MatR: Gary U.S. Bonds and Bruce Springsteen, Jole Blon

“Jole Blon” has been a fan favorite since Bruce first covered it during the River Tour, although these days it makes far fewer appearances.

But even many long-time fans aren’t aware that Bruce actually recorded “Jole Blon” in the studio, and that for a time it was slated to appear on The River. Had it done so, it would have been Bruce’s first officially released cover song. It still was, in a way, because Bruce contributed his vocals and band to Gary U.S. Bonds, who overdubbed his own vocals and released the song on his Springsteen/Van Zandt-produced Dedication album.

We’re fortunate to have not just one but three recordings of the E Street Band rehearsing “Jole Blon” in the studio, from January 11, 1980. The first one below is closest to the arrangement many of us have seen the E Street Band perform live; the second one features the band experimenting with an almost calypso rhythm.

Bruce and the band did finally capture a complete studio take with a clean Springsteen vocal, but that track has never seen the light of day. It’s easy to imagine what it sounds like, though, because if you listen to the track that appears on Bonds’ comeback album, it’s the E Street Band you hear playing:

Bruce’s arrangement of “Jole Blon” is a long way from the song’s origin as a Cajun folk song. (The song was originally entitled, “Ma Blonde est Partie” and referred to a “jolie blonde” or “pretty blonde.”) Here’s its earliest recorded incarnation, by the Breaux Brothers in 1929:

The song became popular in the late 1940s when it was covered by several country artists, including Moon Mullican, who scored his first hit with it.

Now if you happen to speak Cajun, you probably realized that Mullican’s lyrics didn’t match the original. And if you speak English, you probably realized that it doesn’t match Bruce and Gary’s version either. Nevertheless, Bruce and Gary’s officially released version of “Jole Blon” credits Mullican and Michael Hurley as the song’s writers, despite both men’s versions bearing faint resemblance to Bruce’s lyrics and arrangement.

It’s not easy to trace the lyrical path of “Jole Blon”– the song evolved (or devolved, depending on your perspective) as it was covered and re-covered over time, and some versions are almost nonsensical. But with a bit of sleuthing, we can trace Bruce’s lyrics back to Roy Acuff’s 1947 version. They’re virtually identical, so it seems safe to posit that (lyrically, at least) it’s Acuff’s version rather than Mullican’s or Hurley’s that Bruce was most influenced by.

In any event, Bruce’s (and Gary’s) version of “Jole Blon” finally made its debut in April 1981, as the opening track on Gary’s Dedication comeback album, and within a matter of weeks, Bruce was performing it himself on tour.

Bruce first broke out “Jole Blon” during the last show of his River Tour stand at Wembley Arena in London. Here’s that live debut, from June 5, 1981:

He performed it twice more that week, but he may have considered all three to be rehearsals for his stateside appearance a week later at the Hollywood Bowl, at the fourth annual Survival Sunday anti-nuclear benefit concert. While it’s Bruce’s duets with Jackson Browne that get most of the attention from that show, that Survival Sunday show is also the first time that Bruce and Gary performed “Jole Blon” live. Unfortunately, the recording is incomplete and has cuts, but you can still listen to much of it below:

While it’s disappointing that our recording of Bruce and Gary’s first “Jole Blon” performance is incomplete, we’ve had plenty more opportunities to catch the two men performing it together. Here’s one of the better quality captures, from the Wrecking Ball Tour in 2012:

“Jole Blon” remains a rarity, performed by Bruce only a few dozen times over the years, most of them way back on the River Tour. Still, Bruce always seems game to give it an outing or three during each tour, so for those of us who have never seen it live (myself included), there’s still hope.

Bonus #1: It’s pretty hard to find video footage of “Jole Blon” dating back to the River Tour. Here’s a rare clip from Bruce’s Rosemont show on September 8, 1981:

Bonus #2: Although Bruce tends to save his “Jole Blon” duets for Bonds (except for his surprise bar appearances, where he might pull it out with anyone), at a benefit show in 1993, Bruce played it as a one-off with Terence Trent D’Arby. At the time, Bruce hadn’t played the song live for over a decade, and it would be almost another decade before he’d play it again.

Bonus #3: Here’s an E Street Band performance from Gothenburg in 2016, for no other reason or significance than that it’s just a great performance captured in outstanding quality.

Jole Blon
Recorded: July 1980
Released: Dedication (1981)
First performed: June 5, 1981 (London, England)
Last performed: February 21, 2017 (Christchurch, New Zealand)

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