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Live 16 Sep 1967 version
You can't judge an apple by looking at the tree
You can't judge honey by looking at the bee
You can't judge a daughter by looking at her mother
You can't judge a book by looking at the cover
Whoa I'm rattled
I look like a fighter but I'm a lover
You can't judge a book by looking at the cover
You can't judge sugar by looking at the cane
You can't judge a woman by looking at her man
You can't judge a sister by looking at her brother
You can't judge a book by looking at the cover
Whoa I'm rattled
I look like a fighter but I'm a lover
You can't judge a book by looking at the cover
Well you can't judge an apple by looking at the tree
You can't judge honey by looking at the bee
You can't judge a daughter by looking at her mother
You can't judge a book by looking at the cover
Whoa I'm rattled
I look like a fighter but I'm a lover
You can't judge a book by looking at the cover
Oh you can't judge sugar by looking at the cane
You can't judge a woman by looking at her man
You can't judge a sister by looking at her brother
You can't judge a book by looking at the cover, no
Whoa I'm rattled
I look like a fighter but I'm a lover
You can't judge a book by looking at the cover
YOU CAN'T JUDGE A BOOK BY THE COVER is a 1962 song by Bo Diddley. See the original Bo Diddley version for more details.
The above lyrics are for the live 16 Sep 1967 version of YOU CAN'T JUDGE A BOOK BY THE COVER at The Left Foot in Freehold, NJ, with The Castiles. It was released on Springsteen's Chapter And Verse compilation album in 2016, with the parts in bold edited out.
This was the grand opening night at The Left Foot, an "over 13, under 18" club located in the recreation center of St. Peter's Episcopal Church at 37 Throckmorton Street. It was a double-bill show, with Purpul Dyneste opening and The Castiles headlining, and each band played two thirty-minute sets. The show was recorded by the club's manager (and St. Peter's priest) Fred Coleman on a good quality reel-to reel device. Audio for the complete Castiles performance (both sets) circulates among collectors, but the sound quality is inferior to the original master tape which is not in circulation.
For its release on Chapter And Verse, YOU CAN'T JUDGE A BOOK BY THE COVER was mastered by Bob Ludwig at Gateway Mastering Studios in Portland, ME. According to the album's credits, the band line-up on the song is Bruce Springsteen on vocal and guitar, Bob Alfano on organ, Curt Fluhr on bass, Vinnie Manniello on drums, Paul Popkin on tambourine, maracas, and vocals, and George Theiss on guitar and vocal.
Chapter And Verse is a Bruce Springsteen compilation album released on Columbia Records on 23 Sep 2016 in the U.S. It was officially announced on 28 Jul 2016. The album is an audio companion to Springsteen's autobiography Born To Run, which was published four days later, on 27 Sep 2016, by Simon & Schuster.
The album is a career retrospective consisting of 18 tracks. It spans almost half a century of Springsteen's career, from as early as 1966. According to the press release, Springsteen selected the songs to reflect the themes and sections of the autobiography. The first five tracks have not been previously released.
Tracks 1 and 2 are from The Castiles era, track 3 is from the Steel Mill era, and track 4 is from The Bruce Springsteen Band era. Tracks 5 and 6 are Springsteen solo, from around the time he signed his record deal with CBS. The remaining 12 tracks are compiled from 12 different Bruce Springsteen studio albums, from 1973 to 2012. All song were written by Bruce Springsteen, except tracks 1 (co-written by Bruce Springsteen and George Theiss) and track 2 (written by Willie Dixon). Track 2 is only song on the album recorded live.
Chapter And Verse is available as a single-disc CD and as a double-disc LP, as well as digital download and streaming.
The live 16 Sep 1967 version of YOU CAN'T JUDGE A BOOK BY THE COVER can also be found on a Bruce Springsteen promo-only sampler.
YOU CAN'T JUDGE A BOOK BY THE COVER is known to have been performed at least once in Springsteen's early years, on 16 Sep 1967 in Freehold, NJ, with The Castiles. Very little is known about shows from this early period, and therefore, the song may have been played on some more dates in 1967 and 1968.
List of available versions of YOU CAN'T JUDGE A BOOK BY THE COVER on this website:
YOU CAN'T JUDGE A BOOK BY THE COVER [Live 16 Sep 1967 version]
