DOES THIS BUS STOP AT 82ND STREET [Album version]

Hey bus driver, keep the change, bless your children, give them names
Don't trust men who walk with canes
Drink this and you'll grow wings on your feet
Broadway Mary, Joan Fontaine, advertiser on a downtown train
Oh, Christmas crier bustin' cane, he's in love again

Where dock worker's dreams mix with panther's schemes to someday own the rodeo
Tainted women in VistaVision perform for out-of-state kids at the late show

Wizard imps and sweat sock pimps, interstellar mongrel nymphs
Oh, Rex said that lady left him limp
Love's like that
Sure it is
Oh, Queen of Diamonds, Ace of Spades, newly discovered lovers of the Everglades
They take out a full page ad in the trades to announce their arrival
And Mary Lou, she found out how to cope, she rides to heaven on a gyroscope
The Daily News asks her for the dope
She says, "Man, the dope's that there's still hope"

Senorita, Spanish rose, wipes her eyes and blows her nose
Uptown in Harlem she throws a rose to some lucky young matador

Page last updated: 23 Apr 2013

Intro

Music and lyrics by Bruce Springsteen, DOES THIS BUS STOP AT 82ND STREET is the fourth track on his 1973 debut album Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J. The above lyrics are for Springsteen's studio version of DOES THIS BUS STOP AT 82ND STREET as released on Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J.

Composition and Recording

There is no indication to when exactly DOES THIS BUS STOP AT 82ND STREET was written. According to Rob Kirkpatrick's 2009 book Magic in the Night: The Words and Music of Bruce Springsteen, the song was "inspired by an uptown bus trip Springsteen had taken to visit a girlfriend in New York City."

DOES THIS BUS STOP AT 82ND STREET was recorded during the Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J. album recording sessions at 914 Sound Studios in Blauvelt, NY. The track, as well as the whole album, was produced by Mike Appel and Jimmy Cretecos. According to Sony's database of Springsteen recording sessions, the song was cut on 26 Jun, 27 Jun, and 12 Jul 1972. Bruce Springsteen recorded solo on 26 June, but he brought in Vini Lopez, David Sancious, and Garry Tallent the following day. It is not clear in which arrangement the song was recorded on 12 July. Springsteen plays guitar and sings vocals on the officially released album version of the song, and is backed by Vini Lopez on drums, David Sancious on piano and keyboards, and Garry Tallent on electric bass. Taking all this into account, the album version of DOES THIS BUS STOP AT 82ND STREET was probably recorded on 27 Jun 1972, or possibly on 12 Jul 1972 if Springsteen recorded with the band on that day.

A solo acoustic guitar demo of DOES THIS BUS STOP AT 82ND STREET was performed and recorded during Springsteen's first formal studio audition for CBS Records on 03 May 1972. See the 03 May 1972 demo version and the "1971-1972 Auditions" section below for more details. This take was released on the Tracks box set in 1998.

First Appearances

On 04 Nov 1971, Carl "Tinker" West, then-manager of The Bruce Springsteen Band, drove Bruce Springsteen to New York City to introduce him to Mike Appel, a songwriter who carried on his songwriting activities jointly with Jim Cretecos. Appel was then employed at Pocketful Of Tunes Inc., Wes Farrell's publishing company in New York City, NY, and the meeting to place at Pocketful Of Tunes. Springsteen performed two or three songs, some on piano and some on acoustic guitar. Only Appel and West were present at this first meeting. Appel has stated in interview that he was not particularly impressed by what he heard at this initial audition but did see raw creativity in the lyrics of BABY DOLL. That performance was not recorded and the titles of the other song(s) performed remain unclear. Appel indicated an interest in promoting them in some way and the meeting ended with an agreement to keep in touch but no commitments from either party.

Meanwhile Springsteen continued gigging with The Bruce Springsteen Band in New Jersey and Virginia and visited his family in California for a few weeks around the holidays. The next meeting between Springsteen and Appel took place on 14 Feb 1972. Springsteen performed a set of seven songs at Appel's office at Pocketful Of Tunes. The songs were performed live solo on acoustic guitar to an audience of three: Mike Appel, Jim Cretecos, and Bob Spitz. Unfortunately that performance was not recorded. IT'S HARD TO BE A SAINT IN THE CITY was performed a second time at the request of Appel who reportedly was dazzled the lyrics. After that performance Appel and Cretecos began putting the wheels in motion to sign Springsteen to a comprehensive range of contracts.

In March 1972, it was agreed that Appel and Cretecos would promote Springsteen's interests. For that purpose, Appel and Cretecos formed three partnerships owned equally by the two: Laurel Canyon Management to act as Springsteen's manager, Laurel Canyon Productions to cover his recording activities, and Sioux City Music Inc to cover his songwriting activities. In the meantime, Springsteen entered into an "Exclusive Management Contract" with Laurel Canyon Management and an "Exclusive Recording Contract" with Laurel Canyon Productions, but did not sign any songwriting agreement at this time, apparently wishing to think this matter over a bit longer. The two contracts were signed at Appel's office.

Appel wanted to sign Springsteen to Columbia Records. He could not arrange a meeting with label head Clive Davis but was able to arrange one with CBS A&R Manager and talent scout John Hammond. An informal private audition took place around 10:30 AM on 02 May 1972 in Hammond's office in the A&R Department at Columbia Records in New York City. John Hammond and Mike Appel were the only two present at the audition. All songs were performed on acoustic guitar and the performance, which lasted about 30 to 40 minutes, was not recorded but based on the collective recollections of the attendees at least the following four songs were played:

In a 1980 interview, Hammond mentioned he wasn't all that enamored with MARY QUEEN OF ARKANSAS, but that he loved all the other songs that Springsteen performed that morning. "It was a big, big day for me," Springsteen told Mark Hagen in an interview for Mojo magazine published in January 1999. "I was twenty-two and came up on the bus with an acoustic guitar with no case which I'd borrowed from the drummer from The Castiles. I was embarrassed carrying it around the city. I walked into [John Hammond's] office and had the audition and I played a couple of songs and he said, 'You've got to be on Columbia Records. But I need to see you play. And I need to hear how you sound on tape.'"

Springsteen said that he and Mike Appel "walked all around the Village trying to find some place that would let somebody just get up on stage and play. We went to the Bitter End, it didn't work out. We went to another club. And finally we went to the old Gaslight on MacDougal Street and the guy says, 'Yeah, we have an open night where you can come down and play for half an hour'. There were about 10 people in the place and I played for about half an hour." The performance took place at the Gaslight Au Go Go club in New York City. No recording has emanated from this club appearance which lasted about 30 minutes and included just 4 or 5 songs. Both Springsteen and Appel have mentioned these two tracks as having been played:

John Hammond was impressed. "The kid absolutely knocked me out," he told Newsweek in 1975. "I only hear somebody really good once every ten years, and not only was Bruce the best, he was a lot better than Dylan when I first heard him." As Springsteen recalled, Hammond said, "Gee, that was great. I want you to come to the Columbia Recording Studio and make a demo tape". He invited Springsteen back to CBS to make a studio demo audition tape the following day. Springsteen said, "A demo I made at Bill Graham's studio in San Francisco in '69 was the only other time I'd ever been in a real recording studio. Columbia was very old-fashioned: everybody in ties and shirts; the engineer was in a white shirt and a tie and was probably 50, 55 years old, it was just him and John and Mike Appel there, and he just hits the button and gives you your serial number, and off you go. I was excited. I felt I'd written some good songs and this was my shot. I had nothing to lose and it was like the beginning of something."

Springsteen's first "formal" studio audition for CBS took place on 03 May 1972 at CBS Studios in New York City. The session consisted of 12 songs. Click on any of the below links for more details.

Four of the tracks recorded during that demo session would be officially released in 1998 on the Tracks box set. John Hammond's introduction of the audition was kept intact at the start of MARY QUEEN OF ARKANSAS which opens the box set. Hammond was prepared to sign Bruce on the spot but administrative formalities within CBS meant that it would take several weeks for that to become reality. According to Clinton Heylin's 2012 book E Street Shuffle: The Glory Days of Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band, Hammond send Clive Davis a dub of the audition and a memo saying: "Here is a copy of a couple of the reels of Bruce Springsteen, a very talented kid who recorded these twelve songs in a period of around two hours last Wednesday... I think we better act quickly because many people heard the boy at The Gaslight so that his fame is beginning to spread." Davis responded the next day, "I love Bruce Springsteen! He's an original in every respect. I'd like to meet him if you can arrange it."

Springsteen told Mark Hagen, "I knew a lot about John Hammond, the work he'd done, the people he'd discovered, his importance in music and it was very exciting to feel you were worth his time. No matter what happened afterwards, even it was just for this one night, you were worth his time. That meant a lot to me. He was very encouraging – simply being in that room with him at the board was one of my greatest recording experiences."

According to Heylin, Hammond thought that Springsteen might be better off on the Epic subsidiary, but Mike Appel intercepted: "[Hammond] decided that Bruce should be with the younger people at Epic and not with the stodgier, older people at Columbia – and he got this in his head. I always felt that Columbia was the classiest label on the planet. I just always saw [Bruce's] record going round on that red label, just like Dylan's did."

About a week following the audition, Springsteen entered into an "Exclusive Songwriting Contract" with Sioux City Music Inc and a new/revised "Exclusive Management Contract" with Laurel Canyon Management. The two contracts were signed at the office of New York attorney Jules Kurz, a sole practitioner specializing in music and entertainment law who was then handling Appel and Cretecos' business affairs. This new management agreement replaced the one from March and made changes in remuneration and compensation rates between the parties; it was a better deal for Springsteen than the previous one.

Following the signing of the agreements, Springsteen began a series of demo sessions for Sioux City Music Inc in May and June 1972. The session took place at two locations in New York City: Wes Farrell's Pocketful Of Sounds Studios where Appel was then still employed, and the apartment of Jim Cretecos. There were multiple sessions held at each location and the session dates at the two locations may have actually intertwined. Cretecos' apartment was utilized due to the limited availability of the studio at Pocketful Of Sounds. Cretecos was an electronics engineer and was able to emulate a reasonable recording environment in his apartment, so much so that it is difficult to distinguish some of the recordings Bruce made in Cretecos' apartment from those made in a professional studio.

On 09 Jun 1972 Laurel Canyon Productions (describing itself as Laurel Canyon Productions Inc) entered into a recording agreement with CBS Records. This meant that Springsteen was not signed directly to CBS, but his services were subcontracted to CBS by Laurel Canyon. Under the recording agreement, all individual recordings made by Springsteen under the CBS agreement remained the property of Laurel Canyon Productions until such point that they were assigned and transferred to CBS. This contract was signed by CBS at CBS Records offices and by Mike Appel at Laurel Canyon Productions offices. Bruce Springsteen signed it too, on the hood of a car in a dimly lit bar parking lot in New York City. Appel had him sign it as a matter of courtesy and as a matter of endorsement – from a legal standpoint it was not necessary that Springsteen signs this agreement as the "Exclusive Recording Agreement" between him and Laurel Canyon Productions did not grant him the right to block or refuse this contract between Laurel Canyon Productions and CBS. The contract was varied in August 1972 to also cover the master tapes of certain songs which had been recorded prior to the date of the agreement.

Mike Appel and Jimmy Cretecos later decided to change their business structure and model. They wanted to cease the partnership model and incorporate their businesses with the two having a 50/50 split in shares of the new incorporated business entities. These matters did not involve Springsteen – his signature or permission was not required. Laurel Canyon Productions (the sound recordings partnership) became Laurel Canyon Limited (incorporated) on 28 Jun 1972, Sioux City Music Inc (the songwriting partnership) became Sioux City Music Limited (incorporated) on 05 Oct 1972, and Laurel Canyon Management (the management partnership) became Laurel Canyon Management Limited (incorporated) on 05 Mar 1973. The three new companies were incorporated in New York and Appel and Cretecos were appointed the first directors. Appel and Cretecos wanted to change the name of Sioux City to Laurel Canyon in order to have name consistency among their family of companies, so on 24 Apr 1973 Sioux City Music Limited changed its name to Laurel Canyon Music Limited. In January 1974 Jimmy Cretecos sold his 50% shareholding in each of the Laurel Canyon companies to Mike Appel, thus Appel becoming the sole owner of the companies.

Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J.

After signing the contract with CBS Records, Laurel Canyon Productions was to receive an immediate cash advance from CBS and this money was to be used to pay for the studio time to record Springsteen' debut album. A delay by CBS in delivering the advance money to Laurel Canyon Productions resulted in delaying the sessions till early July 1972. During June Springsteen had finalized the selection of the musicians that would be used for the initial sessions. The musicians chosen, with an ok from Appel and Cretecos, constituted the entire lineup of the former Bruce Springsteen Band: David Sancious on keyboards, Gary Tallent on bass, Vini Lopez on drums, and Steve Van Zandt on quitar. Van Zandt ended up partaking in almost none of the 914 Sound Studios band sessions because of a prior commitment to tour as a member of The Dovells backing group.

The recording sessions for Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J. spanned a period of five months, from early June to late October 1972 (the majority were in June), and they all took place at 914 Sound Studios in Blauvelt, NY. The core "band" sessions were completed in only about two weeks. No unreleased band recordings from the debut album sessions have surfaced. Following these band sessions the various band members scattered. It should be noted that Springsteen had not decided to form a touring band at this stage.

Springsteen spent the next few weeks recording solo material. It was during this period that differences of opinion surfaced about what material was going to dominate the eventually released album. There were two sides in this disagreement: Mike Appel and John Hammond wanted a solo-dominated LP while Jim Cretecos was in favor of a band-dominated one. Springsteen was undecided at first, but soon sided with Cretecos. Appel later said that he was so impressed by Bruce's lyrics and told him, "Who needs a band when you can write lyrics like that?" In early August a compromise was reached and the album track selection was decided upon, featuring five band recordings (DOES THIS BUS STOP AT 82ND STREET, GROWIN' UP, IT'S HARD TO BE A SAINT IN THE CITY, FOR YOU, and LOST IN THE FLOOD) and five solo recordings (THE ANGEL, MARY QUEEN OF ARKANSAS, JAZZ MUSICIAN, ARABIAN NIGHTS, and VISITATION AT FORT HORN). On 10 Aug 1972 Laurel Canyon transferred the sound recording copyrights to these ten songs to CBS. It seemed the album was finalized, but when then CBS president Clive Davis listened to the tracks he commented that not only did he prefer the band tracks, but he also felt the album lacked a potential hit single. In essence Davis was siding with Springsteen's vision of the album as being more rock-orientated.

In August 1972 Springsteen composed two more commercial-sounding songs, BLINDED BY THE LIGHT and SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT. Consequently a further "band" session was required. However both Sancious and Tallent, then-employed at Alpha Sound Studios in Richmond, NJ, were unable to return to New York to record. Bruce wished to incorporate saxophone in both new songs and contacted Clarence Clemons, a then-member of Norman Seldin & The Joyful Noyze. So the studio session lineup for these two songs was Clemons, Lopez, and Springsteen who played all other instruments, except for the piano on BLINDED BY THE LIGHT which was handled by Harold Wheeler. BLINDED BY THE LIGHT and SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT were completed by early September. These two band recordings bumped three solo recordings: JAZZ MUSICIAN, ARABIAN NIGHTS, and VISITATION AT FORT HORN. Therefore the final album was reduced from 10 tracks to 9, encompassing 7 band tracks and 2 solo tracks. Columbia Records' original intention was to release the album in late November 1972, but decided the album might get overlooked among the massive amount of pre-Christmas releases so the LP was held back for until early January.

Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J. was released on Columbia Records on 05 Jan 1973. It was produced by Mike Appel and Jim Cretecos. The album received mixed but mostly positive reviews and some critics found it under-produced, as Appel and Cretecos tried to spend as little as possible from Columbia's $65,000 advance and recording budget. The album sold 25,000 copies only in its first year of release and did not chart until the summer of 1975 when the hype over the BORN TO RUN single attracted buyers to Springsteen's earlier albums.

Unofficial Release

A very slightly different mix of the album version of DOES THIS BUS STOP AT 82ND STREET (but same core recording) was released on the briefly-legal album The Early Years (Early Records). See PRODIGAL SON for more details.

Other Official Releases

The live 08 Dec 1995 performance of DOES THIS BUS STOP AT 82ND STREET was included on the Dead Man Walkin' European maxi single in 1996. See the live 08 Dec 1995 version for more details.

The 03 May 1972 demo version of DOES THIS BUS STOP AT 82ND STREET was first released on the Tracks box set in 1998.

Live History

DOES THIS BUS STOP AT 82ND STREET is known to have been performed at least 9 times during the Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J. Tour. Very little is known about the 1972 and 1973 shows, and therefore, the song must've been played on some more dates. On this tour, the song was played in a full-band arrangement with a guitar-and-saxophone-led introduction.

31 Jan 1973 (early show) at Max's Kansas City, New York City, NY
14 Feb 1973 at Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA
02 Mar 1973 at Berkeley Community Theatre, Berkeley, CA
24 Apr 1973 (early show) at The Main Point, Bryn Mawr, PA
28 Apr 1973 at The University Of Maryland, College Park, MD
13 Jun 1973 at Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena, Binghamton, NY
23 Jul 1973 (early show) at Max's Kansas City, New York City, NY
31 Jul 1973 (late show) at My Father's Place, Roslyn, NY
08 Sep 1973 at University Of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA

DOES THIS BUS STOP AT 82ND STREET is known to have been performed at least 32 times during The Wild, The Innocent, & The E Street Shuffle Tour. Some of that period's setlists are incomplete or unknown, and therefore, the song must have been played on some more dates. Performances toward the beginning of the tour, through the summer of 1974, featured the guitar-and-saxophone-led introduction used on the Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J. Tour (see the live 09 May 1974 version), while performances from that point forward featured the traditional saxophone introduction (see the live 29 Oct 1974 version).

20 Oct 1973 at Franklin Pierce College, Rindge, NH
26 Oct 1973 at Geneva Theatre, Geneva, NY
30 Oct 1973 (late show) at The Main Point, Bryn Mawr, PA
31 Oct 1973 (late show) at The Main Point, Bryn Mawr, PA
17 Nov 1973 at Roxy Theatre, Philadelphia, PA
25 Nov 1973 at University Of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA
06 Jan 1974 at Joe's Place, Cambridge, MA
12 Jan 1974 at The Joint In The Woods, Parsippany, NJ
29 Jan 1974 at Muther's Music Emporium, Nashville, TN
01 Feb 1974 at Allen Theatre, Cleveland, OH
10 Mar 1974 (late show) at Liberty Hall, Houston, TX
28 Apr 1974 at Swarthmore College, Swarthmore, PA
09 May 1974 (early show) at Harvard Square Theatre, Cambridge, MA
02 Jun 1974 at The Toledo Agora, Toledo, OH
13 Jul 1974 (late show) at The Bottom Line, New York City, NY
25 Jul 1974 at Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, Santa Monica, CA
22 Sep 1974 at Kean College, Union, NJ
04 Oct 1974 at Avery Fisher Hall, New York City, NY
11 Oct 1974 at Shady Grove Music Fair, Gaithersburg, MD
12 Oct 1974 at Princeton University, Princeton, NJ
18 Oct 1974 at Capitol Theatre, Passaic, NJ
19 Oct 1974 at Union College, Schenectady, NY
20 Oct 1974 at Dickinson College , Carlisle, PA
26 Oct 1974 at Julia Sanderson Theater, Springfield, MA
29 Oct 1974 at Music Hall, Boston, MA
01 Nov 1974 at Tower Theater, Upper Darby, PA
16 Nov 1974 at American University, Washington, DC
17 Nov 1974 at University Of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA
23 Nov 1974 at Salem State College, Salem, MA
29 Nov 1974 at War Memorial Theatre, Trenton, NJ
06 Dec 1974 at State Theatre, New Brunswick, NJ
08 Dec 1974 at Burlington Memorial Auditorium, Burlington, VT

In 1973 and 1974, Bruce Springsteen performed DOES THIS BUS STOP AT 82ND STREET on four radio performances. On all four occasions, the song was played in a full-band acoustic arrangement. See the individual versions below for more details.

DOES THIS BUS STOP AT 82ND STREET is known to have been performed at least 4 times during the Born To Run Tour: 4 times during the 1st leg (73 know dates / 81 known shows, between July and December 1975) and 0 times during the 2nd leg (35 know dates, between March and May 1976). The 1976 portion of the tour would soon be nicknamed the "Chicken Scratch Tour" by the road crew because of the high proportion of secondary market, southern state locations. Some of that period's setlists are incomplete or unknown, and therefore, the song may have been played on some more dates during the Born To Run Tour, the 1st leg in particular. On this tour, the song was played in its traditional full-band arrangement.

After disappearing from Springsteen's repertoire for 17 years, in preparation for World Tour 1992-1993, DOES THIS BUS STOP AT 82ND STREET was performed during the tour's public warm-up rehearsal show that took place on 23 Mar 1993 at Count Basie Theatre in Red Bank, NJ (see the live 23 Mar 1993 version). It was played in a new solo acoustic guitar arrangement.

Following World Tour 1992-1993, DOES THIS BUS STOP AT 82ND STREET was performed off-tour on 24 Jun 1993 in East Rutherford, NJ, during the "Concert To Fight Hunger" benefit show. The song was played in a new solo acoustic guitar arrangement. See the live 24 Jun 1993 version for more details.

In preparation for The Ghost Of Tom Joad Solo Acoustic Tour, DOES THIS BUS STOP AT 82ND STREET was performed during the tour's public warm-up rehearsal show that took place on 21 Nov 1995 at State Theatre in New Brunswick, NJ.

DOES THIS BUS STOP AT 82ND STREET was performed 46 times during the 128-date-long The Ghost Of Tom Joad Solo Acoustic Tour. It was performed at every single show during the tour's first North American leg and the following European leg's first two weeks, before becoming a rarity for the remainder of the tour. Ten songs from the two December 1995 shows in Philadelphia, PA, including DOES THIS BUS STOP AT 82ND STREET from 08 Dec 1995, were used on the 14 Dec 1995 edition of the Columbia Records Radio Hour radio show. See the live 09 Dec 1995 version for more details. On this tour, the song was played in a solo acoustic guitar arrangement.

22 Nov 1995 at Count Basie Theatre, Red Bank, NJ
26 Nov 1995 at Wiltern Theatre, Los Angeles, CA
27 Nov 1995 at Wiltern Theatre, Los Angeles, CA
29 Nov 1995 at Berkeley Community Theatre, Berkeley, CA
30 Nov 1995 at Berkeley Community Theatre, Berkeley, CA
03 Dec 1995 at Rosemont Theatre, Theatre, IL
05 Dec 1995 at Constitutional Hall, Washington, DC
06 Dec 1995 at Constitutional Hall, Washington, DC
08 Dec 1995 at Tower Theater, Philadelphia, PA
12 Dec 1995 at Beacon Theatre, New York City, NY
13 Dec 1995 at Beacon Theatre, New York City, NY
15 Dec 1995 at The Orpheum, Boston, MA
16 Dec 1995 at The Orpheum, Boston, MA
17 Dec 1995 at Beacon Theatre, New York City, NY
07 Jan 1996 at Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier, Montreal, Canada
08 Jan 1996 at Massey Hall, Toronto, Canada
10 Jan 1996 at Fox Theater, Detroit, MI
11 Jan 1996 at Fox Theater, Detroit, MI
12 Jan 1996 at Stambaugh Auditorium, Youngstown, OH
16 Jan 1996 at Music Hall, Cleveland, OH
17 Jan 1996 at Music Hall, Cleveland, OH
18 Jan 1996 at Fox Theater, St. Louis, MO
22 Jan 1996 at The Sangor Theater, New Orleans, LA
23 Jan 1996 at Jesse H. Jones Hall For The Performing Arts, Houston, TX
25 Jan 1996 at Austin Music Hall, Austin, TX
26 Jan 1996 at Bronco Bowl, Dallas, TX
28 Jan 1996 at Fox Theatre, Atlanta, GA
12 Feb 1996 at Alte Oper, Frankfurt, Germany
14 Feb 1996 at Kulturpalst, Dresden, Germany
15 Feb 1996 at Rudi-Sedlmayer-Halle, Munich, Germany
17 Feb 1996 at Congress Centrum Hamburg Halle 1, Hamburg, Germany
18 Feb 1996 at Phillipshalle, Dusseldorf, Germany
21 Feb 1996 at Le Zenith De Paris, Paris, France
22 Feb 1996 at Le Zenith De Paris, Paris, France
25 Feb 1996 at De Doelen, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
28 Feb 1996 at Apollo Theatre, Manchester, England
29 Feb 1996 at Symphony Hall, Birmingham, England
17 Apr 1996 at Royal Albert Hall, London, England
25 Apr 1996 at Brixton Academy, London, England
25 Sep 1996 at E.J. Thomas Performing Arts Hall, Akron, OH
26 Sep 1996 at Hill Auditorium, Ann Arbor, MI
01 Oct 1996 at Braden Auditorium, Normal, IL
29 Oct 1996 at Paramount Theatre, Seattle, WA
24 Nov 1996 at Paramount Theatre, Asbury Park, NJ
05 Feb 1997 at Concert Hall, Brisbane, Australia
07 Feb 1997 at Capitol Theatre, Sydney, Australia

DOES THIS BUS STOP AT 82ND STREET was performed twice during the 132-date-long The Reunion Tour. The song was played in its traditional full-band arrangement on this tour.

DOES THIS BUS STOP AT 82ND STREET was performed off-tour on 18 Aug 2001 at the beachfront in Asbury Park, NJ, during the 26th annual Clearwater Festival. See the live 18 Aug 2001 version for more details.

DOES THIS BUS STOP AT 82ND STREET was performed on the morning of 30 Jul 2002 at Convention Hall in Asbury Park, NJ, prior to Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band's live broadcast on The Today Show. The song was played in a solo acoustic arrangement. See the live 30 Jul 2002 (morning) version for more details.

DOES THIS BUS STOP AT 82ND STREET was performed off-tour on the first of the two DoubleTake Magazine benefit shows in February 2003 at Somerville Theatre in Somerville, MA. The song was played solo on acoustic guitar and harmonica. See the live 19 Feb 2003 version for more details.

DOES THIS BUS STOP AT 82ND STREET was performed on 24 May 2003 at Stade De France in Paris, France, during a short acoustic set prior to a concert at the venue. The song was played solo on acoustic guitar. See the live 24 May 2003 version for more details.

DOES THIS BUS STOP AT 82ND STREET was performed 6 times during the 120-date-long The Rising Tour. The song was played in its full-band traditional arrangement.

DOES THIS BUS STOP AT 82ND STREET was performed off-tour during the first of the two holiday jam shows that were held on 19 Dec 2004 at Harry's Roadhouse in Asbury Park, NJ. The song was played in a solo acoustic guitar arrangement. See the live 19 Dec 2004 (early show) version for more details.

On his way from Germany back to the US in the midst the Devils & Dust Solo Acoustic Tour, Springsteen's private plane stopped for refueling at Keflavik International Airport in Iceland late on the night of 28 Jun 2005. Having never set foot in the country, Bruce just grabbed his guitar and walked into the small terminal and played a six-song set (including DOES THIS BUS STOP AT 82ND STREET) for the lucky late-shift workers at the airport. According to the Iceland Review, "The employees commented that Springsteen showed no pretense and was very down-to-earth, chatting away with them. His friend asked the airport employees if they would like to listen to a few tunes."

DOES THIS BUS STOP AT 82ND STREET was performed 6 times during the Devils & Dust Solo Acoustic Tour. The first four performances were solo acoustic guitar renditions (see the live 18 Jul 2005 version) while the remaining two were solo ukulele (see the live 16 Nov 2005 version).

DOES THIS BUS STOP AT 82ND STREET was performed once during The Seeger Sessions Tour, played in a radically revamped full-band arrangement. See the live 12 Nov 2006 version.

DOES THIS BUS STOP AT 82ND STREET was performed 3 times during the 100-date-long Magic Tour, all of them in the United States in 2008. The song was played in its traditional full-band arrangement.

DOES THIS BUS STOP AT 82ND STREET was performed on the first (04 Oct 2008 in Philadelphia, PA) of the four Vote For Change events on which Bruce Springsteen appeared. The song was played solo on acoustic guitar and harmonica. See the live 04 Oct 2008 version for more details.

DOES THIS BUS STOP AT 82ND STREET was performed 3 times during the 83-date-long Working On A Dream Tour. The song was played in its traditional full-band arrangement.

DOES THIS BUS STOP AT 82ND STREET was performed off-tour on 04 Nov 2011 at Soldiers And Sailors Memorial Hall in Pittsburgh, PA, when Bruce Springsteen appeared at Joe Grushecky and the Houserockers concerts. The song was played solo acoustic.

Covers

As far as it's known, only two artists have recorded and released Bruce Springsteen's DOES THIS BUS STOP AT 82ND STREET:

Available Versions

List of available versions of DOES THIS BUS STOP AT 82ND STREET on this website:

Credits / References

Thanks Jake (ol'catfishinthelake at BTX and Greasy Lake) for all the help. Some of the above info about the studio recording and the live performances is taken from Brucebase.

Request

It is reported that a group called Statistical Analysis recorded Springsteen's DOES THIS BUS STOP AT 82ND STREET and released it in 2009 on a cassette titled Discography (DIY United Records, catalogue # diyu-001, USA). If you have this cassette, please let me know. Any additions, comments, or corrections to this page are welcome. You can contact me via the below form or by email: . You will be credited. Thanks in advance.