Bruce performed the song only once:

 

 

1989-01-18 Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, New York City, NY 

  

Under My Thumb was played instrumental. Springsteen attends the fourth Annual Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame ceremonies. The night's inductees are Dion, Otis Redding, The Rolling Stones, The Temptations, Stevie Wonder, and Phil Spector, plus The Ink Spots, Bessie Smith, and The Soul Stirrers in the Early Influences category. As had been the case in January 1987 (when Bruce inducted Roy Orbison and performed) and January 1988 (when Bruce inducted Bob Dylan and performed) Springsteen took the stage, joining in the all-star jam on most of the songs and sings lead on "Crying", dedicated to Roy Orbison, who had passed away only a few weeks earlier. Bruce plays guitar on all songs, plus tambourine on "Uptight (Everything's Alright)". The all-star band includes, along with Bruce, most of The Rolling Stones (Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Ronnie Wood, and Mick Taylor), most of The Temptations (Dennis Edwards, Melvin Franklin, David Ruffin, and Otis Williams), Stevie Wonder, Tina Turner, Little Richard, Pete Townshend, Dion, Paul Simon, Lou Reed, Anita Baker, David Crosby, Graham Nash, Bobby Womack, Al Green, Ben E. King, Bobby McFerrin, Daryl Hall & John Oates, Foreigner's Mick Jones, and more. Bruce attended with Patti Scialfa and, according to some reports, former Castiles member George Theiss attended. Former E Streeter Band member Vini Lopez was definitely there and took part in the show. He later recalled "They had the whole induction ceremony and four hours later, Bill Graham is on stage and he's pulling people out of the audience. Bruce comes up to me and says, "You see that other drum set up there? " Next thing you know, I was up there. I played for an hour and a half with those guys. Paul Simon, Steve Wonder. It was cool. Mick Jagger was leaning on my shoulder, singing 'Honky Tonk Woman' with Tina Turner."

UPTIGHT (EVERYTHING'S ALRIGHT) / (I CAN'T GET NO) SATISFACTION / AIN'T TOO PROUD TO BEG / LUCILLE / RESPECT / COME SOFTLY TO ME / BE MY BABY / THE WANDERER / MY GIRL / GET READY / HONKY TONK WOMEN / I CAN'T TURN YOU LOOSE / BONY MORONIE / START ME UP / CRYING / RIVER DEEP-MOUNTAIN HIGH / UNDER MY THUMB (instrumental) 

 

 

 

"Under My Thumb" is a song written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards. The Rolling Stones recorded it for their 1966 album Aftermath. Although it was never released as a single in English-speaking countries, it is one of the band's more popular songs from the period and appears on several best-of compilations, such as Hot Rocks 1964-1971. In 1968, it was released as a single in Japan. It was also released in Italy. The group frequently performed "Under My Thumb" on their 1981 US Tour and 1982 European tour as the opening number at each concert. The song's lyrics are an examination of a sexual power struggle, in which Jagger's lyrics celebrate the success of finally having controlled and gained leverage over a previously pushy, dominating woman. Jagger later reflected on the track in a 1995 interview: "It's a bit of a jokey number, really. It's not really an anti-feminist song any more than any of the others ... Yes, it's a caricature, and it's in reply to a girl who was a very pushy woman". For many years starting with the 1969 tour, Jagger changed the references of "girl" in the lyric to "woman". The lyrics, which savour the successful 'taming of the shrew' and compare the woman in question to a "pet", a "Siamese cat" and a "squirming dog" provoked some negative reactions, especially amongst feminists, who objected to what they took as the suppressive sexual politics of the male narrator.