While “Spirit in the Night” would go on to become a staple of Sprinsteen’s live sets, “Blinded by the Light” flopped when released as a single. So Springsteen wrote both “Blinded by the Light” and “Spirit in the Night.” From the lofty vantage point of history, Davis’ instructions would prove important for Springsteen’s career, though it did not boost the album’s initial sales. The only reason the song exists is that after Springsteen completed the album, Columbia president Clive Davis rejected it, saying there were no hit singles. Even if you saw Springsteen live in concert, odds are you might not have heard him play it either, as Setlists.fm lists it as his 140th most played tune. Unless you had this album, there’s probably little chance you heard the original “Blinded by the Light,” as radio gave it little airplay and Columbia Records didn’t include it on any compilations or live albums until 2003. in 1988 and many vinyl owners simply rebought it. The second milestone is probably due to the fact that it was first released on CD in the U.S. It took five years to go gold (500,000 units sold) and eighteen years to go platinum (1 million units). While considered a classic among rock critics and hardcore fans, the album never sold particularly well by Springsteen’s standards. Springsteen first released the track on his 1973 album Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J. In the pre-Internet age, many people did not know that the Earth Band version was a cover because they had no way of knowing there was an original. Legions of rock fans probably would have never heard of, or even thought about, “Blinded by the Light” had the group not covered it.
The first incarnation, named simply Manfred Mann, scored hits with covers: 1964’s “Do Wah Diddy Diddy” and 1968’s “The Mighty Quinn.” The original group disbanded, but Mann himself later founded Manfred Mann Chapter Three in the late ’60s, then Manfred Mann’s Earth Band in the early ’70s. The Earth Band was actually the third group to bear his name. Manfred Mann is the stage name of South African rocker Manfred Sepse Lubowitz.
So instead of penning a simple paragraph for the list explaining why it’s a solid cover, “with a boulder on my shoulder” I wrote this article instead. (Editor’s note: I couldn’t believe it either, but it’s true – three #5s, two #2s, no other #1s.) I found absolutely no references to it on compilations of worst all-time covers. It is, after all, the only Springsteen-penned song to reach the number one spot on Billboard. I was even more surprised that it got rejected for inclusion.
If you read Cover Me’s list of top Springsteen covers, published yesterday, you were probably either shocked, or relieved, not to see it on the list. The iconic keyboard intro, the rattle of the high-hat, and then Bruce Springsteen’s immortal words, “Blinded by the Light.” Only it’s not Bruce singing: it’s Chris Thompson, lead singer of Manfred Mann’s Earth Band, covering the first track from Springsteen’s 1973 debut album Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J.