DOWN THE ROAD APIECE^©

Live Feb 1972 version

Well if you wanna hear some boogie like I'm gonna play
Just will you take me out and I'll knock out play
The drummer is a cat they call Charlie McCoy
You all see that rubber-legged boy
C'mon everybody won't you lose your lease
Down the road, down the road, down the road apiece

Well there's a place where you can get your kicks
It's open every night about twelve to six
If wanna hear some boogie you can get your fill
And shoot that thing through you like an old steam drill
Mama cookin' chicken fried in bacon grease
Down the road, down the road, down the road apiece

Well there's a place that you can get your kicks
Open every night about twelve to six
If you wanna hear some boogie you can get your fill
Shoot that thing through you like an old steam drill
Mama cookin' chicken fried in bacon grease
Down the road, down the road, down the road apiece

Page last updated: 26 Nov 2009

Intro

DOWN THE ROAD APIECE is a song written in 1940 by Don Raye and recorded that same year by Will Bradley Orchestra with Ray McKinley. Check out the original Will Bradley Orchestra with Ray McKinley version for more details. The song was recorded by numerous artists, including The Rolling Stones in 1965. Bruce Springsteen has covered the song (The Rolling Stones cover version) several times during his career.

Live History

As far as it's known, Bruce Springsteen performed DOWN THE ROAD APIECE three times during the Bruce Springsteen Band period.

• 10 Jul 1971 at Brookdale Community College, Lincroft, NJ
• 23 Jul 1971 at Lincoln Center, Damrosch Park, New York, NY
• Feb 1972 at The Backdoor Club, Richmond, VA

The next known performance was 23 years later, on 09 Oct 1995 at Cafe Eckstein in Berlin, Germany, with Wolfgang Niedecken And His Leopardefellband.

• 09 Oct 1995 at Cafe Eckstein, Berlin, Germany

In October 1995, Joe Grushecky & The Houserockers kicked off the release of their American Babylon album with a six-stop tour dubbed the "October Assault." Introduced as "honorary Houserocker of the week" on the first night, Springsteen joined the band for the majority of the set on all six dates, playing guitar and sharing vocals with Grushecky. At each show, Springsteen came out for American Babylon's WHAT DID YOU DO IN THE WAR and remained on stage for the rest of the set. DOWN THE ROAD APIECE was performed every night during the Springsteen portion of the set.

• 17 Oct 1995 at The Stone Pony, Asbury Park, NJ
• 18 Oct 1995 at Tramps Night Club, New York, NY
• 19 Oct 1995 at The Electric Factory, Philadelphia, PA
• 20 Oct 1995 at Nick's Fat City, Pittsburgh, PA
• 21 Oct 1995 at Nick's Fat City, Pittsburgh, PA
• 24 Oct 1995 at Park West, Chicago, IL

Springsteen performed DOWN THE ROAD APIECE on several more occasions:

• 02 Mar 1998 at Nick's Fat City, Pittsburgh, PA, with Joe Grushecky & The Houserockers.
   
• 06 Nov 1998 at CLUB 251, West Palm Beach, FL, with Clarence Clemons.
   
• 03 Nov 2000 at the Stone Pony, Asbury Park, NJ, with Joe Grushecky & The Houserockers, during the first annual Light Of Day benefit.
   
• 17 Jul 2004 at The Stone Pony, Asbury Park, NJ, with Joe Grushecky & The Houserockers, during a Joe Grushecky / Soozie Tyrell show.

By the time this page was last updated, Springsteen had performed DOWN THE ROAD APIECE live a total of 14 times as far as it's known.

[Click here to display/hide list of all performances]

Live Feb 1972 version

During three of the four weekends in February 1972, The Bruce Springsteen Band played 9 shows at the Backdoor Club in Richmond, VA. A soundboard recording (taken from Tinker West's original reel tape) and audience tapes from that 9-shows residency are circulating among collectors. Exact dates for the total of 26 tracks recorded are not known, but it is more likely that most of them come from the final weekend's performances. DOWN THE ROAD APIECE is among the tracks on the soundboard recording. The above lyrics are for that Feb 1972 live performance at the Backdoor Club, Richmond, VA.

Official Release

A live recording of DOWN THE ROAD APIECE from the 20 or 21 Oct 1995 October Assault Tour show was released in 1999 on the Joe Grushecky & The Houserockers live album Down The Road Apiece Live. The album contains tracks from the two Pittsburgh gigs, 20 and 21 Oct 1995. The above lyrics are for that official live version of DOWN THE ROAD APIECE; Springsteen plays guitar and sings lead vocals on this one. See the live Oct 1995 version for more details.

Available Versions

List of available versions of DOWN THE ROAD APIECE on this website:

• Live Feb 1972 version
• Live Oct 1995 version
• Original Will Bradley Orchestra with Ray McKinley version
• The Rolling Stones cover version

Credits / References

Thanks Jake (ol'catfishinthelake from BTX and Greasy Lake) for transcribing these lyrics. Info on the October Assault Tour taken from Backstreets Magazine issue #50/51. Much of the above info about the live history of the song is taken from Brucebase and Backstreets.