Chuck Berry performs with Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band at Municipal Stadium in Cleveland on Sept. 2, 1995.
“Chuck Berry was rock’s greatest practitioner, guitarist, and the greatest pure rock ‘n’ roll writer who ever lived,” said Bruce Springsteen when Chuck Berry died, in 2017, at the age of 90. So it is no surprise that Springsteen has covered Berry’s songs in concert, many times.
Alas, no video exists from the time when Springsteen and the E Street Band backed Berry at the University of Maryland on April 28, 1973. But Springsteen has performed Berry’s songs many other times throughout the years, and with The Bruce Springsteen Center for American Music at Monmouth University in West Long Branch having scheduled a Berry symposium and concert at Monmouth’s Pollak Theatre on Oct. 10 (to mark the 100th anniversary of his birth, on Oct. 18, 1926), I thought it was a good time to put together a compilation of recordings or videos showing him doing so.
Here they are in chronological order. (I have included only one performance per song, and have left out songs for which no YouTube videos were available.) Enjoy!
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“Back in the USA.” With the E Street Band, at The Main Point in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, on Feb. 5, 1975.
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“No Money Down.” Springsteen performed most of “No Money Down” as part of the intro to “Cadillac Ranch” on his River Tour in 1980 and 1981. Here he is doing so at Arizona State University in Tempe, on Nov. 5, 1980.
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“Johnny Bye-Bye.” Not a Chuck Berry song, per se, but Springsteen’s adaption of Berry’s “Bye Bye Johnny,” with both men sharing the writing credit. Performed here with The E Street Band at Wembley Stadium in London on June 5, 1981.
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“Around and Around.” With Cats on a Smooth Surface at The Stone Pony in Asbury Park in the summer of 1982.
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“Carol.” With Dave Edmunds and Edmunds’ band at Big Man’s West in Red Bank on Sept. 18, 1982.
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“Memphis, Tennessee.” A partial cover, included as part of “The Detroit Medley” at an E Street Band concert at The Mid-South Coliseum in Memphis on Dec. 14, 1984.
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“Sweet Little Sixteen.” Springsteen guests with Jackson Browne and Browne’s band at a Bally’s Grand “Grandstand Under the Stars” concert in Atlantic City on June 30, 1989.
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“Johnny B. Goode.” Springsteen and the E Street Band backing Berry himself, at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame opening celebration concert at Municipal Stadium in Cleveland on Sept. 2, 1995.
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“Rock and Roll Music.” Another clip from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame opening celebration concert.
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“Promised Land.” Springsteen, of course, has his own song titled “The Promised Land.” But on May 2, 1999 at The Manchester Evening News Arena, he sang part of Berry’s “Promised Land” as an intro to “Working on the Highway.”
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“Little Queenie.” Springsteen and The E Street Band at The Scottrade Center in St. Louis on Aug. 23, 2008.
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“Run Rudolph Run.” Performed with Jon Bon Jovi and Bobby Bandiera at the charity event The Hope Concert at The Count Basie Center for the Arts (then known as The Count Basie Theatre) in Red Bank on Dec. 12, 2008.
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“Roll Over Beethoven.” Springsteen and The E Street Band at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis on Oct. 25, 2009.
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“You Never Can Tell.” Springsteen and The Street Band at The Red Bull Arena in Leipzig, Germany, on July 7, 2013.
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Bonus clip: Springsteen talks about Berry in the 1987 documentary, “Hail! Hail! Rock ‘n’ Roll.”
Thanks to the Brucebase Wiki, whose information was essential in putting together this post.
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