Elliott Murphy - Rock Ballad

First performance: 30/06/1992

Coverinfo

Bruce performed the song only once: 
 
 
1992-06-30 Palais Omnisports De Paris-Bercy, Paris, France 

Elliott Murphy guests on the only known Springsteen performance of "Rock Ballad" and does most of the singing. Bruce also soundchecked the song.
 
before the song :

(does the intro in French)...." here´s an old friend of mine....a great songwriter from the United States, we started together back in New York City in the 70´s, ...gonna come up and sing a song, let me have a nice, warm round of applause for Elliot Murphy....he lives here in Paris now..." 

Songinfo

"Rock ballad" is a song written and recorded by Elliott Murphy and taken from the album "Just a story from America" ( 1976 ) . The album featured guest artists former Rolling Stones guitarist Mick Taylor and future Genesis front man Phil Collins on drums. "Anastasia" was a minor hit in France and "Drive All Night" was a hit for the Japanese band The Roosters in 1980.
 
 
 

Other cover versions

Bruce on the artist

Bruce had 17 performances together with Elliott Murphy: 
 
  
 
1992-06-30 - PALAIS OMNISPORTS DE PARIS-BERCY, PARIS, FRANCE
1994-10-21 - THE PLAYPEN, SAYREVILLE, NJ 
1996-04-25 - BRIXTON ACADEMY, LONDON, ENGLAND
1997-05-26 - PALAIS DES CONGRÉS DE PARIS, PARIS, FRANCE
1999-05-27 - FLANDERS EXPO, GHENT, BELGIUM
1999-06-02 - PALAIS OMNISPORTS DE PARIS-BERCY, PARIS, FRANCE
2002-10-14 - PALAIS OMNISPORTS DE PARIS-BERCY, PARIS, FRANCE
2002-10-18 - PALAMALAGUTI, BOLOGNA, ITALY
2003-05-19 - ESTADIO DE LA COMUNIDAD, MADRID, SPAIN
2005-06-20 - PALAIS OMNISPORTS DE PARIS-BERCY, PARIS, FRANC E
2006-05-10 - PALAIS OMNISPORTS DE PARIS-BERCY, PARIS, FRANCE
2007-12-17 - PALAIS OMNISPORTS DE PARIS-BERCY, PARIS, FRANCE
2008-06-27 - PARC DES PRINCES, PARIS, FRANCE
2012-06-11 - STADIO NEREO ROCCO, TRIESTE, ITALY
2013-05-03 - FRIENDS ARENA, SOLNA, SWEDEN
2013-06-29 - STADE DE FRANCE, SAINT-DENIS, FRANCE
2016-07-11 - ACCORHOTELS ARENA, PARIS, FRANCE
 
Bruce also contributed to the studio recording of Everything I do (Leads me back to you), providing duet vocals. Eliot Murphy recorded his album at IPC Studios in Belgium. Springsteen overdubbed his parts around mid-1995 at Thrill Hill West, his home studio in Los Angeles, CA. 

Elliott Murphy talking about the songs on Selling The Gold:

"Everything I Do (Leads Me Back To You) is a complicated love song of sorts after finally realizing that to love another I must learn to love myself first. I wrote the song after listening to Lucinda Williams and admiring her sense of phrasing so much. Bruce Springsteen and I had done Rock Ballad together at one of his shows in Paris in 1992 and after 20 years of friendship it was the first time we sang together so I asked him to sing with me on this one because I thought our voices would blend well. He decided to sing that second verse without any prompting from me. I guess the "blow my tires out...rolling on my rims" imagery was irresistible. " 
 
"It was an incredible moment for me,” Murphy wrote in a 2008 essay, “and I got to admit I was nervous as hell. When I walked to the stage with Bruce’s late and truly missed assistant Terry Magovern I think I was visibly shaking and Terry put his hand on my shoulder saying ‘Elliott, its just like the old days only more people.’ That calmed me right down and Bruce and I settled into the song in front of 18,000 fans like we were back at Max’s Kansas City. Hearing our voices together was kind of an epiphany – they blended together better then I would have imagined."
 

Lyrics

When the moon was just right
We could turn off the light and just listen
And we'd pray to the night
And we'd hold on so tight
You could hear crystal stars as they'd glisten
Lovers in vain
Like to walk in the rain
Like to hear distant trains emotion
And the late radio
We would play it so low
No one must know this devotion
Rock ballad - Rock ballad
You know baby and I used to listen all night long
To the real slow song -Till the tears were gone
And these jobs and these schools
Teach romance is for fools
And the dream always ends upon waking
And we all kept our cool like a hustler shoot pool
And soon your whole life is spent faking
Cause to try is to fail
And as the wind left your sails
All you heard was the sound of their laughter
But I was running so fast
With the wind racing past
All r heard was a voice say "go after her"
CHORUS
And these soul clarinets
And the feelings we get
It's the songs of regret I remember
And we placed our last bet
On loves long shot request
As they spun the roulette that September
Now let's all raise our glass
For a drink to the past
And a drink to the last chance taken
And let's drink once again to our long lost friends
No, we can't let it end the surf's breaking
Rock ballad
Rock ballad