Before E Street, before The Bruce Springsteen Band, there was Steel Mill.
Actually, there was a succession of bands that featured Bruce Springsteen as a member or leader, each with their own sound, but Steel Mill is probably the most well known. Bruce, Vini Lopez, Danny Federici, and Vinnie Roslin formed the band’s original line-up (it would see a few personnel changes before disbanding in early 1971), and together they generated a fervent following not just on the Jersey Shore, but in the Bay Area and in Richmond, Virginia as well.
Steel Mill started out as Child, changing their name in late 1969 when they discovered another band recording under the same name. But under either name, the band was known for their sets filled with hard rocking, Springsteen-penned original songs punctuated by blistering guitar jams.
But there were exceptions.
At the tail end of the summer of ’69, three days shy of his 20th birthday in Richmond, Virginia, Bruce gave his electric guitar a rest, along with half the band.
Switching to his acoustic guitar, accompanied primarily by Vini Lopez on (of all things) the recorder, Bruce performed a remarkable original song about an infatuation with a Catholic nun. (Even then, Bruce’s songs were inescapably infused with religious imagery.)
You can listen to that first performance by Child below, but I suggest skipping ahead –there’s a much, much better recording a little further down.
As far as we know, the boys only played “Sister Theresa” twice–the debut performance with Child above, and a second with Steel Mill the following year. (Set lists are notoriously hard to come by from this era, however, so it’s very likely that “Sister Theresa” had other outings that were not recorded.)
Here’s that second, superior performance–although we can’t precisely date it, this one is very much worth a listen.
Gentle and tentative, 19-year-old Bruce Springsteen’s lyrics (the lyrics in the 1970 performance are identical to the earlier one) walk a tightrope between fantasy and worship. He can’t help but see Sister Teresa as a woman, and he can’t reconcile her celibate devotion.
Sister Theresa, golden hair all tucked away
Sister Theresa, she’s dressed in black
With rosary beads strung ’round her neck
What you need’s a man to love
Can you tell what I’m thinking of
Sister Theresa, feeling her way back home
Sister Theresa, up in the morning saying her prayers
Sister Theresa, revealing herself to the midnight air
The artistic heart of the song is in the bridge, in which Bruce struggles to comprehend Theresa’s devotional sacrifice of earthly pleasures through a lens that could only belong to a nineteen-year-old boy:
You say you’re married to Jesus Christ
And that he’s in your bedroom every night
Why is he so hard, why does he treat you so cruel
Is he jealous or just a fool
And if the payoff is predictable, at least it comes off more sweet than sly. Chalk that up to the earnestness of Bruce’s vocals and the inherent innocence of Vini’s recorder. (I’m not sure it’s possible to make that instrument sound sexy.)
Sister Theresa, come with me for a while
I promise I’ll make you smile
Mother Superior, come and see
Sister Frances, come and see
Mother Superior, come and see
Sister Frances, come and see
She is gone, she is gone
Sister Theresa, I’ve given you my heart
Never recorded and rarely performed, “Sister Theresa” is too atypical of Bruce’s contemporary writing to ignore but not significant enough to merit memorializing. If notable for anything, it serves as a signpost toward softer, more contemplative songs like “Mary, Queen of Arkansas” and “If I Was the Priest” that lie ahead a couple of years down the road.
Sister Theresa
Never recorded
Never released
First performed: September 20, 1969 (Richmond, VA)
Last performed: 1970 (exact date uncertain)
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