Sometimes you gotta vamp, sometimes you gotta tell a joke.
And sometimes, rarely, you need to resort to more drastic stalling tactics.
That’s what happened on March 10, 1974 at Houston’s Liberty Hall, when Bruce broke his guitar string. There was no Kevin Buell with the E Street Band back then, no army of replacement guitars at the ready.
So with potentially minutes to fill until Bruce and his guitar were ready to step to the fore again, it was the Big Man who came to the rescue, stepping to the mic and calling out for a song: an obscure but fun and jazzy novelty track called “Gimme That Wine.”
It’s a fast song with a lot of lyrics, so Clarence must have had a strong affinity with it to have nailed it so well. Here’s the 1960 original by Lambert, Hendricks & Ross for comparison:
Having proven himself so able to command the microphone when needed, Clarence’s rendition of “Gimme That Wine” became the band’s in-case-of-emergency-break-glass secret weapon. He was called to service again at Swarthmore College the following month, at The Main Point in September, and in Geneva in December.
By that time, of course, Clarence was always at the ready for his moment in the spotlight, and so was the band. Did you notice how loose that first performance was? Compare it with the one from nine months later:
Clarence had one last star turn the following year in Lenox, MA, shortly before the release of Born to Run. After that, “Gimme That Wine” became just another piece of E Street Band history.
Gimme That Wine
First performed: March 10, 1974 (Houston, TX)
Last performed: July 23, 1975 (Lenox, MA)
