So nice they covered it twice:
Manfred Mann’s Earth Band released two different covers of Bruce Springsteen’s “Spirit in the Night” in back-to-back years, with two different vocalists. Both versions charted, which probably would have annoyed the original artist just a tiny bit if he hadn’t already broken through on his own by then.
When it comes to Springsteen covers, the Earth Band occupies the throne with not one but three successfully charting hits–all of which scored higher than Bruce was able to do by himself.
The band is best known for their lyric-mangling version of “Blinded by the Light,” which to this day remains Bruce’s only #1 hit song when Mann took it there in early 1977. Three years later, he took Bruce’s deep cut “For You” to #15.
But the Earth Band actually covered another Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J. track even earlier–so early, in fact, that Bruce wasn’t even cool yet.
Their 1975 album Nightingales & Bombers led off with a lengthy, groovy cover of “Spirits in the Night” (the “s” would maddeningly come and go over the years with various edits and re-issues).
“Spirits in the Night” was released as a single in the U.K. a full month before Bruce became a mega-star with the release of Born to Run; a U.S. version followed in early 1976.
The single was a heavily edited (for length) version of the album track with vocalist Mick Rogers, and despite some early publicity (including the band’s appearance on Dutch television show TopPop below), “Spirits in the Night” performed disappointingly, peaking at #97 on the Billboard Hot 100.
It was probably just a little too soon.
Because while Mann’s version of “Spirit in the Night” was flying under the radar, Bruce was continuing to build his breakout buzz. When the Earth Band scored a mega-hit the following year with “Blinded by the Light,” the band figured maybe they should take another run at their earlier cover.
But rather than re-release their original 1975 recording featuring Rogers (who had left the band shortly after the release of Nightingales & Bombers), they decided to record a completely new overdub with new vocalist Chris Thompson.
This new version was released in 1977 (after “Blinded by the Light” finished its run on the charts), and this time the band took it all the way to #40 on the Billboard Hot 100.
The Earth Band’s early trilogy of high-flying Greetings from Asbury Park covers remains an unequaled feat in Springsteen history.
But while they haven’t added any new Springsteen songs to their studio albums in the four decades since, they did add a fourth one to their live repertoire. For the past two decades, their live sets have often featured a cover of the only song that came close to carrying Bruce to the #1 spot on his own.
Check out the Earth Band’s version of “Dancing in the Dark” here.
I like this cover better than their version of “Blinded” …