All the Times Bruce Springsteen Has Covered Bob Dylan

By Andy Greene

Andy Greene

At the third annual Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony back in January 1988, the same night that Beach Boy Mike Love blasted just about everyone in the room, Bruce Springsteen walked up to the podium and delivered a much more gracious speech to induct Bob Dylan.

“Dylan was a revolutionary – the way that Elvis freed your body, Bob freed your mind,” Springsteen said. “He showed us that just because the music was innately physical, it did not mean that it was anti-intellect. He broke through the limitations of what a recording artist could achieve.”

By that point, Springsteen had been playing Dylan songs in his live set for well over 15 years. Later that year, he’d play both “Chimes of Freedom” and “Blowin’ in the Wind.” And earlier this month, Springsteen played “I Shall Be Released” for the first time in his live career at the “Music America: The Songs that Shaped Us” concert at the OceanFirst Bank Center in West Long Branch, New Jersey.

Overall, Springsteen has played 13 Dylan songs in concert, dating all the way back to his pre-fame days in the very early Seventies. And thanks to the magic of bootlegs and YouTube, they’re all just a click away. 

• “It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry” (1971)

  Image Credit: David Gahr/Getty Images

  For two very memorable days in May 1971, Bruce Springsteen and future E Street Band members Steve Van Zandt and Garry Tallent, along with a few of their Jersey Shore buddies, including Southside Johnny, played shows as Dr. Zoom & the Sonic Boom. By some miracle, a clean recording exists of their May 15, 1971, set at Newark State College in Union, New Jersey, where they opened up with a wild, bluesy rendition of “It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry.” Springsteen does an impressive job on the Michael Bloomfield guitar parts on the original, but there’s no record of him ever attempting the song again.