Cover Me: One of Us Must Know (Sooner or Later)

Long before From My Home to Yours made it easy, you could get a glimpse into Bruce Springsteen’s musical influences if you were sneaky enough to figure out a way into his sound checks.

Because while Bruce leads the E Street Band through old warhorses and nightly specials before every show to make sure everything sounds just right, he’s also given to improvising songs he’s never played in concert–and probably never will.

Case in point: Bob Dylan’s “One of Us Must Know (Sooner or Later)” from his 1966 album Blonde on Blonde. Released as a single, “One of Us Must Know” only peaked at #33 in the U.K. and didn’t even crack the Top 100 in the U.S. Even on their list of “Greatest Bob Dylan Songs,” Rolling Stone ranked it only #82.

And yet, there’s something about it that earns one’s attention. Maybe it’s the nine hours of craftsmanship and 24 takes that went into it; maybe it’s Dylan’s mesmerizing, surly-yet-contrite vocals; perhaps it’s the piano-and-organ-borne backing track that sounds like it was tailor-made for the E Street Band.

So sooner or later (sorry), they were bound to take a crack at it. It might not fit the vibe of Bruce’s set lists, but at soundcheck anything goes. And anything did in Atlanta on the Tunnel of Love Express Tour.

The 1988 tour is famous among fans for generating some unique soundcheck covers, and the night of March 23rd was a prime example. Bruce was in a Van Morrison mood that night (covering three of his songs), and he delved into the catalogs of Sam Cooke, The Animals, and Manfred Mann as well.

Toward the end of the rehearsal, Bruce turned his attention to Dylan, opening his songbook to “Just Like a Woman” and following up with “One of Us Must Know” (a telling selection given what was going on in his personal life at the moment).

Sure enough, Roy Bittan is appropriately front and center in the too-brief two-minute clip, and while the taper was too distant to catch Bruce’s vocals clearly, we get a very good sense of how majestic an E Street Band cover might have sounded if they ever attempted it live.

That 1988 soundcheck is the only known time Bruce has performed Dylan’s underperforming 1966 single, and at this point it’s likely to remain that way. Still, we never know what debuts and rare covers Bruce might whip out on any given night, so perhaps it’s just a matter of time. Sooner or later…

One of Us Must Know (Sooner or Later)
First performed: March 23, 1988 (Atlanta, GA – soundcheck only)
Last performed: March 23, 1988 (Atlanta, GA – soundcheck only)