( RollingStone.com ) -- It was surprising enough to see Bruce Springsteen performing Willow Smith 's `` Whip My Hair '' with Jimmy Fallon ( as Neil Young ) earlier this week -- let alone doing it as his bearded 1970s self . Fallon tells Rolling Stone how it all came together . `` We have a great writer , Mike Dicenzo , '' Fallon says . `` It was his idea to do the Neil Young [ parody ] , and 'Fresh Prince of Bel-Air ' and 'Pants on the Ground . ' We were tryin ' to think of [ another one ] , and he was like , 'Dude , I think I found the song : we should do 'Whip My Hair ' by Willow Smith . ' And I listened to the song and went , 'Oh my God , it could be great . ' `` We were just gon na do that as Neil , but in the meantime , we 'd been talking to [ Springsteen manager ] Jon Landau . I know he 'd loved the [ `` Glee '' / '' Born to Run '' ] Emmy opening . They called us up and said , 'Bruce wants to come on and do a couple songs off the box set and the new record . ' I was like , 'Oh my God -- would he be up for a bit ? ' We did n't hear back for a couple days , but they said , 'Yeah , he 'd be open to it -- he 's not really into that stuff , but if you wan na pitch him something . ' `` So we did a scratch track in my office , sent it to Bruce -- and he loved it . He was like , ' I 'm in ! ' And then Jon Landau -- this is the craziest call -- says , ' I have an idea : If Jimmy 's being Neil from the '70s , maybe Bruce should be Bruce from the '70s ? We 'll get a beard ... ' And I was like , 'What ? ' So he says , 'Here 's his number , give him a call and talk about it . ' `` Exclusive listen : Fifteen Bruce Springsteen songs . Fast-forward to Bruce and Jimmy in the makeup room . `` He brought his actual sunglasses from the `` Born to Run '' times , and he goes , ' I got the glasses , I just need a floppy hat . ' We got him one , and we taped this beard on him , and he goes , 'Wow , that 's it right there . ' And I go , 'Do you want to put the wig on ? ' And he 's laughing , 'What are you trying to do to me ? ! ' There was no one else in the room . I go , 'Let me shut the door . It 's just me and you . Just put the wig on , and we see if it looks good . ' He was so sad ! So I put a wig on Bruce Springsteen , and then he put the hat over the wig and looked in the mirror , and he was just like , 'Whoa . ' And that was it . He looked exactly like he looked in 1970 . It was spooky . `` So then we went to show Jon what we did , and I think he started [ tearing ] up a little bit , to be honest . He was just , like , 'Gosh , Bruce , you look like when we first started working together . That 's crazy ! ' Like , when would he ever do [ something like ] this ? You do n't dress up as yourself at home . It was a really cool moment . Check out the exclusive Rolling Stone Q & A with Springsteen . `` Right before he was about to come out I heard applause backstage in the hallway -- I was like , 'What was that ? ' And said , 'He just walked into everyone from his camp . ' No one had seen him yet , just Jon , and people freaked out . They were like , 'Oh my God , Bruce , you look so young . ' Everyone was getting nostalgic . `` One of my friends who was at the show was like , ' I 'm the biggest Bruce fan . There 's no way he would do that ! ' It was just so fun . He just went for it and nailed it , and all I kept saying in my head was , 'Keep a straight face ... keep straight face . ' `` I 've listened to it probably 10 times already . '' Copyright © 2011 Rolling Stone .
Springsteen performed as his bearded old self with Jimmy Fallon . ` ` He wore his actual sunglasses from the ' Born to Run ' video , '' Fallon said . ` ` He looked exactly like he did in 1970 . It was spooky , '' Fallon added .