Live 31 Oct 1973 (late show) version
[Spoken intro:] Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! We got a special, this Halloween trick-or-treat, we got a special treat for you tonight. We got Albee Tellone, one of our roadies, gonna play the baritone for us. Albee Tellone on the baritone saxophone. We, we played some gigs, we played out west with some, with, with horn, some horns bands, we played with Blood, Sweat and Tears, we did this gig with them, and we played with Chicago, and we figured we gotta keep up, right? This, this is a very competitive business, man, you can't fall behind for a minute, you keep right up. So, so we're gonna debut tonight the E Street horn section (laughs) with special guest Albee Tellone on saxophone. All right. You gotta, you gotta give him a minute to warm up, folks, they don't -- you gotta give him a second to warm up, they'll be all right.
They're all warmed up now. All right.
This a new dance, it's a dance called the E Street Shuffle!
Well, sparks light on E Street where the boy prophets walk it handsome and hot
All the little girls' souls grow weak when the man-child gives them a double shot
All right, now, schoolboy pops pull out all the stops on a Friday night
And them teenage tramps in skin-tight pants do the E Street dance and it's all right
Well, them kids, they're out dancin' or hooked up in a scuffle
Dressed in snake-skin suits packed with Detroit muscle
Doin' the E Street Shuffle
All right
Well, those E Street brats in twilight duel flashlight phantoms in full star stream, all right
Down fire trails on silver nights with blonde girls, sweet sixteen
Newsboy says the heat's been bad since Power Thirteen gave a trooper all he had in a late summer scuffle
Kids are on the corner doin' nothing but doin' that E Street Shuffle
Now, Power's girl Little Angel dance the shuffle like she's got no brains
She's deaf in combat down on Lover's Lane
Drives all those local boys insane
Oh, yes she does
Little Angel says, "Whoa, whoa, whoa
Whoa, whoa, whoa
(Everybody form a line)
Whoa, whoa, whoa
Whoa, whoa, whoa
(Everybody form a line)"
She's got that goin'!
Sparks light on E Street where the boy-prophets walk it handsome and hot
Oh, the little girls' souls grow weak when the man-child gives them a double shot
Little Angel works at Easy Joe's, it's a joint where all the riot squad goes when they're looking for a hustle
And them boys are still on the corner doin' that crazy E Street Shuffle
And them summer nights turn into summer dreams
Angel picks up Power and he slides on his jeans
We move on down to the scene
All the kids are dancin'
We're havin' a party (party)
Ah, everybody's singin'
Whoa!
[Spoken outro:] Albee Tellone on the baritone saxophone! Oh! Oh, yeah! All you, you were great! Honestly! Ooh!
The above lyrics are for the live 31 Oct 1973 (late show) performance of THE E STREET SHUFFLE at The Main Point in Bryn Mawr, PA, during what is considered The Wild, The Innocent, & The E Street Shuffle Tour. The song was played in a full-band album-style arrangement featuring Albee Tellone on baritone saxophone, and concluded with a small snippet of Sam Cooke's HAVING A PARTY.
Bruce Springsteen performed three nights, two shows each night, at The Main Point between 29 and 31 Oct 1973. He was the headliner and local acoustic trio Wire And Wood were the opening act. This version of THE E STREET SHUFFLE is from a circulating 13-song audience tape that is believed to be the late 31 Oct 1973 show.
Thanks Jake (ol'catfishinthelake at BTX and Greasy Lake). Most of the above info about Springsteen's 3-night residency at The Main Point is taken from Brucebase.
List of available versions of THE E STREET SHUFFLE on this website:
THE E STREET SHUFFLE [Album version]