Nanci Griffith - Gulf Coast Highway

First performance: 25/06/1988

Coverinfo

Bruce covered the song only once:
 
 
1988-06-25 Wembley Stadium, London, England 
  
During a  rehearsal take that also featured Patti Scialfa on harmony vocals. The recording, which is in circulation among collectors, appears to be taken from a line feed and is believed to be from a 1988 sound-check but the exact date and venue are unknown. Bruce Springsteen sound-checked the song in 1988 during the Tunnel Of Love Express Tour but he never performed it on the tour's or any other tour's regular shows. At least one sound-check date has been confirmed: 25 Jun 1988 at Wembley Stadium in London, England. An eyewitness recounted: "'Gulf Coast Highway' was played at the sound-check of the Wembley Stadium gig on the TOL tour in 1988. I was outside waiting to get in and it sounded wonderful, I was a little disappointed they didn't play it on the night." 
 
Bruce Springsteen recorded ' Gulf Coast Highway ' also in studio in 1989 as a duet with then-girlfriend Patti Scialfa. Rob Tannenbaum wrote in the 11 Jan 1990 issue of Rolling Stone: "Since the Amnesty tour ended in October 1988, Springsteen has been on a sabbatical from touring and recording. He has spent much of that time in Los Angeles, where he is rumored to be producing a solo album for girlfriend Patti Scialfa. Two tracks are known to have been recorded by Scialfa: a version of Nanci Griffith's 'Gulf Coast Highway' ." In concerts, Nanci Griffith referenced singers who have recorded Gulf Coast Highway as  a duet. The list included some officially released versions, including Dave Mathews and Emmy Lou Harris, but she also mentioned Bruce Springsteen and Patti Scialfa. For example, introducing the song on 26 May 1989 in Dallas, TX, she said: "This next song is a tune that Bruce Springsteen and Patti Scialfa just recorded, and it's a song that they're doing as a duet." 
 
 
 

Songinfo

'Gulf Coast Highway' is a song written by James Hooker, Nanci Griffith, and Danny Flowers and originally released by Nanci Griffith on her 1988 album Little Love Affairs. She recorded the song as a duet with Mac McAnally in August 1987. Little Love Affairs is Nanci Griffith's sixth album, and it had similar success to the preceding album, Lone Star State of Mind, on the Billboard charts. 
 
 
 

Other cover versions

Bruce on the artist

Lyrics

Gulf coast highway, heading south
He worked the rice fields with their cold dark wells
He worked the oil fields in the Gulf of Mexico
The only thing we ever owned is this old house here by the road

When we die, we're gonna catch some blackbird's wings
We will fly away to heaven, come some great blue bonnet spring

Let's- that's it, it's the- it's the four... down
Da da da da da, da da da da da da
Da da da da da da da da
Da da da da da da da da

Gulf coast highway, heads or tails
He worked the rice fields with their cool dark wells
He worked the oil fields in the Gulf of Mexico
The only thing we'd ever owned was this old house here by the road

And when we die, we're gonna catch some blackbird's wing
And we will fly away to heaven, come some great blue bonnet spring

Highway 90, the jobs are gone
We tend the garden, we set the sun
Da da da da da, da da da da da da
The only thing we ever owned is this old house here by the road

And when we die, we'll catch some blackbird's wings
And we will fly away to heaven, come some great blue bonnet spring

And when she dies, she's gonna catch some blackbird's wings
And we will fly away to heaven come some great blue bonnet spring