Bruce Springsteen Creates Incredible Impromptu Version Of Chuck Berry’s “You Can Never Tell”

At a 2013 concert in Leipzig, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band delivered an unplanned version of Chuck Berry’s hit “You Can Never Tell.” The performance grew out of a challenge Springsteen had set for that year’s tour: on each night, the group would tackle a song it had not attempted since its members were young, or perhaps had never performed before.

That undertaking drew on the musicians’ history. During their formative years, they concentrated largely on familiar cover material they could play from memory. They later progressed to writing songs of their own, and many of the E Street Band’s accomplished musicians had worked with Springsteen from the beginning of his career.

One original song, “Wish,” looked back at a formative episode in Springsteen’s life. At 16, he was thrilled to discover a Japanese guitar beneath the Christmas tree. He had persistently asked his mother for the instrument after seeing the Beatles perform on television, an experience presented as the starting point of a devotion to music that continued to deepen for the next 50 years.

In Leipzig, the tour challenge placed Springsteen and his band in an unfamiliar position. They did not immediately know the proper key for “You Can Never Tell” and had to feel their way through its chord changes. In full view of the concert audience, they worked to retrieve a song connected with their shared musical past.

Watch the full performance on page two