{"id":30903,"date":"1988-03-25T11:00:00","date_gmt":"1988-03-25T19:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/?p=30903"},"modified":"2026-02-08T07:44:26","modified_gmt":"2026-02-08T15:44:26","slug":"matr-sonny-burgess-and-bruce-springsteen-we-wanna-boogie","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/1988\/03\/25\/matr-sonny-burgess-and-bruce-springsteen-we-wanna-boogie\/","title":{"rendered":"We Wanna Boogie"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>In fairness, they probably never stood a chance.<\/p>\n<p>To this day, Sonny Burgess&#8217; original 1956 recording of &#8220;We Wanna Boogie&#8221; is one of the hardest rocking singles I have ever heard.<\/p>\n<div class=\"jetpack-video-wrapper\"><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"758\" height=\"427\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/lu8CcvTPg9k?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/div>\n<p>Set to a boogie-woogie beat with an audacious trumpet solo and a Killer-rivaling performance by Kern Kennedy on piano, &#8220;We Wanna Boogie&#8221; shreds its rockabilly trappings at around the 1:30 mark with a down and dirty twenty-second Burgess guitar solo and pounding drums that absolutely electrify.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We Wanna Boogie&#8221; became Burgess&#8217; signature hit, one that he would play for the entire duration of his long career.<\/p>\n<p>Shortly after the terror attacks of 2001, Burgess played &#8220;We Wanna Boogie&#8221; at the Alliance of Neighbors benefit concert for local 9\/11 victims, televised on local cable channel CN8.<\/p>\n<p>It was Burgess&#8217; set, but he had a special guest on stage: Bruce Springsteen, with whom he&#8217;d just performed &#8220;Tiger Rose,&#8221; a Springsteen original that Burgess covered on his 1996 album. They&#8217;d done it the previous night as well, but this time Sonny asked Bruce to stay on stage for &#8220;We Wanna Boogie.&#8221; Bruce obliged but kept to the background except for two prominent guitar solos. (I suspect Sonny&#8217;s invitation was unplanned.)<\/p>\n<div id=\"v-hJQojRNB-1\" class=\"video-player\"><iframe title='VideoPress Video Player' aria-label='VideoPress Video Player' width='758' height='568' src='https:\/\/videopress.com\/embed\/hJQojRNB?hd=1&amp;cover=1&amp;loop=0&amp;autoPlay=0&amp;permalink=1&amp;muted=0&amp;controls=1&amp;playsinline=0&amp;useAverageColor=0&amp;preloadContent=metadata' frameborder='0' allowfullscreen data-resize-to-parent=\"true\" allow='clipboard-write'><\/iframe><script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\" src='https:\/\/s0.wp.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/video\/assets\/js\/next\/videopress-iframe.js'><\/script><\/div>\n<p>The 72-year-old Burgess carried the song commendably, but there&#8217;s no candle held between their 2001 performance and his 1956 original with The Pacers.<\/p>\n<p>Still, this was a one-time-only performance of one of the earliest hard-rocking classics, and we&#8217;re fortunate to have it captured in such great quality.<\/p>\n<p><strong>We Wanna Boogie<br \/>\nFirst performed:<\/strong> October 19, 2001 (Red Bank, NJ)<br \/>\n<strong>Last performed:<\/strong> October 19, 2001 (Red Bank, NJ)<\/p>\n<p>\u00a9 November 14, 2021<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>One time only: Bruce joins rockabilly pioneer Sonny Burgess on his earliest hard-rocking classic.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":30908,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4,3609,5],"tags":[2125,3335],"class_list":["post-30903","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cover-me","category-little-help","category-meeting-across-the-river","tag-sonny-burgess","tag-we-wanna-boogie"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/wewannaboogie.jpg?fit=1280%2C720&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9w3Lk-82r","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":32366,"url":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/2022\/01\/16\/matr-bruce-springsteen-clarence-clemons-and-danny-clinch-rockin-pneumonia-and-the-boogie-woogie-flu\/","url_meta":{"origin":30903,"position":0},"title":"MatR: Bruce Springsteen, Clarence Clemons, and Danny Clinch: Rockin&#8217; Pneumonia And The Boogie Woogie Flu","author":"Ken","date":"January 16, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Three times only: Bruce teamed up with The Red Bank Rockers and The Tangiers Blues Band on Huey Smith's barroom classic.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Cover Me&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Cover Me","link":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/category\/cover-me\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/huey.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/huey.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/huey.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/huey.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/huey.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":7160,"url":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/2019\/01\/26\/rotd-matr-cm-tiger-rose\/","url_meta":{"origin":30903,"position":1},"title":"RotD\/MatR\/CM: Tiger Rose","author":"Ken","date":"January 26, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"A castoff from the Ghost of Tom Joad recording sessions, \"Tiger Rose\" made its way to an official release and stage performance via the late, great Sonny Burgess. Watch Bruce and Sonny perform it together inside.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Cover Me&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Cover Me","link":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/category\/cover-me\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/tigerrose.jpg?fit=600%2C601&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/tigerrose.jpg?fit=600%2C601&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/tigerrose.jpg?fit=600%2C601&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":24826,"url":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/2021\/03\/07\/roll-of-the-dice-i-want-to-be-wild\/","url_meta":{"origin":30903,"position":2},"title":"Roll of the Dice: I Want to Be Wild","author":"Ken","date":"March 7, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"In 1977, Bruce had a killer backing track in search of some lyrics. The search continues.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Roll of the Dice&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Roll of the Dice","link":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/category\/roll-of-the-dice\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/247601-Want-To-Be-Wild-1.jpg?fit=480%2C480&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":44211,"url":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/1988\/09\/18\/matr-paul-mccartney-and-bruce-springsteen-i-wanna-be-your-man\/","url_meta":{"origin":30903,"position":3},"title":"I Wanna Be Your Man","author":"Ken","date":"September 18, 1988","format":false,"excerpt":"It was a surprising choice for a surprise performance, but it proved so nice they did it twice.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Cover Me&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Cover Me","link":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/category\/cover-me\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/wannabe.jpg?fit=998%2C1000&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/wannabe.jpg?fit=998%2C1000&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/wannabe.jpg?fit=998%2C1000&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/wannabe.jpg?fit=998%2C1000&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":25334,"url":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/2021\/03\/02\/roll-of-the-dice-i-wanna-start-a-new-life\/","url_meta":{"origin":30903,"position":4},"title":"Roll of the Dice: I Wanna Start a New Life","author":"Ken","date":"March 2, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"This gorgeous Jackson Browne-ian work-in-progress ballad might have made for a gorgeous song had Bruce completed it.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Roll of the Dice&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Roll of the Dice","link":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/category\/roll-of-the-dice\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/newlife.jpg?fit=1200%2C857&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/newlife.jpg?fit=1200%2C857&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/newlife.jpg?fit=1200%2C857&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/newlife.jpg?fit=1200%2C857&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/newlife.jpg?fit=1200%2C857&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":15196,"url":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/2020\/01\/20\/roll-of-the-dice-all-i-wanna-know\/","url_meta":{"origin":30903,"position":5},"title":"Roll of the Dice: All I Wanna Know","author":"Ken","date":"January 20, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Never recorded, released, or even performed, \"All I Wanna Know\" is a fascinating sneak peek at the early, evolving songwriting craft of Bruce Springsteen.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Roll of the Dice&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Roll of the Dice","link":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/category\/roll-of-the-dice\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/All-I-Want-To-Know-2.jpg?fit=1110%2C530&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/All-I-Want-To-Know-2.jpg?fit=1110%2C530&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, 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