Clarence Anicholas Clemons, Jr. also known as
The Big Man, was an American musician and actor. From 1972, until his death, he was a prominent member of
Bruce Springsteen's
E Street Band, playing the
tenor saxophone.
[3][4] He released several solo albums and in 1985, had a hit single with "
You're a Friend of Mine", a duet with
Jackson Browne. As a guest musician he also featured on
Aretha Franklin's classic "
Freeway of Love" and on
Twisted Sister's "
Be Chrool to Your Scuel" as well as performing in concert with
The Grateful Dead and
Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band. As an actor Clemons featured in several films, including
New York, New York and
Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure. He also made
cameo appearances in several TV series, including
Diff'rent Strokes,
Nash Bridges,
The Simpsons and
The Wire. Together with his television writer friend
Don Reo he published his semi-fictional autobiography told in third person,
Big Man: Real Life & Tall Tales, in 2009.
[5] Clemons suffered a
stroke on June 12, 2011, and died of complications from it on June 18, at 69 years of age.
(January 11, 1942 – June 18, 2011),
Early life
Born in Norfolk County (later the city of Chesapeake), Virginia, Clemons was the son of Clarence Clemons, Sr., a fish market owner,
[3] and his wife Thelma.
[6][7] He was the oldest of their three children. His grandfather was a
Southern Baptist preacher and, as a result, the young Clemons grew up listening to
gospel music. When he was nine, his father gave him an
alto saxophone as a Christmas present and paid for music lessons. He later switched to
baritone saxophone and played in a high school
jazz band. His uncle also influenced his early musical development when he bought him his first
King Curtis album. Curtis, and his work with
The Coasters in particular, would be become a major influence on Clemons and led to him switching to
tenor saxophone. As a youth Clemons also showed potential as a
football player, and he attended
Maryland State College[3] on both music and
football scholarships. He played as a
lineman on the same team as
Emerson Boozer and attracted the attention of the
Cleveland Browns, who offered him a trial. However, the day before, he was involved in a serious car accident which effectively ended any plans of a career in the
NFL.
[8][9][10][11] At age 18, Clemons had one of his earliest studio experiences, recording sessions with Tyrone Ashley's Funky Music Machine, a band from
Plainfield, New Jersey that included
Ray Davis,
Eddie Hazel and
Billy Bass Nelson, all of whom later played with
Parliament-Funkadelic. He also performed with Daniel Petraitis, a New Jersey and Nashville legend. These sessions were eventually released in 2007, by
Truth and Soul Records as
Let Me Be Your Man.
[12][13] While at
Maryland State College Clemons also joined his first band, The Vibratones, which played
James Brown covers and stayed together for about four years between 1961 and 1965. While still playing with this band he moved to
Newark, New Jersey where he worked as a counselor for emotionally disturbed children at the Jamesburg Training School for Boys between 1962 and 1970.
Music career
Bruce Springsteen
The story of how Clemons first met
Bruce Springsteen has entered into
E Street Band mythology. "The E Street Shuffle" with a monologue about how they met and the event was also immortalized in "
Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out". They allegedly met for the first time in September 1971. At the time Clemons was playing with Norman Seldin & The Joyful Noyze at The Wonder Bar in
Asbury Park, New Jersey. Seldin was a
Jersey Shore musician/entrepreneur who, as well as playing piano and leading various bands, had his own record label, Selsom Records. In 1969, Clemons had recorded an
eponymous album with this band. In 2008, tracks from this album were reissued on an anthology,
Asbury Park — Then And Now, put together by Seldin. It was Karen Cassidy, lead vocalist with The Joyful Noyze, who encouraged Clemons to check out Springsteen who was playing with The Bruce Springsteen Band at the nearby Student Prince.
[14][15][16] Clemons recalled their meeting in various interviews:
[17]
One night we were playing in Asbury Park. I'd heard The Bruce Springsteen Band was nearby at a club called The Student Prince and on a break between sets I walked over there. On-stage, Bruce used to tell different versions of this story but I'm a Baptist, remember, so this is the truth. A rainy, windy night it was, and when I opened the door the whole thing flew off its hinges and blew away down the street. The band were on-stage, but staring at me framed in the doorway. And maybe that did make Bruce a little nervous because I just said, "I want to play with your band," and he said, "Sure, you do anything you want." The first song we did was an early version of "Spirit in the Night". 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.
Well before this meeting, however, Clemons and Springsteen had moved within the same circle of musical acquaintances. Norman Seldin had managed and promoted several local bands, including The Motifs
[18] who featured
Vinnie Roslin, later to play with Springsteen in
Steel Mill. On April 22, 1966, Seldin had also organised a
battle of the bands competition at the Matawan-Keyport Roller Drome in
Matawan, New Jersey. Springsteen was among the entrants playing with his then band, The Castiles.
[19] Billy Ryan, who played lead guitar with The Joyful Noyze,
[20] also played in The Jaywalkers with
Garry Tallent and
Steve Van Zandt and Clemons himself had played with Tallent in Little Melvin & The Invaders.
[21]
In July 1972, Springsteen began recording his debut album
Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. and during breaks from recording, he jammed with Clemons and The Joyful Noyze on at least two occasions at The Shipbottom Lounge in
Point Pleasant, New Jersey. When Springsteen then decided to use a tenor saxophone on the songs "
Blinded by the Light" and "
Spirit in the Night," it was Clemons he called. By October Springsteen was ready to tour and promote
Greetings… and he put together a band featuring Clemons, Tallent,
Danny Federici and
Vini Lopez. Clemons played his last gig with Norman Seldin & The Joyful Noyze at the Club Plaza in
Bayville, New Jersey on October 21, 1972. Four days later Clemons made his debut with the formative
E Street Band at an unadvertised, impromptu performance at The Shipbottom Lounge.
[22][23] Throughout the 1970s and 1980s Clemons featured prominently on Springsteen albums.
[4] On
Born to Run he provided memorable saxophone solos on the
title track, "
Thunder Road" and "
Jungleland" while
Darkness on the Edge of Town featured another notable solo on "
Badlands".
The River saw Clemons feature on songs such as "
The Ties That Bind", "Sherry Darling", "I Wanna Marry You" and "
Independence Day" while
Born in the U.S.A. saw solos on "
Bobby Jean" and "
I'm Goin' Down".
[24][25]
At the end of shows, while recognizing members of the E Street Band, Springsteen referred to Clemons as "The Biggest Man You Ever Seen". He sometimes changed this depending on where the E Street Band performs — at their 2009 concert in
Glasgow he introduced Clemons as "the biggest
Scotsman you've ever seen".
Solo career
Outside of his work with the E Street Band, Clemons recorded with many other artists and had a number of musical projects on his own. The best known of these are his 1985 vocal duet with
Jackson Browne on the hit single "
You're a Friend of Mine", and his saxophone work on
Aretha Franklin's 1985 hit single "
Freeway of Love". He was managed briefly in the 1980s by former
Crawdaddy editor Peter Knobler, whose wedding Clemons played with his band, Clarence Clemons & the Red Bank Rockers. During the 1980s Clemons also owned a
Red Bank, New Jersey nightclub called
Big Man's West. He toured in the first incarnation of Ringo Starr & The All-Starr Band in 1989, singing "You're a Friend of Mine" (dueting with Billy Preston) and an updated rap arrangement of "Quarter to Three." In the mid-1990s, he recorded a Japan-only CD release called
Aja and the Big Man "Get It On" with Los Angeles singer/songwriter
Aja Kim. In the 2000s, Clemons along with producer Narada Michael Walden, put together a group called The Temple of Soul, releasing a single called 'Anna'. He also recorded with philanthropic teen band
Creation. Clemons collaborated with
Lady Gaga on the songs "
Hair" and "
The Edge of Glory" from her album
Born This Way, providing a saxophone track and solo.
[26] Clarence Clemons occasionally sat in with the Grateful Dead and as recently as April 2011, sat in on several tunes with the Grateful Dead "spinoff" band
Furthur during a concert in
Boca Raton Florida. Just days before his death he shot the music video with
Lady Gaga for
The Edge of Glory.
Acting career
Clemons appeared in several movies and on television, making his screen debut in
Martin Scorsese's 1977 musical,
New York, New York in which he played a trumpet player. He played one of the 'Three Most Important People In The World' in the 1989 comedy film
Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure. In 1985, Clemons was a special guest star in
Diff'rent Strokes episode "So You Want to Be a Rock Star", in which he played the role of Mr. Kingsley, a young saxophonist helping Arnold Jackson to learn to play his sax. He has also been a guest voice in an episode of
The Simpsons. In 1990, he co-starred in the pilot episode of
Human Target, a
Rick Springfield action series intended for ABC.
[27] He also played the role of Jack in
Swing starring opposite
Lisa Stansfield and
Hugo Speer, directed by Nick Mead. He appeared alongside
Michael McKean and
David Bowe as a miner in one episode of musician
"Weird Al" Yankovic's
children's television show
The Weird Al Show. He appeared in an episode of
Damon Wayans' television show,
My Wife And Kids as a musician and performed an original composition, co written with bassist, Lynn Woolever, called "One Shadow In The Sun". Clemons twice appeared as a Baltimore youth-program organizer in
HBO's crime drama
The Wire.
[28][29] He appeared in an episode of
Brothers and in the "Eddie's Book" episode of
'Til Death as himself.
Personal life
Marriages and family
Clemons was married five times. He fathered four sons, Clarence III, Charles, Christopher and Jarod.
[30] He lost most of the vision in one eye from a retinal detachment. Clemons stated "It's not something you can replace. If it goes out, that's it."
[31]
Philanthropy
On October 22, 2009, Little Kids Rock, a nonprofit dedicated to restoring and revitalizing music education in public schools, presented Clemons with the inaugural "Big Man of the Year Award" at the Right to Rock charity benefit. He helped raise money to put musical instruments and curriculum into underfunded public schools across the country. He also performed "Jailhouse Rock" with a student band from the Bronx, in addition to a number with legendary producer, John Colby.
Death
Clemons suffered a
stroke on June 12, 2011.
[3] He underwent two surgeries after which he was declared in serious but stable condition.
[32] According to
Rolling Stone magazine, he had been showing signs of recovery.
[33] However, Clemons died from complications caused by the stroke on June 18, 2011.
[34][35][36]
Bruce Springsteen said of Clarence Clemons: "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."
[37]
Various artists reacted on stage to the death of Clarence.
At their concert in
Portsmouth, Virginia on Sunday, June 19, 2011,
Phish covered
Thunder Road as a tribute to Clemons.
[38]
At an
Eddie Vedder concert in
Hartford, Connecticut on Saturday, June 18, 2011, Vedder played tribute to Clarence during
Pearl Jam song
Better Man. Eddie wished Clemons well, and shortly thereafter was notified by a sound tech that he had passed away. During a subsequent performance on
The Late Show with David Letterman, Vedder played a
ukulele with "Clarence" written across the front of it.
Before singing
Moment of Surrender at the
U2 concert in Anaheim on Saturday, June 18, 2011,
Bono paid tribute to Clarence Clemons, who had died earlier that day. Bono read lyrics from Springsteen's
Jungleland near the end of the song, and he repeated them at the song's conclusion.
[39]
New Jersey rock band
Bon Jovi performed
Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out as the first encore during their concert in
Horsens, Denmark on June 19, 2011. While playing that song photos of Clarence were shown on the giant video screen behind the band.
[40][41]
Jimmy Buffett added verses that included Clarence in "The Stories We Can Tell" during his Pittsburgh concert on June 21, 2011. The rest of the band left the stage and it was Buffett playing and singing alone.
During their afternoon Pyramid stage set at the Glastonbury Festival 2011
Brian Fallon lead singer of
The Gaslight Anthem (also from New Jersey) dedicated their song
The '59 sound to Clemons' memory.
[42]
Discography
- Clarence Clemons & the Red Bank Rockers
- Clarence Clemons
- Hero (1985)
- A Night With Mr. C (1989)
- Peacemaker (1995)
- Clarence Clemons & Temple of Soul
- Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band
Filmography
[43][44]
Film
Television
Music videos
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