Bruce covered the song 3 times off-tour : 

 

Source ; Brucebase

 

Note: Between legs of the River Tour in March 1981, Springsteen recorded a demo (V1) at his home, combining lyrics from Darkness On The Edge Of Town outtake "Come On (Let's Go Tonight)" with some newly written lyrics over new music. This recording can be found on bootlegs 'Fistfull Of Dollars' and 'How Nebraska Was Born' under the title "Bye Bye Johnny". A dark and foreboding arrangement used the discarded lyrics, including the part about Elvis dying, and became a Nebraska-style song.

In 1962, Chuck Berry wrote "Bye Bye Johnny", a sequel to "Johnny B. Goode", where a mother sent her musician son off to Hollywood to be a star: "She drew out all her money from the Southern Trust, and put her little boy aboard the Greyhound Bus." Bruce decided to use those lines in 1981 in the opening verse of a new song that used most of the lyrics from "Come On (Let's Go Tonight)", calling it "Johnny Bye-Bye". He kept the lines about the death of Elvis and added lines about Memphis, all over a bouncy hillbilly blues rhythm. Despite performing the song regularly on the River Tour, Bruce did not record it as part of the January 1982 Nebraska demos at Colts Neck; the legendary Nebraska version of "Johnny Bye-Bye" does not exist. The version on the tape he sent Landau was almost certainly a live July 1981 recording. When the Nebraska tape was backed up in June 1982 in its entirety, alternate takes and all, there was still no "Johnny Bye-Bye".

The first studio take of "Johnny Bye-Bye" was recorded on April 27, 1982, at Power Station, New York. This audio does not circulate. In all likelihood, this is a solo take. Studio documentation shows that Springsteen returned to the song in the winter of 1983, with sessions on January 4 and March 9 and 24 all at Bruce's Hollywood Hills converted studio, Thrill Hill West, Los Angeles, CA. According to the Tracks liner notes, the official V3 was recorded in January, and five different mixes circulate. V3d, released February 6, 1985 as the b-side to "I'm On Fire", features a different drum overdub to that found on the mix chosen for Tracks, V3e. V3b and V3c have slight but noticeable variations in their mixes.

V4 and V5 were recorded on March 9 at Thrill Hill West and are different takes of a slower acoustic arrangement with a gentle synthesizer backing, slight lyrical differences and overdubbed with chirping crickets at the start and end. By far the definitive performance is V6, from March 24, 1983, which includes a poignant extra verse at the end, not found on the other versions. "Johnny Bye-Bye" was included on the July 1983 sequence for Born In The U.S.A., but did not make the final cut. After the lawyers met, Bruce and Chuck became composing partners, the song now registered as Springsteen-Berry. 

 

 

2017-04-22 Paramount Theatre, Asbury Park, NJ

 

 

2017-04-21 Paramount Theatre, Asbury Park, NJ

 

 

1982-07-17 Big Man's West, Red Bank, NJ 

Springsteen makes a guest appearance with Joe Grushecky. According to Grushecky, this was the first time he had ever met Springsteen, let alone jammed with him - the start of a long friendship.

"Bye, Bye Johnny" is a song written by Chuck Berry from the 1960 Rockin' at the Hops album. Berry wrote four more songs involving the character Johnny B. Goode, "Bye Bye Johnny", "Go Go Go", "Johnny B. Blues" and "Lady B. Goode" .

 

Bruce gave Chuck Berry co-writing credits on his own Johnny Bye Bey since he borrowed some lines from Berry's Bye Bye Johnny as well as the play on the title. More info : Springsteenlyrics.

 

1987-01-21 Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, New York City, NY

The second annual Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame ceremony. 

1973-04-28 Cole Field House, University Of Maryland, College Park, MD

One show, triple bill, with Chuck Berry headlining, [Lee Lewis]] second billed and Bruce and the boys opening. A show now steeped in legend. Berry's contract stipulated that it was the promoter's responsibility to supply him with a backing band for this concert. Apparently Bruce learned about a week before the show that the promoter was seeking a group to support Berry and immediately volunteered his band's services for free, which the promoter gladly accepted. There was no rehearsal or soundcheck with Berry, so Bruce and the boys improvised as best they could. The show was Bruce's first known appearance in Maryland. Bruce and the boys opened their part of the show with a 50-minute set, followed by a 60-minute set by Jerry Lee Lewis and his band. Chuck Berry (with Springsteen's entire band backing him, including Bruce and Southside Johnny) closed the evening's festivities with a 70-minute performance. Springsteen recounts some hilarious details in the 1987 Chuck Berry documentary Hail! Hail! Rock 'n' Roll, but does not mention Southside Johnny’s appearance. Fearing that Berry might not want a harp player Bruce positioned Southside in the shadows at the extreme end of the stage. However Berry enjoyed the harp playing and near the end of the show he actually acknowledged Southside to the crowd saying "that white boy can blow, can’t he!" This almost sold out gig in the 15,000 seat Cole Field House was not without some controversy. Such was the demand to see the show that the school newspaper reported that twenty people were arrested when police spotted individuals sneaking into the concert via an open female lavatory window at the back of the building. Apparently 200-300 people made it in before the police caught wind of what was going on. 

 

Watch Bruce tells the story here  

 

List of songs co-credited to Bruce Springsteen and Chuck Berry:

 

"Johnny Bye-Bye"