Remembering The Big Man
Rock and Roll lost a legend this weekend with the passing of saxophone demigod (DO I HAVE TO SAY HIS NAME? DO I HAVE TO SAY HIS NAAAAAAAME???) Clarence Clemons. For more than three decades, The Big Man who towered over the audience standing 6’5”, absolutely dwarfing his powerful tenor sax, served as the rhythmic and spiritual backbone of Bruce Springsteen’s legendary E. Street Band. Clemons died Saturday due to complications from a stroke. He was 69 years old.
Clarence was a standout in a band populated entirely by rock stars. His physical stature and the walls of sound emanating from his magical tenor elevated him above some of the most outstanding rockers of this or any generation. Guitar men Nils Lofgren and Little Steven Van Zandt could have easily fronted powerful rock bands on their own had they not been paired up with the larger than life energy of one of rock’s greatest showmen in the mythical form of The Boss. Mighty Mighty Max Weinberg is possibly one of the best known personalities in rock and roll thanks to his time as Conan O'Brien’s band leader on “Late Night” and then briefly on “The Tonight Show” and is without question the biggest rock star of any non-singing drummer. It’s hard not to notice the First Lady of Love, Patty Scialfa, with her bright red hair and booming, soulful voice and any keyboardist who can rock a Hammond B-3 like Dan Federici can automatically be considered rock royalty. But no one, I mean no one dominated the stage both physically and musically like The Minister of Soul, The Secretary of the Brotherhood, or simply, “The Big Man” (Say who?). From his Gospel roots to his glimpse at an NFL career to his now legendary meeting with Bruce Springsteen, where it’s believed Clarence (aided by the wind) tore the door off its hinges, walked up to Bruce and simply asked “Are you the man?”, everything Clarence did was big, legendary.
I think every fan of the E. Street Band has at least one great Clarence story. Whether it was watching his massive frame shake and gyrate around stage as he kept the beat with a tambourine (and the ironic juxtaposition of such a giant man playing such a tiny and delicate instrument) or the first time we had our faces melted by a saxophone, everyone who listened to or watched The E. Street Band in concert had that experience enhanced by the big man.
One of the most hilarious moments in my dating life was triggered by Clarence’s sax. I was about 15 and dating a girl who couldn’t comprehend liking both Tom Petty and Bruce Springsteen. As a result, she considered me a traitor and would constantly spout off about Petty’s greatness and The Boss’s many “sins” against rock and roll (needless to say, the relationship was short-lived). Being 15, we had to bum rides off of our parents and on this particular night, my dad was playing a Springsteen record as he carted us from the movies to the Baker’s Square (Rock N’ Roll!). We must have been arguing about Bruce earlier in the night because just as we were finding out what happened when the change was made uptown and The Big Man joined the band, my date’s ears perked up and she decided to use Clarence’s solo to make a point regarding “true rock and roll” informing anyone who would listen that “a saxophone has no place in rock and roll!” Before she could get much further into her diatribe slandering the Big Man and his musical soul mate, my old man spun around in his seat and pointed at her, stating sternly, “Hey! Take it easy on the boss!” Way to represent pops! The poor girl swallowed her tongue, remained silent for the rest of the car ride and approached the topic of E. Street’s musical prowess with the appropriate respect and caution for the remainder of our brief relationship. I mean really, who wanted to be with someone who couldn’t rock out to Clarence?
The E. Street Band will not be the same without Clarence Clemons and live music here on earth has suffered a great blow with the loss of the Big Man (although I’m sure the other Big Man is enjoying on hell of a sax solo along with the angels and saints right now). He had this energy about him, this unique ability to take a great show and make it legendary. His impact on the band’s success is almost immeasurable and his influence on Springsteen’s songwriting and composition was nothing short of ground breaking. We’re talking about one of the greatest songwriters of all time kicking some of his biggest hits up to 11 by figuring out how to seamlessly and memorably incorporate Clemons’ legendary sound. Some of the most memorable examples of this include “Jungleland,” “Spirit in the Night” and of course “10th Avenue Freeze Out” among many, many others.
Clemons’ and Springsteen’s mutual respect and fondness for each other was made clear by their interaction on stage, how they spoke of one another publicly and of course, The Boss saving The Big Man’s on stage intro for last, whipping the crowd into a frenzy before declaring proudly “Last but not least!” and allowing the crowd themselves to introduce the mighty, hulking horn player before Clarence broke out into an absolutely spine tingling solo, uniting the band and the crowd and making sure we all knew we really were here for a rock and roll revival and a party that only E. Street could supply. The Big Man described his relationship with Bruce best when he recounted an early jam session featuring a song that would become “Spirit in the Night” saying, “Bruce and I looked at each other and didn't say anything, we just knew. We knew we were the missing links in each other's lives. He was what I'd been searching for. In one way he was just a scrawny little kid. But he was a visionary. He wanted to follow his dream. So from then on I was part of history.” More than just part of history, Clemons influenced it. He was as much a driving force behind the whole of the E. Street band as Bruce, Max or anyone else. The dynamic of the band and the face of rock and roll were forever altered with his passing. It’s a sad day for E. Street Band fans the world over, but it seems to me that today is a good day to celebrate The Big Man’s life by busting out our Springsteen records a listening while Clarence rocks us with that powerful saxophone, that booming voice and that presence over at stage right that we could always feel. Rest in peace Clarence and thanks for showing generations of Boss fans what soul power is really all about.
-Wild