It’s been called the first heavy metal song (or at the very least, the first song to use that term), but it was originally written by Mars Bonfire as a ballad.
Thankfully, Steppenwolf got to it first and released their now immortal anthem in the summer of 1968.
Although it never quite made it to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 (it peaked at #2), “Born to Be Wild” racked up honor after honor ever since: Rolling Stone ranks it #129 on their 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, VH1 placed it at #53 on their ranking of all-time best hard rock songs, and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inducted it into its inaugural class of singles. And of course, it plays under the credits of the iconic film Easy Rider.
Yet Bruce didn’t cover it properly in concert until relatively recently, breaking it out at the very end of the Magic Tour. He picked the right venue, at least: the Harley Davidson 105th Anniversary Festival in Milwaukee. Bruce closed that show with a surprise, an E Street Band premiere of the Steppenwolf classic.
The band would reprise it almost exactly a year later, this time in Santiago de Compostela on the Working on a Dream Tour, in a tighter, more energetic performance (probably because it was much earlier in the set).
At this point, I’m sure there are a few hardcore fans ready to set me straight about these being Bruce’s only two performances of “Born to Be Wild,” so to save them the trouble: yes, Bruce is known to have performed it at least twice prior to the Magic Tour.
One was a guest during a Jackson Browne benefit show in 1994 (no recording circulates); the other was in Oslo toward the end of World Tour 1993, but that performance is really more of a spotlight moment for Bruce’s roadie Rick “Chainsaw” Lapointe, who sings lead vocals throughout.
It’s believed that Bruce may have also played “Born to Be Wild” as early as 1968 with his band Child, since the song title circulates on a list of covers that appears to represent the band’s repertoire at the time. However, there’s no record of a Child show where it appears on the set list, so the Harley Festival holds the distinction for Bruce’s lead vocal debut on “Born to Be Wild.”
Born to Be Wild
First performed: June 1, 1993 (Oslo, Norway)
Last performed: August 2, 2009 (Santiago De Compostela, Spain)
As is often the case with these covers it’s Steve who is completely in to it. He nails the solo and at one point signals Max his the fill He should play. When Stevie starts smiling you know you’re in for some fun.
Oh man, I had never seen the “chainsaw” version before! Thanks for posting and thanks so much for this blog.