Daniele Tenca hails from Italy, but he shouldn’t be a stranger to Springsteen fans–he’s made multiple Light of Day appearances, played The Stone Pony in Asbury Park, and recorded a few outstanding Springsteen covers.
In fact, Tenca recorded an absolutely smoking cover of “Factory” back in 2010, and I was all set to blog about it later this month.
But a few days ago, this stop-the-presses gem from 2018 showed up on YouTube, and now that “Factory” cover is going to have to wait a while–because I can’t stop listening to Tenca’s absolutely fantastic cover of “Johnny 99.” It’s easily my all-time favorite arrangement of the song, and that includes Bruce’s own.
Tenca actually recorded a live performance of “Johnny 99” back in 2011–you can find on his album Live for the Working Class. It’s not nearly as gloriously gritty as the performance above, but it’s still well worth checking out.
When this pandemic ends and I can make it back to Italy again, I’m gonna have to align my trip with one of Tenca’s shows. Until then, I’m just going to keep listening to his albums–they’re great.
