While Bruce was writing and recording the songs that would eventually form the Nebraska and Born in the U.S.A. albums, Steve Van Zandt was busy as well, developing and recording his first solo album, Men Without Women under the new name Little Steven.
By the end of the recording sessions, Steve had recruited and anointed his own band: The Disciples of Soul. But the first few songs recorded for Men Without Women were essentially recorded by Little Steven and the E Street Band (and the Asbury Jukes, plus the Miami Horns), and one of those songs was “Until the Good is Gone,” one of Steve’s best and most enduring songs.
Take a listen to the original album version, featuring an uncredited but unmistakable Bruce Springsteen on backing vocals.
The album was released in 1982, but it took a lot longer before Steve and Bruce performed it together on stage–almost sixteen years, in fact. In January 1998, Bruce and Steve played it live together for the first time at the “Come Together” benefit concert in Red Bank, featuring an arrangement virtually identical to the one on the album.
Almost three years later, Bruce and Steve reprised “Until the Good is Gone” at Bruce’s holiday shows in Asbury Park, but this time they traded off on the lead vocals.
It took twelve years for them to play it again, this time at Right to Rock 2012 in New York City. Watching how much fun they had together, someone really ought to tell them they should do it more often…
Until the Good is Gone
Recorded: November 1981
Released: Men Without Women (1982)
First performed: January 31, 1998 (Red Bank, NJ)
Last performed: October 16, 2012 (New York City, NY)
