JOHNNY BYE-BYE

Live 09 Jul 1981 version

[Spoken intro:] This uh... back in '77 we played in Memphis. And Elvis was still alive at the time we drove past Graceland. And I remember after, after I heard that he'd died, I was, I used to sit back and wonder how somebody that, that once had won so much could, could in the end lose as big as he did. And it seemed like in life it's important to have the right, the right friends around you, you know. People that, that can tell you when you're, when you're screwing up, help you be better than you are, you know. But after he died I was, I was sure that he couldn't have many friends like that. But this is uh, this is a song that's for Elvis.

Well she drew out all her money from the Southern Trust
And she put her little boy on a Greyhound Bus
Leaving Memphis with a guitar in his hand
On a one-way ticket to the promised land

Now hey little girlie with the red dress on
There's a party tonight down in Memphis town
I'll be going down there if you need a ride
Come on, come on, let's go tonight

How many have fallen with their dream denied
Now tell me baby are you lonesome tonight
'Cause the man on the radio says Elvis Presley died
Come on, come on, let's go tonight

Down in Dixie tonight the sky is hard and black
Come on up over the ridge one long white Cadillac
People standing on the roadside waiting in the heat
Bound together forever in the promise of an endless sleep

Well they found him slumped up against the drain
With a whole lot of nothing running through his veins
Well bye-bye Johnny, oh Johnny bye-bye
You didn't have to die, you didn't have to die

Info

The above lyrics are for the live 09 Jul 1981 performance of JOHNNY BYE-BYE at Brendan Byrne Arena in East Rutherford, NJ, during The River Tour. The song was played in a stripped down band arrangement. During this tour JOHNNY BYE-BYE featured lyrics different from the known studio versions of the song. See the official studio version for more details.

The 09 Jul 1981 Show

During The River Tour, Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band performed a series of six consecutive concerts at Brendan Byrne Arena in East Rutherford, NJ, on 02, 03, 05, 06, 08, and 09 Jul 1981. These were the first events at the newly opened arena. All six shows ─ a total of 125,922 tickets ─ were sold out.

Promotional poster for the July 1981 six-night stand at Brendan Byrne Arena, East Rutherford, NJ
(Taken from Brucebase)

Ticket stub for the 09 Jul 1981 show at Brendan Byrne Arena, East Rutherford, NJ

Pass for the 02 Jul 1981 show at Brendan Byrne Arena, East Rutherford, NJ

In May 2020 the complete 09 Jul 1981 concert was officially released on Live.BruceSpringsteen.net (see the "Official Live Downloads" section below for more details). The show was recorded with Record Plant Remote Truck by Toby Scott, assisted by David Bianco, Jack Crymes, and Jim Scott. The original live recording was produced by Chuck Plotkin. The 24-track, 30 IPS reel-to-reel tapes were transferred and restored by Jamie Howarth at Plangent Processes. The recording was mixed by Jon Altschiller, with additional engineering by Danielle Warman, and mastered by Jon Altschiller. All net proceeds from the sale of this release were donated to the New Jersey Pandemic Relief Fund.

Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band -- Brendan Byrne Arena 1981

Official Live Downloads

Prior to the High Hopes Tour, Bruce Springsteen's management announced a new service allowing fans to download concert recordings approximately 48 hours after each show. The initial plan required fans to purchase a special USB wristband, which could then be used to download a single High Hopes Tour show of the purchaser's choice and also functions as a regular reusable USB flash drive. The wristband, which could be purchased online or at the concert venue, was priced at $40. Following some negative response from fans over the high cost for the wristband, Springsteen's management subsequently announced a separate cheaper option for purchasing shows directly, without the need for the wristband. The shows were available for purchase and download via Live Nation, Bruce Springsteen's concert promoter, priced at $9.99 for MP3 and $14.99 for FLAC. Audio recordings for 31 of the 34 High Hopes Tour dates (all except 16 Feb 2014, 06 Apr 2014, and 03 May 2014) were released as such and they were available until 30 Jun 2014.

On 17 Nov 2014, Live.BruceSpringsteen.net was launched. It's a new addition to the official website, serving as an online store offering high-quality live concert recordings as well as high-resolution digital releases of Springsteen's album catalog. The download store is powered by Nugs.net in cooperation with Columbia Records. Audio recordings for 30 of the 34 High Hopes Tour dates (all except 16 Feb 2014, 06 Apr 2014, 03 May 2014, and 18 May 2014) were re-released on the new download store in multiple formats, including MP3, lossless CD-quality FLAC or ALAC, and 24-bit HD FLAC or ALAC or MQA, as well as audio CD-R with custom artwork. Nugs.net adopted the MQA (Master Quality Authenticated) format on 24 May 2017. From then on, all Bruce Springsteen live concert recordings, including the previously released ones, became also available in MQA.

Audio recordings for all 75 The River Tour 2016 dates were also released on Live.BruceSpringsteen.net in multiple formats, including MP3, lossless CD-quality FLAC or ALAC, and 24-bit HD FLAC or ALAC or MQA, as well as audio CD-R with custom artwork. Each show was generally released within a month after it took place.

Audio recordings for all 14 Summer '17 Tour dates were also released on Live.BruceSpringsteen.net in multiple formats, including MP3, lossless CD-quality FLAC or ALAC, and 24-bit HD FLAC or ALAC or MQA, as well as audio CD-R with custom artwork. Each show was generally released within a month after it took place.

Archival releases were periodically released on the same site, as part of the Bruce Springsteen Archive Series. These shows were also made available in multiple formats, including MP3, lossless FLAC or ALAC, 24-bit FLAC or ALAC or MQA, DSD, and audio CD-R. So far 90 shows (or sets of shows) were released from the ongoing series.

Available Versions

List of available versions of JOHNNY BYE-BYE on this website:

Page last updated: 02 May 2020