The hardest part about this entry? Figuring out how to tag it.<\/p>\n
It’s a Springsteen original composition, so it fits under my Roll of the Dice<\/em> series. But Bruce never recorded it himself–he gave it away to Gary U.S. Bonds, so it’s a Cover Me entry, too. And yet, Bruce and the E Street Band are the featured musicians, so maybe it’s a meeting across the river.<\/p>\n Whatever it is, it’s also borderline criminal that Bruce never released his own version of “Your Love,” because it’s an unquestionably great song.\u00a0“Your Love” is actually one of three<\/em>\u00a0great songs that Bruce wrote for Gary’s 1981\u00a0Dedication\u00a0<\/em>album. There’s no question in my mind that all three would have become fan favorites if Bruce had included them on his own albums.<\/p>\n But Bruce was determined to help engineer a comeback for Bonds, who was both a friend and idol of his. Bruce had been performing Bonds’ “Quarter to Three” in encores for years, so when Bonds came through town and played a local New Jersey club, he invited Bruce on stage to sing with him. Bruce had a blast with Gary on-stage and struck up a friendship, urging him to release a new album. Bruce enlisted Steve Van Zandt as producer (Bruce would co-produce part of the album) and the E Street Band and the Miami Horns as backing musicians, and the result was what might more accurately be called Gary U.S. Bonds and the E Street Band:\u00a0Dedication.<\/em><\/p>\n “Your Love” features not just the E Street Band and the Miami Horns, but also the great Ben E. King and Chuck Jackson on backing vocals. How do you go wrong with that level of assembled talent and a Bruce Springsteen-penned original song?<\/p>\n You don’t. Listen for yourself:<\/p>\n