Some, I promise you hear everyday!! Did you know Bruce Springsteen wrote these five songs for other artists? As the E Street Band makes its way to Boston for Monday, we’ll take a look at some of the songs Bruce wrote for other artists! But first, how’s his tour date goin? With the recent illness running through the band, here’s the update:

Tour Dates Postponed

Columbus March 9 POSTPONED

Uncasville, CT. March 12 POSTPONED

Albany, March 14 POSTPONED

Tour Dates Nearby Still ON

Philadelphia, March 16

Saturday March 18, University Park, PA.

MONDAY March 20, Boston

All eyes are on Philadelphia today and tomorrow to see if the show will be postponed. As of this writing, the show is still on, and that is promising news.

What Songs Did Bruce Write For Other Artists?

My favorite story is below. One song that Bruce wrote and sometimes sings in concert, DID NOT do as well on the charts, for HIM, as it did for another band that covered it! In one TV interview, he shares that the band even changed a word in HIS song, which could have made the difference on why the song did better for them!

In concert, Bruce also LOVES doing cover songs. Here’s a setlist from a recent show. You’ll notice his version of the Commodores hit Nightshift off his new album Only The Strong Survive. 

No Surrender

Ghosts

Prove It All Night

Letter To You

The Promised Land

Out In The Street

Candy’s Room

Kitty’s Back

Nightshift

Don’t Play That Song (You Lied)

The E Street Shuffle

Mansion On The Hill

Johnny 99

Last Man Standing

Backstreets

Because The Night

She’s The One

Wrecking Ball

The Rising

Badlands

Encore-

Thunder Road

Ramrod

Born To Run

Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)

Glory Days

Dancing In The Dark

Tenth Avenue Freeze Out

I’ll See You In My Dreams

So, let’s take a ride in Bruce’s Pink Cadillac! Did you know Springsteen wrote these five songs?

• Pink Cadillac-Natilie Cole

  If you remember 45’s, this is the B side of 1984’s Dancin In The Dark. Not only did Bruce, write and record it, it was recorded by Aretha Franklin, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Bette Midler. The most popular version other than Bruce’s maybe from Natalie Cole.

• Light of Day by The Barbusters (Joan Jett and the Blackhearts)

  In a twist of fictitious fate, Springsteen originally wrote and recorded the song “Light of Day” for his 1983 album Born in the U.S.A. album but shared it with director Paul Schrader for the 1987 movie soundtrack Light of Day. In the film, the song was performed by the made-up band The Barbusters, consisting of Joan Jett and actor Michael J. Fox, and ended up reaching No. 33 on the Billboard Hot 100 with credit to The Barbusters (Joan Jett and the Blackhearts). To this day, Jett still incorporates the song into her live set and even performed it with Fox in 2017 at the Governor General’s Performing Arts Awards Gala in Ottawa, Ontario. (According to American Songwriter)

• Fire-The Pointer Sisters

  This is sad. Bruce actually wrote this for Elvis. But the King died before the demo arrived. According to American Songwriter:

  The story around “Fire” is a sad one since Bruce Springsteen originally wrote the song for Elvis Presley, who passed away before he could even listen to the song. Springsteen wrote the song after seeing Presley perform at the Spectrum in Philadelphia on May 28, 1977. “I sent [Elvis] a demo of it,” said Springsteen, “but he died before it arrived.” Originally recorded and then cut from Darkness on the Edge of Town, The Pointer Sisters covered the song, and it jumped to No. 2 on the charts.

• Spirit in the Night-Manfred Mann’s Earth Band

  NOT the most famous Springsteen cover from Manfred Mann!!

• Blinded By The Light-Manfred Mann

  Bruce himself admitted that Manfred Mann did a BETTER job charting this hit, as Manfred got it to #1! Bruce’s version, oddly didn’t come close. Add to that, in an interview, Bruce said that Manfred Mann changed a word in the song. He felt the band changed the word DEUCE into DOOSH. Manfred Man said he didn’t change the word, but the way he sang it, it came off like he was singing DOOSH.

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