Saturday, June 18, 2011

The Big Man has left the band

Clarence Clemons, iconic saxophonist for the E Street Band, died today following a massive stroke on June 12th.
While initial signs had been hopeful after his hospitalization and two subsequent brain surgeries, he reportedly took a turn for the worse later in the week. He was 69.

Clemons – known affectionately to fan and friends as the Big Man – was the heart and soul of the E Street Band. His playing on tracks like "Born To Run," "Thunder Road," "Jungleland," "Dancing In The Dark" and countless more represent some of the most famous sax work in the history of rock & roll. "The story I have told throughout my work life I could not have told as well without Clarence," Springsteen wrote in the introduction to Clemons' 2009 memoir Big Man: Real Life and Tall Tales.

So much has been said and written about the stormy night in Asbury Park in 1971 when Clemons met Springsteen that it's hard to separate fact from myth. At the time, Springsteen was a struggling musician playing the New Jersey bar circuit and Clemons was a former college football player who spent his nights playing sax in clubs along the shore. "It was raining and thundering like a motherfucker," Clemons wrote in his memoir. "When I opened the door it blew off the hinges and flew down the street . . . Somebody introduced me to Bruce, everybody knew everybody, and he asked me if I wanted to sit in."

If you're reading this in FB Notes, you'll need to click View Original Post to see the video.

My guess is, he's sittin' back right easy and laughin'.

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