{"id":25335,"date":"2021-02-15T05:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-02-15T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/?p=25335"},"modified":"2024-01-02T16:06:39","modified_gmt":"2024-01-03T00:06:39","slug":"cover-me-wedding-bells","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/2021\/02\/15\/cover-me-wedding-bells\/","title":{"rendered":"Cover Me: Wedding Bells"},"content":{"rendered":"

“What I’ve been listening to now… is a lot of Hank Williams. He was fantastic. God, he’s just incredible.” — <\/span>Bruce Springsteen to Ed Sciaky, August 19, 1978<\/em><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In the summer of 1978, Bruce Springsteen was practically obsessed with the music of Hank Williams. It was the beginning of his fascination with country music and his determination to infuse some of Hank’s spirit into his own material.<\/p>\n

It wouldn’t be long before Williams’ influence made itself known in Bruce’s songwriting, but it turned up on stage right away.<\/p>\n

Just two days after Bruce gave that interview to Ed Sciaky, he soundchecked Hank’s “Jambalaya (On the Bayou)<\/a>.” A week later, he included his first Hank Williams song in his main set, “(I Heard That) Lonesome Whistle<\/a>.”<\/p>\n

In the bootlegged audio from that show, the crowd sounds respectful but disengaged, which may be why Bruce decided to save his Hank Williams covers for soundchecks.<\/p>\n

Over the remainder of the summer, Bruce continued to soundcheck Hank Williams covers, although only a few were surreptitiously captured on tape. One of those was Williams’ “Wedding Bells,” which kicked off the E Street Band’s soundcheck before their homecoming show at the Capitol Theater in Passaic on September 20, 1978.<\/p>\n