Little Richard - Long Tall Sally

First performance: 11/04/1982


Coverinfo

Bruce played the song 17 times and once as a snippet:
 
  • Full
2017-02-07 Qudos Bank Arena, Sydney, Australia
After picking up a few sign requests, Bruce chooses to go for the only tour performance (and first ever in Australia) of "Long Tall Sally".

2013-06-03 Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, Milan, Italy
Sign requests result in tour premiere "Long Tall Sally" (not previously played in concert with the E Street Band)

2011-11-09 Beacon Theatre, New York City
The fifth annual Stand Up For Heroes event, in conjunction with The Bob Woodruff Foundation and The New York Comedy Festival. As is traditional, Bruce auctions a guitar with the assistance of Brian Williams and Seth Myers. The hammer drops at $160,000, to include his shirt and harmonica.

2006-08-05 PNC Bank Arts Center, Holmdel, NJ
Bruce guests at a John Fogerty show, with Fogerty telling the crowd that there’s a young, local kid backstage with a guitar that wants to play.
 
 
 
 
1996-08-10 Grouse Mountain Lodge, Whitefish, MT
The wedding reception of Toby Scott (Bruce’s longtime recording engineer/archivist). Bruce joins local Whitefish rock band The Fanatics (hired as the reception entertainment) for several songs, including his only known performance of Sam Cooke's "You Send Me".

1995-08-14 Jack's Sugar Shack, Hollywood
Ronnie Mack (born April 18, 1954, Baltimore, MD) is a Los Angeles-based country/roots artist

1990-01-17 Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, New York City
Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame all-star jam. Bruce shares lead vocals on "Long Tall Sally" with John Fogerty, and plays guitar and sings backing vocals on the rest of the songs.

1989-08-11 Garden State Arts Center, Holmdel, NJ
Ringo Starr

1989-07-27 Headliner (The), Neptune, NJ
The Fabulous Greaseband
 
 
 
1989-07-01 Stone Pony (The), Asbury Park
La Bamba

1983-04-27 Stone Pony (The), Asbury Park
With The Diamonds. The Diamonds were a local (Jersey shore) all original rock and soul band that included Cats On A Smooth Surface's then ex-members

1982-07-25 Stone Pony (The), Asbury Park
Cats on a Smooth Surface

1982-07-23 Fast Lane (The), Asbury Park
With the Stray Cats
 
 
 
 
 
 
1982-07-23 East Freehold Showgrounds, Freehold
Bruce joins Jersey Shore legends Sonny Kenn & The Wild Ideas on stage at the Monmouth County Fair. Performing with The Starfires in 1965, Sonny Kenn even opened for Jerry Lee Lewis. At the time, however, Kenn was working in a musical instrument store in Red Bank by day, before playing with The Wild Ideas in various Shore bars and clubs at night. Before jumping on stage, Bruce watched events at the County Fair, wearing blue jeans, a flannel shirt, and a CAT baseball cap. Songs performed include "Sweet Little Sixteen" and "Land of 1000 Dances". Not long after this performance, Springsteen wrote and recorded "County Fair", perhaps, in part, inspired by this evening.

1982-05-23 Stone Pony (The), Asbury Park
With Cats On A Smooth Surface. This date was previously listed as being at the Fast Lane, but the Cats did not play at that venue at this time - they had the Sunday night residency at the Stone Pony. Interestingly, it was a fledgling Bon Jovi band that was the resident artist at the Fast Lane, and he would jokingly complain about the lack of audiences at the Fast Lane on those Sunday nights blaming it on Bruce playing with Cats at the Pony and taking all the crowds from him.

1982-05-02 Stone Pony (The), Asbury Park
With Cats On A Smooth Surface. This was the start of a series of shows which grew in popularity and became well attended. Most of the songs that were performed with Bruce on any given night were either songs the band knew or quickly rehearsed with Bruce backstage at the Pony. He would then join them onstage after the last set at 2:30 AM where he, even at that hour, would put on an amazing show. Truly inspirational and energetic even though at that hour there would usually be thirty or forty people left in the audience (at the earlier jams) before Bruce took the stage. After the third or fourth time that he sat in with Cats, word that he was making regular appearances Sundays at the Pony quickly got out and the regular crowd of about two-hundred people grew to a capacity crowd of over eight-hundred -- and that was every week whether he showed up or not. All local and national media had ongoing blurbs of his jams with Cats but neither the band nor the Stone Pony did any special advertising to exploit the fact that he played with them so regularly. The band felt privileged to have him there with them and would never sour that relationship.

1982-04-11 Big Man's West, Red Bank
With John Eddie & the Front Street Runners. Set includes the first known Springsteen performance of "Long Tall Sally"
 
  • Snippet
during FINGERNAILS
1996-03-17 Mean Fiddler, Dublin, Ireland
Bruce joins Joe Ely on stage. First performances in Europe of "All Just To Get To You" and "Oh, Boy!". "Fingernails" is played in a medley with snippets of "That Black Snake Moan", "Match Box Blues", "Buddy Brown's Blues (98 Degree Blues)", and a nearly full "Long Tall Sally".
 

Songinfo

"Long Tall Sally" is a song written by Robert "Bumps" Blackwell, Enotris Johnson, and Little Richard; recorded by Little Richard; and released in March 1956 on the Specialty Records label. The flip side was "Slippin' and Slidin'". The song was originally called "The Thing", recorded in New Orleans by Little Richard.

 
 

Other cover versions

Bruce on the artist

2020-05-20 SiriusXM Studio, New York City
During the SiriusXM radio Lockdown DJ show Volume 4, "From His Home to Yours" broadcast on Wednesday, May 20, Bruce played 3 songs of Little Richard who recently passed away. He played:
 
1. Born on the Bayou (only the intro)
2. Tutti Fruti
3. Get Down With It
 
Bruce's comment on Little Richard:
"That is the purest rock 'n' roll voice of all time, and it belongs to the Georgia Peach, the King of Rock 'n' Roll, Little Richard, who we lost in early May. That was one of the founding fathers of rock and roll and its preeminent vocal genius. And there he profoundly explained in my opinion why and how he does what he does. He came out of Macon, Georgia to take the nation, the world and your body and soul by storm. His art was filled with absurdity, dead seriousnees, great humor and sex, sex, sex. He is one of a handful of men who changed the face of world culture. He crossed racial boundaries, he challenged gender norms and he had the time of his life. Here once again is the High Priest of Rock and Roll. A-wop-bop-a-loo-bop, a-lop-bam-boom! Rest in peace, Richard. "
 
 
Bruce had 3 appearances together with Little Richard :
 
1995-11-19 Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles, CA
Frank Sinatra 80th Birthday Concert

1989-01-18 Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, New York City, NY
Rock & Roll Hall of Fame: Together with Little Richard in an all starr performance
  
1988-01-20 Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, New York City, NY 
Rock & Roll Hall of Fame: Together with Little Richard in an all starr performance
 
 
 

Lyrics

Gonna tell Aunt Mary 'bout Uncle John
He claim he has the misery but he's havin' a lot of fun
Oh baby, yeah baby, woo
Havin' me some fun tonight, yeah
Well long, tall Sally
She's built for speed, she got
Everything that Uncle John need, oh baby
Yeah baby, woo baby
Havin' me some fun tonight, yeah
Well, I saw Uncle John with long tall Sally
He saw Aunt Mary comin' and he ducked back in the alley oh baby
Yeah baby, woo baby
Havin' me some fun tonight, yeah, ow
Well, long, tall Sally
She's built for speed, she got
Everything that Uncle John need, oh baby
Yeah baby, woo baby
Havin' me some fun tonight, yeah
Well, I saw Uncle John with bald-head Sally
He saw Aunt Mary comin' and he ducked back in the alley, oh, baby
Yeah baby, woo, baby
Havin' me some fun tonight, yeah
We gonna have some fun tonight
We gonna have some fun tonight, woo
Have some fun tonight, everything's all right
Have some fun, have me some fun tonight