Clarence Clemons, a fixture in Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band since 1972, died yesterday following complications of a recent stroke. He was 69.
From Springsteen's official site:
- It is with overwhelming sadness that we inform our friends and fans that at 7:00 tonight, Saturday, June 18, our beloved friend and bandmate, Clarence Clemons passed away. The cause was complications from his stroke of last Sunday, June 12th.
- Bruce Springsteen said of Clarence: Clarence lived a wonderful life. He carried within him a love of people that made them love him. He created a wondrous and extended family. He loved the saxophone, loved our fans and gave everything he had every night he stepped on stage. His loss is immeasurable and we are honored and thankful to have known him and had the opportunity to stand beside him for nearly forty years. He was my great friend, my partner, and with Clarence at my side, my band and I were able to tell a story far deeper than those simply contained in our music. His life, his memory, and his love will live on in that story and in our band.
I wish to share two stories about "The Big Man."
The first is Bob Dylan-related. In October, 2003, I drove down from Boston to New York's Shea Stadium to catch the final night of Springsteen's tour. There had been special guests the previous evening, including Al Franken, Willie Nile, and Gary U.S. Bonds, so I was expecting more of the same, but I never thought I'd hear Springsteen say, "We have my great friend and inspiration with us tonight, Mr. Bob Dylan . . . "
Didn't see that one coming.
While Dylan and Springsteen have shared the stage about a half-dozen times, this was the only time Dylan and Clemons appeared together, unless you count 1985's Artists United Against Apartheid's "Sun City" single and video. Dylan was his idiosyncratic self, a renegade in the company of polished professionals, playing a rough and almost-ready version of "Highway 61 Revisited." I feel honored that I got to see Dylan, Springsteen, and "The Big Man" bust the city in half. It was an exciting experience, which, sadly, can never be repeated.
Dylan talked about Clemons on his Theme Time Radio Hour program. You can listen to the clip here.
Bob Dylan's movie-making son Jesse " tweet(ed) a video of Clemons talking about meeting Springsteen for the first time. 'A beautiful recollection,' Dylan said."
My other story is of a more personal nature.
I saw Clemons play with the E Street Band about two dozen times, starting the day Jimmy Carter was elected president in 1976. I also saw him on Ringo Starr's maiden All-Star Band tour in 1989, along wtih The Band's Levon Helm and Rick Danko, E Street's Nils Lofgren, Dr. John, Joe Walsh, Billy Preston, and Jim Keltner.
In 1982, however, I got to interview Clemons.
I was on the editorial staff of Boston Rock magazine, and Clemons was playing with his band, the Red Bank Rockers, at a cavernous club called The Channel. The E Street Band was on hold at this time, as Springsteen was wondering what to do with his solo Nebraska recordings.
I met Clemons at his tour bus before the show. As I started the interview, it was clear that while I was a big E Street fan, I knew little of Clemons' personal history. (Remember, this was way before the widespread use of the Internet. Clemons did not even have a solo album out at this time, and was about to sign a recording contract, rumored to be with Elektra, but it ended up being Columbia.)
Clemons could have pulled a big rock star trip, but kindly suggested meeting again after the show to get a better sense of what his band was about.
And what a show it was! It reminded me of an old-fashioned soul review. J.T. Bowens sang while Clarence played sax. You can get a taste of what I saw by visiting Wolfgang's Vault,
After the show, as promised, Clemons met with me. He spoke about the early days of playing bars on the Jersey shore, his plans for his current side project, and plenty of things besides his "boss".
When it was time for a photograph, Clemons wanted to do something a bit more that just stand still, so he said, "How about this?" in front of the tour bus, in his stage suit, he flexed his left bicep, then turned and flexed his right.
Clemons didn't have to be so accommodating, but it certainly left a lasting impression on me.
Along with his many accomplishments in the E Street Band, Clemons had a successful solo career, appearing on television (The Simpsons, The Wire, Nash Bridges), in movies (New York New York, Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure), and on albums (Ronnie Spector, Scarlet Rivera, Greg Lake, Joan Armatrading, Aretha Franklin, Joe Cocker, Roy Orbison, and Lady Gaga, among many others).
He will be missed. I cannot imagine the E Street Band without him.
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