How is it possible they’ve only performed this together once?
If there’s any song in either of their catalogs that’s better suited for a Billy Joel/Bruce Springsteen duet, I can’t think of it.
And yet it only happened once–but what a night that was.
The song is “Allentown,” Billy’s 1982 hit single and ode to blue collar workers and communities.
“Allentown” only reached #17 on the Billboard Hot 100, but it refused to leave for almost a half a year. That was enough to earn it a #43 berth on the year-end rankings for 1983.
It became one of Billy’s greatest hits and has appeared on virtually every compilation or live album he released ever since.
And yet.
Although they’d shared a stage together a half-dozen times before, it took an October 2008 benefit show for U.S. presidential candidate Barack Obama for Bruce and Billy to go deep into each other’s catalogs and find some one-time-only gems just begging for a team-up.
Among the songs they played that night was “Allentown,” with Bruce and Billy trading lead vocals. And of course, Billy let Bruce take the second half of the first verse, because you simply can’t have the words “Jersey shore” in a song and not let Bruce sing them. The crowd responded approvingly.
“Allentown” was just one of the Billy Joel songs that Billy and Bruce performed that night–see “The River of Dreams,” “Movin’ Out (Anthony’s Song)” and “A Matter of Trust” for more amazing one-time-only performances.
Allentown
First performed: October 16, 2008 (New York City, NY)
Last performed: October 16, 2008 (New York City, NY)
Gems–four Joel/Springsteen, Sirius/soundboards exist!. (Either forgotten or did not know.) “Allentown” and 3 links– “The River of Dreams”, “Moving Out (Anthony’s Song), and “A Matter of Trust”–from Hammerstein Ballroom, 10.16.08.
“It turn(s) out to be great choice(s)–the song(s) (are) perfectly suited for Bruce’s range and style, and their performance(s) sounds natural and easy…song(s) that drive straight down the center of Bruce Springsteen’s songwriting lane.” (KR)
So true. This is one, of many, reasons this blog is so valuable.