Today (November 10th) is the 35th anniversary of the release of Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band’s first live album, Live 1975-85, which features “Spirit in the Night” as the third song on disc 1. It is the song off Bruce Springsteen‘s debut album, Greetings From Asbury Park, that he’s played live most frequently over the years. It’s also one that’s often seen The Boss making his way into the crowd. E Street Band bassist Garry Tallent recalls how and why that got started
“All of a sudden one night, probably at the Bottom Line, we were doing it. And next thing you know, he’s walking on tables and kicking drinks over and we’re saying, ‘What the hell is he doing?’ Nobody seemed to mind that their drinks are being spilled all over the place and he just sort of kept doing it. And it just seemed like that’s the kind of song that there’s a lot of audience participation and you stick the mic out in audience and get the people to sing along. Basically, he just wanted to get closer to the audience and next thing you know, he’s out there with ‘em.”
REUTERS PHOTO
