I think we’re gonna have to take this one on faith.
On the night of September 4, 1977, Bruce Springsteen made an unannounced guest appearance at The Stone Pony with the club’s new house band, The Shots.
Taking the baton from from Southside Johnny and The Asbury Jukes, The Shots were led by lead guitarist Billy Hector, who has a Springsteen recording credit to his name: we can hear him on Bruce’s 2009 “Savin’ Up” duet with John Luraschi on Luraschi’s The End of the Road album.
Bruce played two songs with The Shots that night, the first of which was a cover of “Farther Up the Road” (not to be confused with Bruce’s similarly named song) by Bobby “Blue” Bland.
“Farther Up the Road” is a classic Texas blues shuffle from 1957 and one of Bland’s best-known songs, which might have at least a little to do with Eric Clapton’s frequent covers of it.
Bruce’s cover with The Shots owes more to Clapton’s arrangement than Bland’s original, but like I said above: we’ll have to take it on faith that they’re actually playing “Farther Up the Road.”
It certainly sounds like it, and I can make out the title phrase a couple of times, but the recording is so distant and muffled that I can’t make out any of the other lyrics clearly.
It certainly sounds to me like Bruce is ad libbing quite a bit (as is his wont), so it’s too bad we don’t have a clear recording to appreciate.
Still, this remains the only time to date that Bruce has covered this early Texas blues standard.
Farther Up the Road
First performed: September 4, 1977 (Asbury Park, NJ)
Last performed: September 4, 1977 (Asbury Park, NJ)
