorded from scratch with Sancious. Indeed, one of the most noteworthy aspects to the audio evidence that has emerged from The Wild, The Innocent & The E Street Shuffle recording sessions is that there is not one genuine alternate take to be found – all song recording variations are merely alternate mixes of the same basic recording.
The Wild, The Innocent & The E Street Shuffle was produced by Mike Appel and Jim Cretecos and engineered by Louis Lahav. It features 7 new Springsteen compositions and clocks at 46:47. It was commercially released on 05 Nov 1973.
In addition to its release on The Wild, The Innocent & The E Street Shuffle, THE E STREET SHUFFLE was also released in mid-1975 on the B-side of 4TH OF JULY, ASBURY PARK (SANDY) in Germany. This coupling is unique to Germany and was the very first ever Springsteen 7-inch issued outside the United States. Both commercial and promotional versions were pressed. See 4TH OF JULY, ASBURY PARK (SANDY) for more info. THE E STREET SHUFFLE can also be found on one Bruce Springsteen promo-only sampler.
Other versions of THE E STREET SHUFFLE were also officially released.
THE E STREET SHUFFLE is known to have been performed at least twice 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 may have been played on some more dates during the Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J. Tour.
THE E STREET SHUFFLE is known to have been performed at least 43 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. Most probably the first live performance of THE E STREET SHUFFLE was on 28 Sep 1973 at Hampden-Sydney College in Hampden Sydney, VA. This was the first night back on tour after the three-week hiatus required to complete The Wild, The Innocent & The E Street Shuffle album. This show also marked the first-ever guest slot in the line-up by Albee Tellone, who would be making stage appearances in the band playing baritone sax on THE E STREET SHUFFLE on most gigs during which the song was played, until mid-December 1973 when he left the tour to start his own band. The first six of these known performances, from 1973, were played in a full-band album-style arrangement featuring Albee Tellone on baritone saxophone. The 30 Oct 1973 performance in Bryn Mawr, PA, also featured Richard Blackwell on congas. Beginning in the spring of 1974, the song was played in a "hybrid" version with a fast tempo like the 1973 performances but the melody and instrumentation of the 1975 "slow" version. As the tour wore on, this arrangement slowed down. By the end of The Wild, The Innocent, & The E Street Shuffle Tour in Spring 1975, the song was being played in its well-known mid-seventies "slow" arrangement. Almost every version of the song from this tour featured at least a snippet of Sam Cooke's HAVING A PARTY, more extensively as the tour wore on.
THE E STREET SHUFFLE is known to have been performed at least 44 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. On this tour, the song was played in its slow full-band version that debuted the previous year. Almost every version of the song from this tour featured at least a snippet of Sam Cooke's HAVING A PARTY, more extensively as the tour wore on. The version from the 06 Sep 1975 show in New Orleans, LA, uniquely includes a couple of lines from Manfred Mann's PRETTY FLAMINGO, which Springsteen and the band would debut a few shows later in a full rendition. The live 18 Nov 1975 version of THE E STREET SHUFFLE was released on the Hammersmith Odeon, London '75 album and home video in 2005.
THE E STREET SHUFFLE was performed twice during what is known as The Reunion Tour (132 dates, April 1999 to July 2000). Both outings were during the 10-night stand at Madison Square Garden that concluded the tour. On this tour, the song was played in a full-band arrangement reminiscent of the album rendition but without additional horns, which subsequently would become the "stock" version for the E Street Band. The live 01 Jul 2000 version of THE E STREET SHUFFLE was released on the Live In New York City home video in 2001.
THE E STREET SHUFFLE was performed 4 times during the Magic Tour (100 dates, October 2007 to August 2008). On this tour, the song was played in its traditional full-band arrangement. The first two performances featured Danny Federici on organ, while the latter two featured Charles Giordano. The 19 Nov 2007 performance in Boston featured Patti Scialfa on backup vocals. The live 19 Nov 2007 version of THE E STREET SHUFFLE was released on the TD Banknorth Garden, Boston 11/19/07 official live download in 2018.
THE E STREET SHUFFLE was performed 9 times during the Working On A Dream Tour (83 dates, April to November 2009). On this tour, the song was played in a traditional full-band arrangement — the versions from earlier in the tour were particularly blues oriented, but from the Saint Paul show onwards, the arrangement reverted to the more familiar "pop" sounding version. The versions from 30 Sep 2009 in East Rutherford and 20 Nov 2009 in Baltimore featured Curt Ramm on trumpet. The version from 07 Nov 2009 in New York City featured a full five-man horn section. The live 07 Nov 2009 version of THE E STREET SHUFFLE was released on the MSG 11.07.09 official live download in 2020.
THE E STREET SHUFFLE was performed 34 times during the Wrecking Ball Tour (133 dates, March 2012 to September 2013). On this tour, the song was played in a full-band arrangement. The live 12 Nov 2012 version of THE E STREET SHUFFLE was released on the St. Paul, MN Nov 12, 2012 official live download in 2020.
THE E STREET SHUFFLE was performed 3 times during the High Hopes Tour (34 dates, January to May 2014). On this tour, the song was played in a full-band arrangement. Audio recordings for most High Hopes Tour shows are officially available for purchase. See the live 05 Feb 2014 version for more details.
THE E STREET SHUFFLE was performed during both 2000 Asbury Park holiday shows and three of the five 2001 Asbury Park holiday shows. These concerts were billed as "Bruce Springsteen with The Max Weinberg 7 and Friends", with The Max Weinberg 7 serving as the house band, and Springsteen bringing guests on and off the stage throughout the shows. On these shows the song was played in a full-band arrangement with Springsteen backed by The Max Weinberg 7. In 2000, the song also featured Danny Federici on organ, Garry Tallent on bass, the Redheaded Women (Patti Scialfa, Soozie Tyrell, and Lisa Lowell) on backup vocals, and Bobby Bandiera on guitar. On both 2000 shows, Curtis Mayfield's MOVE ON UP was performed as an outro/coda to THE E STREET SHUFFLE. In 2001, the song also featured Clarence Clemons on saxophone, Danny Federici on organ, Nils Lofgren on guitar, Garry Tallent on bass, the Redheaded Women on backup vocals, and Bobby Bandiera on guitar (but not on 08 December). On all three 2001 shows, Curtis Mayfield's MOVE ON UP was performed as an outro/coda to THE E STREET SHUFFLE, instrumental on 04 December and with lyrics on 06 and 08 December.
THE E STREET SHUFFLE was performed off-tour on 29 Apr 2003 at Count Basie Theatre in Red Bank, NJ, during "The Hope Concert" benefit. The song was played in a full-band version, with Bruce Springsteen backed by the Max Weinberg 7, plus Bobby Bandiera on guitar. See the live 29 Apr 2003 version for more details. The song was also practiced the previous day at Count Basie Theatre during the concert's rehearsals.
THE E STREET SHUFFLE was performed off-tour on 02 Mar 2012 at Rockefeller Center in New York City, NY, during a TV appearance on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon. The song was played with the E Street Band, The Roots, and Tom Morello. See the live 02 Mar 2012 version for more details.
THE E STREET SHUFFLE was performed off-tour on 09 Mar 2012 at Apollo Theater in New York City, NY, during the Sirius Satellite Radio 10-year anniversary celebration. The song was played with the E Street Band. the live 09 Mar 2012 version of THE E STREET SHUFFLE was released on the Apollo Theater 03/09/12 official live download in 2014.
THE E STREET SHUFFLE was performed off-tour on 15 Mar 2012 at Moody Theater in Austin, TX, during the South By Southwest music festival. The song was played with the E Street band.
THE E STREET SHUFFLE was performed off-tour on 10 Apr 2014 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY, during the 29th annual Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame induction ceremony. The song was played with the E Street band.
Bruce Springsteen's album version of THE E STREET SHUFFLE appears in one movie.
At least 2 artists have recorded and released Bruce Springsteen's THE E STREET SHUFFLE.
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. Info for the some of the above official Springsteen releases is taken from the Lost In The Flood website.
List of available versions of THE E STREET SHUFFLE on this website:
THE E STREET SHUFFLE [Album version]
