Coverinfo
Bruce covered the song only once with his early band 'the Castiles':
1967-09-16 Left Foot (The), Freehold, NJ
Bruce covered the song with his early band ' the Castiles' . 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
"
See My Friends" is a song by the Kinks, written by the group's singer and guitarist, Ray Davies. Released in July 1965. The song incorporates a drone-effect on the electric guitar, reminiscent of the Indian sitar and tambura. Although writer Jonathan Bellman sees it as the first Western rock song to integrate Indian raga sounds (released four months before the Beatles' "
Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)").The song is sometimes mistitled "See My Friend", because this is how the song was identified on the initial UK single pressing. However, the website of Kassner Music, which owns the publishing rights to the song, specifies the title as "See My Friends", and these are also the words Davies clearly sings throughout the track. Most subsequent issues of the song have borne the more familiar "See My Friends" title.
Bruce on the artist
2021-04-28 SiriusXM Studio, New York City
Bruce plays the song during the 21st episode of 'From My Home to Yours', themed "Waiting on a Friend", which is about special rock 'n' roll friendships.
Bruce: " The Kinks, with Ray Davies' 1965 composition, 'See My Friends'. I used to love this song. It was one of the first records to incorporate the modal Indian raga sounds, produced by Shel Talmy, who was a hell of a producer in the early '60s, and produced many, many classic records by The Kinks, The Who, as well as producing 'Friday on My Mind' by the Australian Easybeats. He was amazing."
Lyrics
See my friends,
See my friends,
Layin' 'cross the river,
See my friends,
See my friends,
Layin' 'cross the river,
She is gone,
She is gone and now there's no one left
'Cept my friends,
Layin' 'cross the river,
She just went,
She just went,
Went across the river.
Now she's gone,
Now she's gone,
Wish that I'd gone with her.
She is gone,
She is gone and now there's no one left
'Cept my friends,
Layin' 'cross the river,
She is gone and now there's no one else to take her place
She is gone and now there's no one else to love
'Cept my friends,
Layin' 'cross the river,
See my friends,
See my friends,
Layin' 'cross the river,
See my friends,
See my friends,
Layin' 'cross the river,