Little Steven - Until The Good Is Gone

First performance: 31/01/1998


Coverinfo

Bruce performed the song 4 times:
 
 
2012-10-16 Hammerstein Ballroom, New York City, NY
Little Kids Rock Benefit

Springsteen makes a not totally unexpected guest appearance at Right To Rock 2012, an event celebrating the tenth anniversary of Little Kids Rock, a non-profit charity dedicated to restoring and revitalizing music education in disadvantaged public schools. Man of the hour however is Steven Van Zandt, who is presented with the 'Big Man Of The Year Award'. Clarence Clemons was honored in 2009 with the inaugural award, and each year the charity has presented it to "a musical luminary who is represents the ideals of our organization and is passionate about our mission of transforming children's lives through music education." Bruce gives a speech, before joining Steve and guests on stage . Also present: event chairs Max Weinberg and Maureen Van Zandt along with Elvis Costello, Dion, Tom Morello, Darlene Love, Southside Johnny, Kris Allen, Rubén Blades, Gary U.S. Bonds, Michael Des Barres, Michael Johns, Jesse Malin, Bernie Williams, The Midtown Men, and others. Backing band are the NYC Hit Squad, accompanied by Bobby Bandiera, Jake Clemons, Charlie Giordano, Everett Bradley, Cindy Mizelle, Curtis King, Tawatha Agee, and the E Street Horns.
  
 
2000-12-18 Convention Hall, Asbury Park, NJ
2000-12-17 Convention Hall, Asbury Park, NJ

1998-01-31 Count Basie Theatre, Red Bank, NJ 
Steven Van Zandt performed the song during the "Come Together" concert . Bruce Springsteen did not sing, but he probably was onstage playing guitar during this and all the other songs on which he did not sing. The "Come Together: Jon Bon Jovi & Friends" benefit concert was organized by the Long Branch Police Department, The Asbury Park Press, and FPI Concerts, along with Jon Bon Jovi. The concert was to honor slain Long Branch police officer Sgt. Patrick King and raise money for the Sgt. Patrick King Memorial Fund to provide for his family. King, 45-year-old father of two young boys, was fatally shot on 20 Nov 1997 by a fugitive who had vowed to kill himself and a police officer rather than be captured and returned to jail. Twenty musicians with ties to the Jersey shore music scene answered Jon Bon Jovi's call, including Bruce Springsteen and several members of the then-disbanded E Street Band (Clarence Clemons, Danni Frederici, Patti Scialfa, Steven Van Zandt, and Max Weinberg), Southside Johnny, Bobby Bandiera, and Richie Sambora among others. Actor Danny DeVito was the event's MC. Tickets, which were priced at $125, went on sale on 17 Jan 1998 noon and sold out in just eight minutes. The concert that was organized in short order raised more than $112,000 for King's widow and his two sons. This was a near-reunion of the fabled E Street Band and Springsteen's first full-length electric gig following the acoustic The Ghost Of Tom Joad Solo Acoustic Tour. Springsteen spent much (or possibly all) of the night onstage, singing or playing guitar only. Soundboard recording for the complete concert is available among collectors. The 31 Jan 1998 show at Count Basie Theatre 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.
 
 
setlist :
THIS TIME IT'S FOR REAL (with Southside Johnny, Jon Bon Jovi, and Steven Van Zandt) / BAD MEDICINE (Southside Johnny and Jon Bon Jovi) / UNTIL THE GOOD IS GONE (Steven Van Zandt) / BROKE DOWN PIECE OF MAN (Southside Johnny and Jon Bon Jovi) / HARD TIMES COME EASY (Richie Sambora) / LOVES GLORY (Patti Scialfa) / THERE GOES MY BABY (Southside Johnny) / THIS TIME BABY'S GONE FOR GOOD (with Southside Johnny and Steven Van Zandt) / YOU GIVE LOVE A BAD NAME (with Jon Bon Jovi) / ALL I NEEDED WAS YOU (Southside Johnny and Steven Van Zandt) / SOMEDAY I'LL BE SATURDAY NIGHT (Jon Bon Jovi and Southside Johnny) / BLOOD ON BLOOD (Jon Bon Jovi) / I'VE BEEN WORKING TOO HARD - LITTLE QUEENIE (Southside Johnny and Jon Bon Jovi) / I DON'T WANT TO GO HOME (with Southside Johnny, Jon Bon Jovi, and Steven Van Zandt) / IT'S BEEN A LONG TIME (with Southside Johnny and Steven Van Zandt) / WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE (with Jon Bon Jovi) / FOREVER (Steven Van Zandt) / LIVIN' ON A PRAYER (Jon Bon Jovi) / I PLAYED THE FOOL (Southside Johnny and Jon Bon Jovi) / KEEP THE FAITH (Jon Bon Jovi) / ROCKIN' ALL OVER THE WORLD (with all performers) / TREAT HER RIGHT (with all performers) /
 

Songinfo

Until the good is gone is a song written by Steven Van Zandt and released on Little Steven And The Disciples Of Soul's 1982 album Men Without Women. The tune of the song  is very similar to Bruce Springsteen's 1977 outtake It's a shame.  Men Without Women, credited to "Little Steven & The Disciples of Soul", is Steven Van Zandt's debut solo album. Bruce Springsteen participated in the recording of three of the album's tracks, singing harmony vocals on Until the good is gone, Men without women and Angel eyes. According to Brucebase, Springsteen's parts were recorded around November 1981 at The Power Station in New York City, NY. Springsteen is not credited in the album liner notes, but later in interviews Steven Van Zandt confirmed that Springsteen sang harmony vocals on the three tracks. Men Without Women was released in October 1982.
  
 
 

Other cover versions

Bruce on the artist

2020-07-01 SiriusXM Studio, New York City
Bruce Springsteen: From My Home, To Yours… Part 7' airs on Sirius XM's E Street Radio, which goes by the title "4th Of July, Asbury Park". Steven Van Zandt and Southside Johnny join Bruce in the studio, the first guest appearances of the series. They talk about the Jersey Shore music scene, playing in Asbury Park in the '70s, and all the great songwriting.
Bruce plays the song during this episode and says the song reminds him " For some reason, of cut-throat Monopoly games." 
 
 
All info on Little Steven on Brucebase
 
 
Bruce Springsteen inducted 10 past and present members of the E Street Band into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The musicians were inducted in the "Musical Excellence" category, which, from 2000-2011, had been called the "Sidemen" category. The full text of his remarks can be found below. In a lengthy speech, Springsteen gave the history of the band, from meeting drummer Vini "Mad Dog" Lopez to the oft-told story of Clarence Clemons walking into Asbury Park's Student Prince to meeting, and eventually marrying, Patti Scialfa. He spoke not only of their contributions to his music, but of the ups and downs that come with a 40-year history together. 
 
Full Speech:
 
" Good evening. In the beginning, there was "Mad Dog" Vini Lopez, standing in front of me, fresh out of jail, his head shaved, in the Mermaid Room of the Upstage Club in Asbury Park. He told me he had a money-making outfit called Speed Limit 25, they were looking for a guitarist and was I interested? I was broke, so I was. So the genesis point of the E Street Band was actually a group that Vini Lopez asked me to join to make a few extra dollars on the weekend. Shortly thereafter, I met Dan Federici. He was draped in three quarter-length leather, had his red hair slicked back with his wife Flo -- she was decked out in the blonde, bouffant wig -- and they were straight out of Flemington, New Jersey. So Vini, Danny, myself, along with bass player Vinnie Roslin, were shortly woodshedding out of a cottage on the main street of a lobster-fishing town: Highlands, New Jersey. We first saw Garry Tallent along with Southside Johnny when they dragged two chairs onto an empty dance floor as I plugged my guitar into the Upstage wall of sound. I was the new kid in a new town and these were the guys who owned the place. They sat back and looked at me like, "Come on, come on, punk. Bring it. Let’s see what you got." And I reached back and I burnt their house down. Garry Tallent’s great bass-playing and Southern gentleman’s presence has anchored my band for 40 years. Thank you, Garry! Thank you, sir. Then one night, I wandered in the Upstage and I was dumbstruck by a baby-faced, 16-year-old David Sancious. Davey was very, very unusual. He was a young, black man who -- in 1968 Asbury Park, which was not a peaceful place -- crossed the tracks in search of musical adventure and he blessed us with his talent and his love. He was my roomie in the early, two-guys-to-one-six-dollar-motel-room years of the E Street Band. He was good, he kept his socks clean. It was lovely. And he was carrying around a snake around his neck at that time, so I lucked out with Davey as my roommate. And Davey’s the only member of the group who ever actually lived on E Street! So I walked in and he was on the club’s organ. And Davey’s reserved now, but at the time, he danced like Sly Stone and he played like Booker T, and he poured out blues and soul and jazz and gospel and rock and roll and he had things in his keyboard that we just never heard before. It was just so full of soul and so beautiful. Davey, we love you and we still miss you so, you know? 

But predating all of this was Steve Van Zandt. Steven: frontman, frontman. I walk into the Middletown Hullabaloo Club. He was the frontman for a band called the Shadows. He had on a tie that went from here down to his feet. All I remember is that he was singing the Turtles’ 'Happy Together.' During a break at the Hullabaloo Club in New Jersey, he played 55 minutes on and five minutes off, and if there was a fight, he had to rush onstage and start playing again. So I met Stevie there and he soon became my bass player first, then lead guitarist. My consigliere, my dependable devil’s advocate whenever I need one. The invaluable ears for everything that I create. I always get a hold of him, and fan No. 1. So he’s my comic foil onstage, my fellow producer/arranger, and my blood, blood, blood, blood, blood brother. Let’s keep rolling for as many lives as they’ll give us, alright? 
 
 
 
Years and bands went by: Child, Steel Mill, the Bruce Springsteen Band -- they were all some combo of the above-mentioned gang. Then I scored a solo recording contract with Columbia Records and I argued to get to choose my recording "sidemen," which was a misnomer, in this case, if there ever was one. So, I chose my band and my great friends, and we finally landed on E Street, the rare, rock & roll hybrid of solo artistry and a true rock & roll band. But one big thing was missing. It was a dark and stormy night, as a Nor’easter rattled the street lamps on Kingsley Blvd. and in walked Clarence Clemons. I’ve been enthralled by the sax sounds of King Curtis and I searched for years for a great rock and roll saxophonist. And that night Clarence walked in, walked towards the stage, and he rose, towering to my right on the Prince’s tiny stage, about the size of this podium, and then he unleashed the force of nature that was the sound and the soul of the Big Man. In that moment, I knew that my life had changed. Miss you, love you, Big Man. Wish that he was with us tonight. This would mean a great, great deal to Clarence. An honorable mention and shout-out to Ernie "Boom" Carter. The drummer who played on one song only: 'Born to Run.' He picked a good one. So here’s to you, Ernie. Thank you, thank you. Thanks, of course, Max Weinberg and Roy Bittan, who answered an ad in the Village Voice. And they beat out 60 other drummers and keyboardists for the job. It was the in-fatigable, almost dangerously dedicated Mighty Max Weinberg and the fabulous five fingers of Professor Roy Bittan. They refined and they defined the sounds of the E Street Band that remains our calling card around the world to this day. Thank you, Roy. Thank you, Max. They are my professional hitmen. I love them both. Then, 10 years later, Nils Lofgren and Patti Scialfa joined just in time to assist us in the rebirth of 'Born in the U.S.A.' Nils, one of the world’s great, great rock guitarists, with a choir boy’s voice, has given me everything he’s had for the past 30 years. Thank you, Nils. So much love. And Patti Scialfa, a Jersey girl, who came down one weekend from New York City and sat in with a local band, Cats on a Smooth Surface, and Bobby Bandiera at the Stone Pony, where she sang a killer version of the Exciters’ 'Tell ‘Em.' She had a voice that was full of a little Ronnie Spector, a little Dusty Springfield and a lot of something that was her very, very own. After she was done, I walked up, I introduced myself at the back bar, we grabbed a couple of stools and we sat there for the next hour -- or thirty years or so -- talking about music and everything else. So we added my lovely red-headed woman and she broke the boy’s club! Now, I wanted our band to mirror our audience, and by 1984, that band had grown men and grown women. But, her entrance freaked us out so much that opening night of the Born in the U.S.A. tour, I asked her to come into my dressing room and see what she was gonna wear! So she had on kind of a slightly feminine T-shirt and I stood there, sort of sweating. At my feet, I had a little Samsonite luggage bag that I carried with me, and I kicked it over. It was full of all my smelly, sweaty T-shirts and I said, "Just pick one of these. It’ll be fine." She’s not wearing one tonight. But Patti, I love you, thank you for your beautiful voice, you changed my band and my life. Thank you for our beautiful children. So, real bands -- real bands -- are made primarily from the neighborhood. From a real time and real place that exists for a little while, then changes, and is gone forever. They’re made from the same circumstances, the same needs, the same hungers, culture. They’re forged in the search of something more promising then what you were born into. These are the elements, the tools, and these are the people who built the place called E Street.
Now, E Street was a dance, was an idea, was a wish, was a refuge, was a home, was a destination, was a gutter dream, and finally, it was a band. We struggled together, and sometimes, we struggled with one another. We bathed in the glory, and often, the heartbreaking confusion of our rewards together. We’ve enjoyed health, and we’ve suffered illness and aging and death together. We took care of one another when trouble knocked, and we hurt one another in big and small ways. But in the end, we kept faith in each other. And one thing is for certain: as I said before in reference to Clarence Clemons, I told a story with the E Street Band that was, and is, bigger than I ever could have told on my own. And I believe that settles that question. But that is the hallmark of a rock and roll band, the narrative you tell together is bigger than anyone could have told on your own. That’s the Rolling Stones, the Sex Pistols, that’s Bob Marley and the Wailers. That’s James Brown and his Famous Flames. That’s Neil Young and Crazy Horse. So, I thank you my beautiful men and women of E Street. You made me dream and love bigger than I could have ever without you. And tonight I stand here with just one regret: that Danny and Clarence couldn’t be with us here tonight. Sixteen years ago, a few days before my own induction, I stood in my darkened kitchen along with Steve Van Zandt. Steve was just returning to the band after a 15-year hiatus and he was petitioning me to push the Hall of Fame to induct all of us together. I listened, and the Hall of Fame had its rules, and I was proud of my independence. We hadn’t played together in 10 years, we were somewhat estranged, we were just taking the first small steps over reforming. We didn’t know what the future would bring. And perhaps the shadows of some of the old grudges held some sway. It was a conundrum, as we’ve never quite been fish nor fowl. And Steve was quiet, but persistent. And at the end of our conversation, he just said, "Yeah, I understand. But Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band. That’s the legend." So I’m proud to induct, into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the heart-stopping, pants-dropping, hard-rocking, booty-shaking, love-making, earth-quaking, Viagra-taking, justifying, death-defying, legendary E Street Band.  
 
Bruce Springsteen made a surprise appearance at the New Jersey Hall of Fame induction ceremony Sunday to help honor E Street Band’s Steven Van Zandt. The guitarist was inducted alongside fellow Jersey-reared stars like Meryl Streep, Blondie’s Debbie Harry, Gloria Gaynor and the Four Seasons.
 

Lyrics

We always stood on the same block way back then
Waiting to find out where in the world we fit in
Then something on the radio changed everything we'd been
Ever since, I need it, over and over again
Where it comes from baby I don't know
That same old something just won't let me go
It's too late baby, it's been too long
Don't try to stop me 'till the good is gone
It seems like only yesterday I could hear big mama call
Get the boys and meet me down at the union hall
And always in the background after everybody's gone
It was something on the radio saying come on, come on
Where it comes from baby, I don't know
That same old something ain't gonna let me go
It's too late baby, it's been too long
Don't try to stop me 'till the good is gone
So many others never beat the city line
They weren't so different, they just ran out of time
You need something in your soul that's gonna keep you strong
That kind of good never ever gonna go wrong
Where it comes from baby I don't know
That same old something just won't let me go
It's too late baby, it's been too long
Don't try to stop me 'till the good is gone