Jimi Hendrix - Purple Haze

First performance: 16/09/1967


Coverinfo

Bruce covered the song 2 times in the early years: 
 
 
1968-09-00 Ocean County College, Toms River, NJ
Springsteen (along with fellow Earth-band members John Graham and Michael Burke) entered Ocean County College in September 1968. Bruce ended up staying for three semesters, dropping out in December 1969 shortly after his parents moved to California. Earth is believed to have performed several times at Ocean County College during the September to December 1968 period. Springsteen even contributed a piece of poetry to Seascape, the school's Literary Yearbook. The twenty-six mentioned songs are taken from the only known Earth-era repertoire listing. The document is likely to have been created by Springsteen in September or October 1968. The amount of tracks displayed, their sequencing, plus the header and numbering notation by Bruce, all point to this as being an inventory of Earth's live repertoire of 'cover' material. For this reason it is of greater historical significance than an individual gig setlist, particularly in that no Earth audio is circulating. A few of these songs are performance hold-overs from the The Castiles-era. Since Earth was a three-piece band it's hardly surprising that material from both Cream and The Jimi Hendrix Experience (the era's two premier three-piece bands) are abundantly represented.
  
photo credit Billy Smith
 

1967-09-16 Left Foot (The), Freehold, NJ 
This was grand opening night at The Left Foot, an "over 13, under 18" club located in the recreation centre of St Peter's Episcopal Church at 37 Throckmorton Street. The club was opened by Reverend George Errickson and Reverend Fred Coleman, along with two High School students, Harold Breiner and William Cottrell. Patrons sat on cushions. Sadly The Left Foot had a short existence (seven months). This was the first of only two live appearances by The Castiles at the club - fortunately both appearances were audience recorded by Left Foot Manager (and St Peter’s priest) Fred Coleman on a good quality reel-to reel device. The-mentioned thirteen-song setlist represents The Castiles’ complete song performance in the correct sequence and they are all covers of other artists’ material. Although Springsteen may have started out in mid-1965 singing mostly background vocals, it is clear that by this point Bruce is the band’s focal point. Bruce handles the lead vocals on all songs except 'Eleanor Rigby', 'See My Friends' and The Blues Project’s haunting 'Steve’s Song' (all handled by George Theiss). Tex Vinyard, The Castiles’ manager, is heard introducing the band at the start of the second set. Interestingly the group uses The Yardbirds' instrumental 'Jeff’s Boogie' twice, as both the first set closer and show closer. A recording of Wille Dixon's "You Can't Judge A Book By The Cover" will be officially released on September 23, 2016 on Chapter & Verse, the companion album to Springsteen's autobiography Born To Run. 
 
 
  
   

Songinfo

"Purple Haze" is a song written by Jimi Hendrix and released as the second record single by the Jimi Hendrix Experience on March 17, 1967. The song features his inventive guitar playing, which uses the signature Hendrix chord and a mix of blues and Eastern modalities, shaped by novel sound processing techniques. Because of ambiguities in the lyrics, listeners often interpret the song as referring to a psychedelic experience, although Hendrix described it as a love song. In the middle of December, producer Chas Chandler heard Hendrix toying around with a new guitar riff. "I heard him playing it at the flat and was knocked out. I told him to keep working on that, saying, 'That's the next single!' Chandler claimed that after some more urging, Hendrix wrote the rest of "Purple Haze" in the dressing room of a London club during the afternoon of December 26, 1966, before a gig. In several interviews, Hendrix spoke about writing the song, but did not mention where or when he wrote it. 
 
 
 

Other cover versions

Bruce on the artist

Lyrics

Purple Haze all in my brain,
lately things don't seem the same,
actin' funny but I don't know why
'scuse me while I kiss the sky.

Purple Haze all around,
don't know if I'm coming up or down.
Am I happy or in misery?
Whatever it is, that girl put a spell on me.

Help me
Help me
Oh no, oh

Yeah, Purple Haze all in my eyes,
don't know if it's day or night,
you've got me blowing, blowing my mind
is it tomorrow or just the end of time?

Help me, yeah, Purple Haze!