Roll of the Dice: I Got to Have You, Baby

Ah… summer’s here. Time to take those old, good-time Bruce Springsteen Band recordings for a spin!

We’ll take a few trips back to the Bruce Springsteen Band era this summer, starting with this gem from the band’s March 1972 rehearsal sessions at Tinker West’s Challenger Eastern Surfboards makeshift studio. You’re in for a treat, because the sound quality of this recording is outstanding.

This is also from the last known recording of the Bruce Springsteen Band, which at the time consisted of Bruce, Steve Van Zandt, Garry Tallent, David Sancious, and Vini Lopez. Within a matter of weeks, Bruce would be recording demos for his first album, and by the autumn the Bruce Springsteen Band would evolve into the E Street Band with the addition of Danny Federici and Clarence Clemons.

But here at Tinker’s place in the spring of 1972, we’re eavesdropping on a small band seemingly without a care in the world. Their performance of Bruce’s original song, “I Got to Have You, Baby,” is loose but confident with some delightful interplay between the band members, who oblige their boss with party noises from the get-go.

(Yeah, I hear the theme from Sesame Street, too. I have no idea if that was intentional, although the show was certainly on the air by then.)

There’s no point in analyzing “I Got to Have You, Baby.” Like much of the Bruce Springsteen Band’s original material, this is a breezy, bluesy number designed to serve as a showcase for the band members.

Well I got to have you, baby
Oh got to hang on down
Got to have you, Mama
I know we can work it out

Because I got to have you, baby
Yes, I got to have it in my soul
Oh but if things don’t happen no faster
I’ll pack up my clothes and move to Alaska

Ah, you know I need ya honey
Oh goddess, yes I do
You know I need you, baby
[Steve] There ain’t nothing old Brucie wouldn’t do!

Because I got to have you, baby
I got to have you in my soul
Yes now you know I need you, honey
Almost as much as I need rock and roll

And show off they do, first Sancious and then Steve, taking a rare guitar solo in a Springsteen original song.

I said I got to have you, baby
Oh papa, ain’t no doubt
Yes I got to have you, mama
I know we can work it out

Because I got to have you, baby
I got to have you now in my soul
Oh but don’t leave my heart broken
I’ll pack up my clothes and move to Hoboken

Yes I got to have you, mama
Lord, I got to have you, baby
And you have got to have me

If the band sounds comfortable with their material, that’s probably because it wasn’t their first run-through. We know they performed it at least once the previous September (we have a bootleg of that one too, although nowhere near as great-sounding as this one), and given the scarcity of set lists from that period, it’s likely that wasn’t the only time.

But like much of the material from the too-short-lived BSB, “I Got to Have You Baby” was never recorded in the studio, and Bruce has never revisited it on stage. Thankfully, though, we can always set the wayback machine for 1971-72 and relive those great early performances.

Note: Some Springsteen resource sites refer to “I Got to Have You, Baby” as a cover of the Jimmy Jones and The Pretenders song, “I’ve Got to Have You, Baby.” It’s not. Other than sharing a title, the two songs have nothing in common. This is clearly a Springsteen original.

I’ve Got Have You, Baby
First performed: September 1, 1971 (Long Branch, NJ)
Last performed: March 14, 1972 (Highlands, NJ)

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