Roll of the Dice: I’m Your Detail Man

I only think I’m cataloging every song Bruce has ever written or covered.

Every once in a while I get a reminder that there are probably hundreds, maybe thousands of unknown performances that either weren’t captured on tape or are sitting in someone’s private collection.

Someone like John Stamos, for instance.

In the early days of the Great Pandemic, the actor posted an eyebrow-raising video to his social media accounts: a fifteen-minute excerpt from John Fogerty’s 50th birthday party at Fogerty’s house in the spring of 1995.

At some point during the festivities an impromptu jam session broke out, and among the assembled musicians we can see John, his wife Julie on percussion, Stamos on drums… and one former New Jerseyan about to take a hiatus from rock and roll for a few years.

By way of introduction, Stamos wrote:

“This happened 25 years ago (no Stamos, it wasn’t a dream) It was John Fogerty ‘s intimate 50th surprise birthday party. Now, I promised super cool Julie Fogerty that I would never let this private home-spun video out of my hands. (posting wasn’t even close to being a thing yet) But sitting around during this time, scanning through old videos, I figured it would be extremely special for people to see these two SUPERNOVA’S, two of music’s biggest and most legendary ICONS sing and play together. (In John’s living room, no less) So I asked Julie if it was okay to post a bit … she said, “Sure, and when this whole thing is over, let’s have a barbecue.” I f’n love John & Julie Fogerty so much! Thank you for this unforgettable, once in a lifetime, unimaginable, most incredible musical moment of my life!”

We can forgive Stamos his fanboy excitement–who among us wouldn’t have that reaction playing with some of rock’s most legendary icons?

The set list that night was comprised of Fogerty hits like “Born on the Bayou” and “Proud Mary,” combined with early rock and blues classics like “In the Midnight Hour.”

But it was one song in particular that made even the most knowledgeable Springsteen scholars (and at least one obsessive blogger) snap to attention: a song no one had ever heard before, for which no one could trace the lineage, and for which no reference to its lyrics could be found anywhere on the Internet.

The song is called–we think–“I’m Your Detail Man,” and based on the content and style, I’d lay good odds that it’s a Springsteen original.

“I’m Your Detail Man” is a straight-up party rocker laced with double entendre from start to finish, a boast and a pledge from an attentive lover to his girl. (Given its provenance, I suspect Bruce wrote it around the same time as “Red Headed Woman.”)

Well baby, I’m a hundred percent guaranteed
Honey, I’m a finisher that you need
I’m your detail man
Baby, I’m your detail man
You want to drive down here any time day or night
Call your detail man

Well I’ll dot all your I’s and I’ll cross all your T’s
From your ruby red lips down to your knees
I’m a detail man
Baby, I’m a detail man
You want the job done right any time day or night
Call a detail man

Well, a detail man who never leave you in doubt
I just go to places other men ain’t even read about
I’m a detail man
Sugar, I’m a detail man
You want to drive, come ’round any time day or night
Call your detail man

Don’t matter if you’re custom, don’t matter if you’re stock
Have you purring like a kitty and humming like a clock
If you want someone to spit and shine
Call me little girl and you’re mine

Well it’s as easy as ???
Come to work professionalism ain’t a dirty word
I’m a detail man
I’m a detail man
You want to drive come ’round any time day or night
Call the detail man

The lyrics are very much in keeping with the playful trifles Bruce tossed off during the early to mid-nineties, and the only thing that gives me even the slightest hesitation in unequivocally declaring it an original song is that the jam band seems a bit too familiar with the song for it to be something Bruce pulled out of his hat at the party. Still, there’s no telling whether and for how long they’d rehearsed, and neither Stamos nor Bruce has ever said anything further about it.

Historical significance aside, the coolest thing about that video is just how great a time Bruce is having rocking out, just months before releasing The Ghost of Tom Joad and embarking on a somber acoustic tour that would last until mid-1997.

Anyone who feared Bruce’s rock and roll days were behind him wasn’t at John Fogerty’s birthday party that night.

I’m Your Detail Man
First performed: May 28, 1995 (Beverly Hills, CA)
Last performed: May 28, 1995 (Beverly Hills, CA)

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