{"id":796,"date":"1988-04-10T11:00:08","date_gmt":"1988-04-10T18:00:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/?p=796"},"modified":"2026-02-08T19:52:37","modified_gmt":"2026-02-09T03:52:37","slug":"meeting-across-the-river-roy-orbison-and-bruce-springsteen-the-comedians","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/1988\/04\/10\/meeting-across-the-river-roy-orbison-and-bruce-springsteen-the-comedians\/","title":{"rendered":"The Comedians"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>In a concert filled with Orbison classics, &#8220;The Comedians&#8221; is an outlier. It was written by Elvis Costello and released on Costello&#8217;s 1984 album,\u00a0<em>Goodbye Cruel World.<\/em><\/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\/kfWAx2RypJw?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>Orbison recorded a cover of &#8220;The Comedians&#8221; but hadn&#8217;t released it at the time of his 1987 all-star\u00a0<em>Black &amp; White Night <\/em>\u00a0concert. Two years later, Orbison was gone, but &#8220;The Comedians&#8221; made its debut posthumously on Orbison&#8217;s final album, <em>Mystery Girl.<\/em><\/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\/AHOAjn2JhCk?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>Roy&#8217;s 1987 performance remains the definitive version, however.\u00a0Bruce takes a backing guitar role on it, and Elvis Costello actually appears as a backing vocalist. So is it a cover or a team-up? You decide.<\/p>\n<p><strong>The Comedians<br \/>\n<\/strong><strong>First performed:\u00a0<\/strong>September 30, 1987 (Los Angeles, CA)<br \/>\n<strong>Last performed:\u00a0<\/strong>September 30 ,1987 (Los Angeles, CA)<\/p>\n<p>\u00a9 February 22, 2018<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Bruce takes a backing guitar role only on this one, but it&#8217;s too beautiful a performance not to include: From\u00a0Black and White Night, &#8220;The Comedians.&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":797,"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":[3609,5],"tags":[384,383,385],"class_list":["post-796","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-little-help","category-meeting-across-the-river","tag-black-and-white-night","tag-roy-orbison","tag-the-comedians"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/roy_and_bruce2.jpg?fit=800%2C450&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9w3Lk-cQ","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":17749,"url":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/1988\/07\/24\/matr-roy-orbison-bruce-springsteen-and-friends-blue-bayou\/","url_meta":{"origin":796,"position":0},"title":"Blue Bayou","author":"Ken","date":"July 24, 1988","format":false,"excerpt":"Bruce's one-time-only performance of \"Blue Bayou\" with Roy Orbison and friends went missing in action for years after being edited out of Roy's Black and White Night TV special, but you can watch that beautiful performance here.","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\/2020\/05\/admin-ajax-24.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/admin-ajax-24.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/admin-ajax-24.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/admin-ajax-24.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/admin-ajax-24.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":10785,"url":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/1988\/01\/31\/matr-roy-orbison-and-bruce-springsteen-dream-baby-how-long-must-i-dream\/","url_meta":{"origin":796,"position":1},"title":"Dream Baby (How Long Must I Dream)","author":"Ken","date":"January 31, 1988","format":false,"excerpt":"One time only: Bruce joins Roy Orbison on vocals for his 1962 hit, \"Dream Baby\" at Roy's 1987 Black and White Night concert. Plus: listen to Bruce adapt the song at home in 1981.","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\/07\/roy-orbison-dream-baby-1962-14.jpg?fit=600%2C602&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/roy-orbison-dream-baby-1962-14.jpg?fit=600%2C602&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/roy-orbison-dream-baby-1962-14.jpg?fit=600%2C602&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":28461,"url":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/2021\/11\/17\/matr-roy-orbison-bruce-springsteen-and-friends-mean-woman-blues\/","url_meta":{"origin":796,"position":2},"title":"MatR: Roy Orbison, Bruce Springsteen, and Friends: Mean Woman Blues","author":"Ken","date":"November 17, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"One time only: Bruce backs Roy Orbison and an all-star band on an Elvis cover that one-ups The King.","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\/2021\/08\/mean.jpg?fit=599%2C607&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/mean.jpg?fit=599%2C607&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/mean.jpg?fit=599%2C607&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":11847,"url":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/1988\/08\/19\/matr-roy-orbison-and-bruce-springsteen-oh-pretty-woman\/","url_meta":{"origin":796,"position":3},"title":"Oh, Pretty Woman","author":"Ken","date":"August 19, 1988","format":false,"excerpt":"Why does Bruce have so much trouble getting through \"Oh, Pretty Woman?\" Who knows, but it's fun to watch him try. Check out a bevy of great performances with Roy Orbison, Elvis Costello, and John Fogerty.","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\/08\/480699073_1161838361960903_8279953581274662997_n.jpg?fit=800%2C793&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/480699073_1161838361960903_8279953581274662997_n.jpg?fit=800%2C793&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/480699073_1161838361960903_8279953581274662997_n.jpg?fit=800%2C793&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/480699073_1161838361960903_8279953581274662997_n.jpg?fit=800%2C793&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5415,"url":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/1988\/03\/15\/matr-roy-orbison-bruce-springsteen-and-friends-blue-angel\/","url_meta":{"origin":796,"position":4},"title":"Blue Angel","author":"Ken","date":"March 15, 1988","format":false,"excerpt":"Originally cut from the Black & White Night broadcast and home video release, \"Blue Angel\" spotlights Roy Orbison's amazing vocals, backed by a stellar band that includes Bruce.","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\/2018\/11\/roy-orbison.png?fit=520%2C510&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":30867,"url":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/1988\/09\/10\/matr-roy-orbison-bruce-springsteen-and-friends-candy-man\/","url_meta":{"origin":796,"position":5},"title":"Candy Man","author":"Ken","date":"September 10, 1988","format":false,"excerpt":"One time only: Bruce joins Roy Orbison and an all-star backing band for a great cover of Roy's 1961 B-side.","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\/01\/admin-ajax-35.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/admin-ajax-35.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/admin-ajax-35.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/admin-ajax-35.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/estreetshuffle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/admin-ajax-35.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/796","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=796"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/796\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":66666,"href":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/796\/revisions\/66666"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/797"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=796"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=796"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=796"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}