Cover Me: Little Latin Lupe Lu

Yeah, I’m kinda with Barry on this one: it’s the Righteous Brothers all the way.

Mitch Ryder’s version may have charted higher, but not only was the Righteous Brothers’ version the original, and not only is Bruce’s arrangement clearly based on it, but you can even hear Bruce singing it when you listen to the original. There’s something about that vocal and the explosive chorus that just screams Springsteen, even though Bruce was only 13 at the time it was recorded.

Bruce premiered his cover of “Little Latin Lupe Lou” at the final stand of the Lawsuit Tour in Boston, playing it as an encore in each of the last three shows and taking fine advantage of the Miami Horns. Here’s that very first performance:

It would take more than a decade for Bruce to bring “Little Latin Lupe Lu” back to the E Street stage, but he performed it frequently during Jersey shore club gigs in the intervening years.

In 1988, Bruce and the E Street Band played a one-off encore of “Little Latin Lupe Lu” during their show in Mountain View, and it had been so long since the band had played it that Bruce found himself trapped in it. Watch the video below for a rare and hilarious instance of Bruce Springsteen trying desperately to figure his way out of a song.

It worked better the next time they tried it–as the very last song of the opening  show of the E Street Band’s short-lived 1995 reunion. We’re lucky to have some great footage of that one, too:

In the modern era, Bruce and the E Street Band tackled “Little Latin Lupe” two exactly twice, both times by request. Here’s the last one, from Washington, DC on the Working on a Dream Tour, and it features what must be one of the most unlikeliest segues ever.

Little Latin Lupe Lu
First performed: March 23, 1977 (Boston, MA)
Last performed: May 18, 2009 (Washington, DC)