Springsteen talks Patti Smith and the creation of 'Because the Night' on radio show
Chris Jordan
Asbury Park Press
“Because the Night,” written by Bruce Springsteen and Patti Smith, is one of rock's greatest, and certainly most majestic, songs.
Yet, Springsteen and Smith, who are both Jersey natives, took a circuitous route to the classic. The Boss talked about it Wednesday, June 30, the latest edition of his “From My Home to Yours” radio show on SiriusXM’s E Street Radio.
The theme of the show was “The Night Time Is the Right Time.” The story begins in an orange Mercedes Benz driven by Jimmy Iovine, who was engineering Springsteen's records at the time, and producing Smith's 1978 album, “Easter.”
“He drove me out towards Coney Island, somewhere, and he asked if he could send the E Street Band’s recording of the unfinished ‘Because the Night’ to Patti Smith, who he was producing at the time,” said Springsteen on Wednesday's show. “Now Jimmy had, has always had, and still has some very sly ears. Now me, I had a nice hook and a melody on a song that I could not finish the lyrics for. So Patti took it and turned it into the hit it became, writing a beautiful love song for her husband, Fred ‘Sonic’ Smith. Now it wouldn’t have been a hit if I had finished it and released it. It needed a woman’s voice, it needed Patti’s voice and her vision. She turned it into something that I alone could never have created. And for that, I forever thank my lovely, lovely friend.”
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Patti Smith performs at Montclair State College on March 18, 1979.
“Because the Night,” with a succinctly epic guitar solo by Lenny Kaye, was released by Smith in March 1978 and it became a Top 20 hit in the U.S and a Top 10 hit in the U.K. The chart placings exceeded anything Springsteen had released at that point. In 1993, 10,000 Maniacs had a hit with an acoustic version.
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“I have been at many crossroads in my life where I’ve been offered really big things, a huge amount of money or some kind of contract I’ve turned down because it wasn’t right for me,” said Smith to Billboard in 2018. “It’s not strange that I would have to think about it. But in this instance, we made the right decision. In the end, we were a good match for that particular song. I could have never written a song like that. I’d never write a chorus like that. All I’m saying is he gave us a gift … I would’ve loved (to have) written a song that captured the imagination of the people or the pulse of the people or the beat of the people — but one isn’t good in everything. I have my gifts. That’s a special gift. I really admire pop singers, people that make our hits. I love listening to hit songs. I dance to them; I listen to them. Sometimes people think that because I don’t write them that I’m snobby about it. It’s not that. If I knew how, I would. I haven’t written one. But we did write that.”
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band in 1976 by David Gahr.
Springsteen performs the song often in concert — more than 500 times, according to Brucebase. The spotlight often falls on guitarist Nils Lofgen, who routinely delivers a jaw-dropping solo when the E Street Band plays it.
Springsteen delivers a jaw-dropping solo on the track below, filmed in '78.
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“Because the Night” has a prominent place in the Smith concert setlist, too. Look for it Sept. 18 as Smith and her band play the first day of the Sea.Hear.Now festival in Asbury Park. Pearl Jam is the headliner that day, and Patti Scialfa, wife of the Boss, is also playing on the 18th.
Before then, Springsteen and Scialfa are starring in "Springsteen on Broadway" at the St. James Theatre in New York.
Wednesday, June 30 radio playlist
Night by Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band
(Night Time Is) The Right Time by Ray Charles
Night in my Veins by the Pretenders
Night Train to Memphis by Roy Acuff
Night Train by James Brown
Night Fever by the Bee Gees
Ain't Even Done with the Night by John Mellencamp
Walkin' After Midnight by Patsy Cline
Night of the Drunken Cheerleaders by the Penetrators
Here Comes the Night by Them
Wild Night by Van Morrison
Night Moves by Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band
Because the Night by the Patti Smith Group
A Hard Day's Night by the Ramsey Lewis Trio
