Live 26 Feb 1972 version
Bless my soul, mama
???
Bless my soul Mama
???
??? a happy life
???
???
??? today
???
???
Oh now!
Hey!
Alright now
Here on my left we got Dave Sancious on the organ
In the back we got Vincent Lopez on the drums
??? the right we got Steve Van Zandt on the guitar
And to the far right, uh, Garry Tallent on the bass, yeah!
Alright
We're not going to ???
??? night
???
Alright
Yeah
Alright
Alright
Alright
Go!
The above lyrics are for the live 26 Feb 1972 performance of BLESS MY SOUL at The Back Door in Richmond, VA, with The Bruce Springsteen Band (see section below).
The Bruce Springsteen Band played nine shows at The Back Door in Richmond, VA, during three of the four weekends of February 1972 (04, 05, 06, 18, 19, 20, 25, 26, and 27 Feb 1972). They played one show each night and they were the sole act on the bill. Soundboard and audience recordings from these shows circulate among collectors.
Soundboard recordings for 8 tracks, taken directly from Tinker West's original reel tapes, are in circulation. The exact dates for the 8 tracks are not known but it is more likely that all of them come from the same show, probably from the final weekend of the residency. Audience recordings for 13 more tracks are also in circulation. The exact dates are not know but it is more likely that most of them come from the final weekend's performances. A soundboard recording consisting of 14 more tracks is currently in very limited circulation. The recording comes from the 25 Feb 1972 show and is likely the complete show. An audience recording consisting of 5 more tracks is also in circulation and, according to Brucebase, can be identified with some confidence to date from the 26 Feb 1972 show.
A reel-to-reel tape containing the soundboard recording of the 25 Feb 1972 show was auctioned in June 2014 on Sotheby's (see photo below). According to the auction house, the tape comes directly from the collection of John Hammond, "perhaps requested in an attempt to ascertain if the performer that he was so taken by as a solo acoustic act could similarly engage a live audience fronting an electric band." The tape features a printed label with hand-written setlist, but some of the songs are misidentified.
Much of the above information about the 1972 residency at The Back Door is taken from Brucebase.
If you have any additional information about this performance, or any corrections to the above lyrics, please contact me via the below form or by email: .
List of available versions of BLESS MY SOUL on this website:
BLESS MY SOUL [Live Nov 1971 version]