Live 15 May 1971 version
[Spoken intro:] Hey, chorus. Alright here we go.
Come on along, come on along, with Dr. Zoom and his Sonic Boom band
Come on along, come on along, it's the best band in the land
And if you want to hear that ??? rhythm ???
Come on along, come on along, with Dr. Zoom and his Sonic Boom band
Take it, funky!
Come on along
Come on along, come on along, it's Dr. Zoom and the Sonic Boom band
Come on along, come on along, it's the best band in the land
And if you want to hear that ??? rhythm ???
Come on along, come on along, Dr. Zoom and his Sonic Boom band
ZOOM THEME is a song written by Bruce Springsteen based on Irving Berlin's 1911 hit ALEXANDER'S RAGTIME BAND. He performed it live with Dr. Zoom & The Sonic Boom in spring 1971.
The above lyrics are for the live 15 May 1971 performance of ZOOM THEME at Newark State College in Union, NJ, with Dr. Zoom & The Sonic Boom.
This was the second of the only two Dr. Zoom & The Sonic Boom performances. It was part of "The 1st Annual Ernie The Chicken Festival", an all-day outdoor party extravaganza featuring several local bands. About a week or two before the show, Walter Planer (one of the people who put together and promoted the festival) and Carl "Tinker" West drove into Manhattan one afternoon and went to Rolling Stone magazine and Channel 13 (the local PBS station) trying to get them to cover the concert and promote Springsteen who at the time was unknown except on the Jersey Shore and Richmond, VA. They got blown off by everyone they talked to and got no publicity.
A very good quality soundboard tape of most or possibly all of the Dr. Zoom & The Sonic Boom set has been in circulation since the early 1990's.
The 15 May 1971 show in Union, NJ was commercially released in Europe. Since 2005 some enterprising record labels in Europe (mostly in the UK) have been releasing Bruce Springsteen radio and TV broadcasts (and some soundboard recordings) from the seventies, eighties, and nineties. Though these releases are not authorized by Bruce Springsteen or his record company, they are lawful due to a legal loophole in Europe.
ZOOM THEME is known to have been performed at least once in Bruce Springsteen's early years (pre-October 1972), on 15 May 1971 in Union, NJ. Very little is known about shows from this early period, and therefore, the song may have been played on some more dates in the spring of 1971.
An early Bruce Springsteen handwritten song list (see scan below), titled "Sonic Tunes", is believed to be the song schedule for Dr. Zoom & The Sonic Boom's 14 May 1971 gig at Sunshine In, Asbury Park, NJ. The document list 10 songs, including ZOOM THEME. It's unknown whether or not Springsteen made any late changes to this setlist for the actual performance.
As far as it's known, no artist has recorded and released Bruce Springsteen's ZOOM THEME.
Much of the above info about the live performances is taken from Brucebase.
The above lyrics may not be 100% correct. If you have any corrections, additions, or comments, please contact me via the below form or by email: .
List of available versions of ZOOM THEME on this website:
ZOOM THEME [Live 15 May 1971 version]
