Where’s Roy? Springsteen upset over Bittan’s absence from album cover

by JAY LUSTIG
springsteen no nukes cover

The cover of Bruce Springsteen’s 2-CD/DVD release, “The Legendary 1979 No Nukes Concerts.”

The cover of Bruce Springsteen’s upcoming album, “The Legendary No Nukes Concerts,” is a fine one, with The Boss captured in mid-leap on the Madison Square Garden stage, and E Street Band members (from left, Danny Federici, Clarence Clemons, Max Weinberg, Garry Tallent and Steven Van Zandt) clearly visible.

But wait a second. Where is the seventh E Streeter of that era, keyboardist Roy Bittan?

That’s what Springsteen himself thought when he saw it.

“There’s one problem with this album cover,” said Springsteen, holding up the vinyl version (the music will also be available on CD, DVD and blu-Ray) on CBS television’s “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert,” Oct. 25. “Every band member is on it except for Roy Bittan. Roy Bittan is not on this album cover by mistake. And I am very deeply (BLEEP) about it, which is why I bring it up this evening.

“So Roy, you are not here,” he continued, looking directly at the camera and pointing to the album cover. “But you are here in my heart,” he said, putting his hand over his chest.

(UPDATE: Aron Kozin, in a Facebook comment, say he believes Springsteen said “And I am in very deep (BLEEP) about it,” which may be correct. It’s hard to tell.)

You can watch the segment below. Skip to the 2:25 mark to see a brief clip of Springsteen performing some of “Quarter to Three” at one of the “No Nukes” shows.

“The Legendary 1979 No Nukes Concerts” will be released on Nov. 16 (digitally) and on Nov. 19 (physical formats).

Springsteen was on Colbert’s show primarily to promote his new coffee table book, “Renegades: Born in the USA,” a collaboration with Barack Obama.

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