Gary U.S. BondsĀ  - Dear Lady Twist

First performance: 22/10/1976


Coverinfo

Bruce played the song only once:
 
Together with Gary U.S.Bonds
 
 
1976-10-22 Hanger (The), Hazlet, NJ 
 
He played that night other Bonds songs like :
 

Complete setlist details are not known. Brucebase has placed the venue as The Hanger in Hazlet on the basis of a newspaper advert from the Red Bank Register on the day of the concert. Previous information suggested the venue was Fat City in Seaside Heights. A discreet Springsteen turns up (apparently as just another paying customer) at a gig by one of his early '60s musical favourites, Gary U.S. Bonds. About half way through the show Bruce takes the stage, borrows a guitar and provides duet-background vocals for the rest of the show. According to Bonds, Bruce played for nearly an hour. This was the first time Springsteen and Bonds had ever met. Afterwards Springsteen invites Bonds to guest at his show on October 29. In an early 1980s interview Bonds commented: "I was playing down along the Jersey shore. One night the owner of the club came over to me during the show and mentioned that Bruce Springsteen was in the audience and wanted to come up and play. Bruce who? I didn’t recognize the name! But the guys in my band did, so I said OK. When I introduced him the place went crazy… and I’m saying to myself, "gee, what on earth is happening here" ? After the show Bruce gave me an invitation and about a week or so later I sang during one of his shows”.
 
 
  

Songinfo

"Dear Lady Twist" is taken from the album " Twist up calypso" ( 1961 )
 
 
 

Other cover versions

Bruce on the artist

Bruce on Gary U.S. Bonds :
 
 

Gary U.S.Bonds was one of Bruce’s 25 all time hero’s : RollingStone 
 
"No musician on earth was less cool in 1981 than Gary U.S. Bonds. It had been 20 years since the dance classic "Quarter to Three" fell off the charts and the singer had been largely forgotten. But Bruce Springsteen knew the guy had more life in him, and together with Steve Van Zandt he wrote and produced the LP Dedication for Bonds. It was an amazing labor of love that introduced Bonds to a whole new generation of rock fans. They remain close and in 2012 Bonds sat in with the E Street Band at New Jersey's MetLife Stadium.  "

Bruce helped Gary U.S.Bonds improving his carrier with producing the album "Dedication" and "On the line". 
 
  • Dedication 
An album released by Gary U.S. Bonds in 1981, the first of two on which he collaborated with Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band, the second being On the Line, released the following year, 1982. The musicians accompanying Bonds on the album include many members of the E Street Band and the Asbury Jukes.The album includes three songs written by Bruce Springsteen, one written by Steve Van Zandt, and several covers of songs from the Beatles, Bob Dylan, Jackson Browne, and others. It also features a duet between Bonds and Springsteen on the track "Jole Blon". Bonds' early 1960s sound had been a major influence on both Springsteen and Van Zandt. The songs written by Springsteen, including the cover of "Jole Blon", were originally intended for his 1980 album, The River, but he felt they fitted better with Bonds and his versions of them have never been released although he has performed most of them live, often featuring Bonds as a special guest. The album produced several singles. The Springsteen-penned "This Little Girl" was a major success. The album was re-released in 1994 on the Razor Edge label of Razor & Tie music, and then again in 2009 on BGO Records, paired with On the Line. In a 2016 career retrospective interview with Pods & Sods, Gary revealed that a few additional songs and outtakes recorded during this time may eventually be released.


  • On the line
On the Line is an album released by Gary U.S. Bonds in 1982, the second of two on which he collaborated with Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band, the first being Dedication, released the previous year, 1981. The musicians accompanying Bonds on the album include many members of the E Street Band. The album includes seven songs written by Springsteen, one written by Steven Van Zandt, and two written by Bonds himself . Three other songs were recorded for the album but not present on the final release including Springsteen's "Action In the Street", "Lion's Den", and "Savin' Up". Springsteen's version of "Lion's Den" was eventually released in 1998 on his boxset Tracks and "Savin' Up" appeared on Clarence Clemons' first solo album Rescue (1983); " Springsteen's version of "Rendezvous" was finally released in 1998 on the four-disc box set. 
 
Interview with Gary U.S.Bonds about his autobiography : "That's My Story" by Gary U.S. Bonds and Stephen Cooper. 
 

Lyrics

Get up from your chair
Darling, may I have
(Get up from your chair)
The pleasure of having
(Get up from your chair)
This next twist with you
(Get up from your chair)
I don't know how to twist
(Get up from your chair)
You don't know how to twist
(Get up from your chair)
Well, let me tell you
(Get up from your chair)

Well, now, there's a new dance
That's known as the twist
It's really not new
It's something you've missed

But there's a new dance
That's known as the twist
It's really not new
It's something you've missed

Dear lady
(Get up from your chair)
Dear, dear lady
(Get up from your chair)

Well, now, doctors agree
So I've been told
Do the twist and
You'll never grow old

Well, one night I happened
On a go-go dance
Believing I'd find
Me some romance

And this old lady
I happened to see
I said, come on, baby
Do the twist with me

Dear lady
(Get up from your chair)
Oh, dear lady
(Get up from your chair)

Well, now, doctors agree
So I've been told
Do the twist and
You'll never grow old

---- Instrumental Interlude ----

Get up and do the twist now
Yeah, oh, yeah

Well, I said
I'd love to dance
From now until dawn
She said, crazy, baby
But I'm almost gone

I said, now the rhythm
Is getting real sweet
This is no time
To slow up your feet

Dear lady
(Get up from your chair)
Dear, dear lady
(Get up from your chair)

Well, now, doctors agree
So I've been told
Do the twist and
You'll never grow old

You gotta do the twist
You gotta do the twist
Come on, get up
Get up
Come on, come on
Get up and do the twist