Coverinfo
Bruce covered the song 2 times:
2017-04-21 Paramount Theatre, Asbury Park, NJ
Bruce, Southside Johnny, Little Steven & The Disciples of Soul, and more come together on stage as the Upstage Jam Band for a show that took place as part of the Asbury Park Music & Film Festival. In the afternoon the documentary
Just before the Dawn, about the legendary Upstage Club, received its premiere. For this documentary Little Steven, Garry Tallent, Southside Johnny and Vini Lopez were all interviewed. For the show, Bruce mostly contributed guitar and backing vocals. He was not on stage for several additional songs not listed under. He took lead vocals for "Lucille" and duet vocals with Southside on "Something You Got". Vini Lopez takes lead vocals on the first performance since 1971 of "The Ballad Of Jesse James".
Bruce guests with Levon Helm's All Stars. ( Levon Helm's All Stars: Levon Helm/ Paul Branin/ Fred Campbell/ Stan Szelest/ Jim Weider/ Max Weinberg/ Patti Scialfa (Guest)/ Bruce Springsteen (Guest)
Songinfo
"
Up on Cripple Creek" is the fifth song on The Band's eponymous second album, The Band. It was released as an (edited) single on Capitol 2635 in November 1969 . "Up on Cripple Creek" was written by Band guitarist and principal songwriter Robbie Robertson, with drummer Levon Helm singing lead vocal. the song is sung from the point of view of a truck driver who goes to Lake Charles, Louisiana, to stay with a local girl, Bessie, with whom he has a history. In the song, he gambles, drinks, listens to music, and spends time with "little Bessie," At the end of the song, after exhausting himself on the road, he talks about going home to his woman.
Bruce on the artist
Bruce and The Band : 10 video's
2023-08-11 Wrigley Field, Chicago, IL
Bruce dedicated 'I'll see you in my dreams' to Robbie Robertson who passed away earlier that week. (09/08/2023)
Bruce on Levon Helm from "The Band " :
After the passing of Levon Helm, Bruce did tribute to Helm by covering "
the weight " telling how he influenced him, joking that when he auditioned drummer Max Weinberg that he made him sing. "He was one of the greatest, greatest voices in country, rockabilly and rock & roll," Bruce said of Helm. "Levon's voice and drumming was so incredibly versatile. He had a feel on the drums ... it comes out of a certain place in the past and you can't replicate it."
"There is no band that emphasizes becoming greater than the sum of its parts than the Band," Springsteen says in the trailer. "Simply their name: the Band. That was it."
The documentary provides the Band’s history, from their days backing Bob Dylan to their breakout debut album, Music From Big Pink to that all-star farewell concert. The film itself, out February 21st 2020, employs rare archival footage, photographs from the era, the Band’s music, and interviews with Robertson, as well as Springsteen, Clapton, Scorsese, Van Morrison, and others.
In a 1974 interview , Springsteen says that Hazy Davy's character out of 'Spirit in the night' was partly inspired by Little John, the character of '
the moon struck one' by The Band.
Lyrics
When I get off of this mountain, you know where I want to go?
Straight down the Mississippi river, to the Gulf of Mexico
To Lake Charles, Louisiana, little Bessie, girl that I once knew
She told me just to come on by, if there's anything she could do
Up on Cripple Creek she sends me
If I spring a leak she mends me
I don't have to speak, she defends me
A drunkard's dream if I ever did see one
Good luck had just stung me, to the race track I did go
She bet on one horse to win and I bet on another to show
The odds were in my favor, I had 'em five to one
When that nag to win came around the track, sure enough she had won
Up on Cripple Creek she sends me
If I spring a leak she mends me
I don't have to speak, she defends me
A drunkard's dream if I ever did see one
I took up all of my winnings, and I gave my little Bessie half
She tore it up and threw it in my face, just for a laugh
Now there's one thing in the whole wide world, I sure would like to see
That's when that little love of mine, dips her doughnut in my tea
Up on Cripple Creek she sends me
If I spring a leak she mends me
I don't have to speak, she defends me
A drunkard's dream if I ever did see one
Now me and my mate were back at the shack, we had Spike Jones on the box
She said, "I can't take the way he sings, but I love to hear him talk"
Now that just gave my heart a throb, to the bottom of my feet
And I swore as I took another pull, my Bessie can't be beat
Up on Cripple Creek she sends me
If I spring a leak she mends me
I don't have to speak, she defends me
A drunkard's dream if I ever did see one
Now there's a flood out in California and up north it's freezing cold
And this living on the road is getting pretty old
So I guess I'll call up my big mama, tell her I'll be rolling in
But you know, deep down, I'm kind of tempted to go and see my Bessie again
Up on Cripple Creek she sends me
If I spring a leak she mends me
I don't have to speak, she defends me
A drunkard's dream if I ever did see one