Sunday, June 19, 2011

In Memoriam: Clarence Clemons 1942-2011

Musician. Sometimes actor. Longtime saxophonist for Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band.

"Creating is like religion...I've had people say to me, 'That sax solo saved my life.' So I did my job."

--Clarence Clemons

“When you look at just the cover of ‘Born to Run,’ you see a charming photo, a good album cover, but when you open it up and see Clarence and me together, the album begins to work its magic...Who are these guys? Where did they come from? What is the joke they are sharing?”

--Bruce Springsteen

(In addition to Springsteen, Clemons also worked with Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes, Ronnie Spector, Janis Ian, Michael Stanley Band, Joan Armatrading, Gary "US" Bonds, Ian Hunter, Ringo Starr, Jackson Brown [vocal duet], Aretha Franklin, Twisted Sister [!], The Four Tops, Todd Rundgren, Joe Cocker, Roy Orbison, Luther Vandross, and, most recently, Lady Gaga
[!!] How's THAT for versatility?--KJ)

6 comments:

  1. Oh! I came in very late last night (or maybe it was even early this morning) and saw the headline. I cried just a little. Not just about Clarence or The Boss, but maybe about The Time I'd just celebrated at the concert. I started to type. Then, I thought, "No, Kirk will certainly do this." And then I was free to sob, very loudly.

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  2. I can't say it was Clarence Clemons who instilled the love of the Tenor Saxophone deep into my marrow. I Believe that was Stanley Turrentine. But nobody played rock-n-roll sax like he did. I miss him already.

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  3. @Leslie--You're allowed to write about Clarences Clemons if you'd like. I don't own the copyright on his death. I'd be curious to hear about your Time at the concert.

    @Tag--Maybe Clarence and Stanley will jam together in Heaven.

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  4. Oh, yes, Kirk. I know I CAN write about it. I just really didn't want to and I knew you would. I'll be writing about that concert, believe me. Film at 11:00. (Very bad cell camera video, I might add.)

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  5. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  6. According to my site meter, somebody from New Jersey checked out this post.

    You don't suppose....?

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In order to keep the hucksters, humbugs, scoundrels, psychos, morons, and last but not least, artificial intelligentsia at bay, I have decided to turn on comment moderation. On the plus side, I've gotten rid of the word verification.