usvi-on-line
Clarence Clemons is gone
Clarence Clemons is gone
This is a sad thing. I feel a little stunned. It seems a little puzzling to me that I feel so affected, but I certainly am. Clarence Clemons passed away.
http://www.boston.com/ae/music/articles ... News_links
In the article, they quote him saying in an interview:
""I have no agenda -- just to be loved. Somebody said to me, `Whenever somebody says your name, a smile comes to their face.' That's a great accolade. I strive to keep it that way."
And I do have a smile on my face as I think of him, but it's a very sad smile. There was just something so big and wonderful about him. He has a lovely soul. I miss knowing that he is on earth. There was something somehow reassuring about that. Someone like Clarence Clemons walks with us.
One memory that surfaces is a particular moment at a superb Bruce concert when the thought crossed my mind: "it doesn't get any better than this". And just then the Big Man stepped up with that Big Horn and took it right over the top.
He was hurting the last time we saw him with Bruce, but he still made magic. Bruce never again onstage with Clarence---it just hurts to think about that.
Thanks for all the joy, Big Man. Rest now, the tour is complete.
This is a sad thing.
http://www.boston.com/ae/music/articles ... News_links
In the article, they quote him saying in an interview:
""I have no agenda -- just to be loved. Somebody said to me, `Whenever somebody says your name, a smile comes to their face.' That's a great accolade. I strive to keep it that way."
And I do have a smile on my face as I think of him, but it's a very sad smile. There was just something so big and wonderful about him. He has a lovely soul. I miss knowing that he is on earth. There was something somehow reassuring about that. Someone like Clarence Clemons walks with us.
One memory that surfaces is a particular moment at a superb Bruce concert when the thought crossed my mind: "it doesn't get any better than this". And just then the Big Man stepped up with that Big Horn and took it right over the top.
He was hurting the last time we saw him with Bruce, but he still made magic. Bruce never again onstage with Clarence---it just hurts to think about that.
Thanks for all the joy, Big Man. Rest now, the tour is complete.
This is a sad thing.
As someone who has been to 100+ Bruce shows this is certainly hard to digest. The music of Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band shaped my life, without question. Yes it is music but it brought my life to me. It is so much more to me than just music. Profoundly sad tonight.
But clearly I'm not alone. Thanks for saying so.
But clearly I'm not alone. Thanks for saying so.
Lex –
You flashed me back to the first time I saw Bruce and the E Street Band so indulge me while I retell the story here as we mourn the passing of the best side man ever.
After all, that’s what we do when people pass – we sit around and tell stories.
In 1976 I was a casual fan, wasn’t crazy about the first two albums, but came to love the Born to Run album released about a year prior as a much needed antidote to the disco dominated pop charts of the times. But I had run into enough people who had seen him perform in the clubs down the shore and they all got this look in their eyes as they searched for the words to describe what it was like seeing Bruce and the band perform live, so I knew I HAD to see him before he got too big.
He was appearing at my school Rutgers and my girlfriend’s school Kean College on back to back nights. I tried and failed to get tickets, but Kean ran a lottery for tickets and she won, so it was on October 13, 1976 from 5th row center in the brand new acoustically designed 950 seat Wilkins Theater at Kean College in Union NJ that we got to see our first show.
Bruce and the band (with the Miami horns) took the stage like tsunami, opening with Night, followed by Rendezvous, Spirit in the Night, Its My Life, Thunder Road, and She’s the One.
Nothing I had seen before had prepared me for this. I remember the hairs standing up on the back of my neck and chills running down my spine during several of the songs and thinking “well, they can’t top that one” and then they would proceed to do just that – Bruce off the stage down the aisle next to me and the Big Man blowing the house down, etc. etc. Jungleland was the highlight of the show for me – the phenomenal sax solo, and Bruce doing the song ending howls down on his knees, sweat dripping, veins popping out on his neck, from about 11 feet away right in front of me. Unbelievable.
Even though I was only 19 at the time, I also remember thinking after the show that what I had just experienced could wind up being the best live performance I would EVER see, when you consider the venue seat location and sound quality, and of course the performance of Bruce and the Band (with the Miami horns). And indeed that is still true to this day. Recently I was thrilled to hear a bootleg on Sirius of one of the 6 shows he did at the Palladium in NYC two weeks later, so it was basically the same set and lineup.
RIP Big Man, and thank you for over 35 years of thrills and chills. The spirit shall always remain in the night.
You flashed me back to the first time I saw Bruce and the E Street Band so indulge me while I retell the story here as we mourn the passing of the best side man ever.
After all, that’s what we do when people pass – we sit around and tell stories.
In 1976 I was a casual fan, wasn’t crazy about the first two albums, but came to love the Born to Run album released about a year prior as a much needed antidote to the disco dominated pop charts of the times. But I had run into enough people who had seen him perform in the clubs down the shore and they all got this look in their eyes as they searched for the words to describe what it was like seeing Bruce and the band perform live, so I knew I HAD to see him before he got too big.
He was appearing at my school Rutgers and my girlfriend’s school Kean College on back to back nights. I tried and failed to get tickets, but Kean ran a lottery for tickets and she won, so it was on October 13, 1976 from 5th row center in the brand new acoustically designed 950 seat Wilkins Theater at Kean College in Union NJ that we got to see our first show.
Bruce and the band (with the Miami horns) took the stage like tsunami, opening with Night, followed by Rendezvous, Spirit in the Night, Its My Life, Thunder Road, and She’s the One.
Nothing I had seen before had prepared me for this. I remember the hairs standing up on the back of my neck and chills running down my spine during several of the songs and thinking “well, they can’t top that one” and then they would proceed to do just that – Bruce off the stage down the aisle next to me and the Big Man blowing the house down, etc. etc. Jungleland was the highlight of the show for me – the phenomenal sax solo, and Bruce doing the song ending howls down on his knees, sweat dripping, veins popping out on his neck, from about 11 feet away right in front of me. Unbelievable.
Even though I was only 19 at the time, I also remember thinking after the show that what I had just experienced could wind up being the best live performance I would EVER see, when you consider the venue seat location and sound quality, and of course the performance of Bruce and the Band (with the Miami horns). And indeed that is still true to this day. Recently I was thrilled to hear a bootleg on Sirius of one of the 6 shows he did at the Palladium in NYC two weeks later, so it was basically the same set and lineup.
RIP Big Man, and thank you for over 35 years of thrills and chills. The spirit shall always remain in the night.
When we come to place where the sea and the sky collide
Throw me over the edge and let my spirit glide
Throw me over the edge and let my spirit glide
-
bubblybrenda
- Posts: 549
- Joined: Wed Aug 20, 2008 10:57 pm
- Location: Vancouver, BC
This site has good thoughts & good links:
http://www.backstreets.com/clarence/
And here's a tribute by Brian Williams:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp ... 3#43472263
http://www.backstreets.com/clarence/
And here's a tribute by Brian Williams:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp ... 3#43472263
Lex - I knew Brian Williams could and would do a nice segment on the broadcast last night so I made sure I was watching. He grew up in Middletown NJ not far from Freehold and Asbury, still lives in NJ, and has always been a big fan, so he one of the few in the national media who "gets it". Thanks for posting the link.
When we come to place where the sea and the sky collide
Throw me over the edge and let my spirit glide
Throw me over the edge and let my spirit glide
Last E Street Concert
Lex-thanks for posting the Brian Williams bit-he definitely was a huge fan.
For anyone who's interested, the last concert of Bruce, the Big Man and the E Street band from Buffalo 11/22/2009, will be rebroadcast on one of our local radio stations on Friday night:
http://www.97rock.com/Article.asp?id=2216814
Bruce was doing the albums on this tour and since this was the last stop on the tour this was the Greetings from Asbury Park album where it all began.
It was Little Stevie's b'day that day too so they had a cake and all.
Enjoy!
For anyone who's interested, the last concert of Bruce, the Big Man and the E Street band from Buffalo 11/22/2009, will be rebroadcast on one of our local radio stations on Friday night:
http://www.97rock.com/Article.asp?id=2216814
Bruce was doing the albums on this tour and since this was the last stop on the tour this was the Greetings from Asbury Park album where it all began.
It was Little Stevie's b'day that day too so they had a cake and all.
Enjoy!
Thought I would share this here for those of you interested, who might not see this otherwise. Today Bruce's Eulogy for Clarence was shared on his official web site (this was also done when Danny Federici passed away).
http://www.brucespringsteen.net/news/index.html
http://www.brucespringsteen.net/news/index.html