Clarence Clemons
Clarence Anicholas Clemons Jr. (January 11, 1942 – June 18, 2011), also known as The Big Man, was an American saxophonist. From 1972 until his death in 2011, he was the saxophonist for Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band.
Clarence Clemons
January 11, 1942
June 18, 2011 (aged 69)
The Big Man
- Musician
- actor
1961–2011
4, including Nick
- Saxophone
- percussion
- vocals
Clemons released several solo albums. In 1985, he had a hit single with "You're a Friend of Mine", a duet with Jackson Browne. As a guest musician, he featured on Aretha Franklin's song "Freeway of Love". As an actor, Clemons appeared 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, My Wife and Kids and The Wire. Clemons published Big Man: Real Life & Tall Tales (2009) with his friend Don Reo. The book is a semi-fictional autobiography told in the third person.
Clemons died in 2011 at the age of 69. In 2014, he was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the E Street Band.
Early life[edit]
Clarence Anicholas Clemons Jr. was born on January 11, 1942, in Norfolk County, Virginia (later the city of Chesapeake),[1] the son of fish market owner Clarence Clemons, Sr. and his wife Thelma.[2][3][4] He was the oldest of their three children. His grandfather was a Baptist preacher and, as a result, the young Clemons grew up in a very religious environment 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 tenor saxophone[2] 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 become a major influence on Clemons and led to him switching to tenor saxophone.[5]
As a youth, Clemons also showed potential as a football player, and graduated from Crestwood High School (now Crestwood Middle) before attending Maryland State College[2] on both music and football scholarships. At 6' 4" and 240 pounds,[5] he played as a lineman on the same team as Art Shell and Emerson Boozer and attracted the attention of the Cleveland Browns, who offered him a trial. Clemons also tried out for the Dallas Cowboys.[6] However, the day before, he was involved in a serious car accident which effectively ended any plans of a career in the National Football League.[7][8][9][10] He would eventually be posthumously inducted into the university's Athletics Hall of Fame on February 24, 2012.[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 Somerset, New Jersey, where he worked as a counselor for children with emotional impairments at the Jamesburg Training School for Boys between 1962 and 1970.[14]
Tributes and legacy[edit]
Springsteen said of Clemons: "He carried within him a love of people that made them love him.... with Clarence at my side my band and I were able to tell a story far deeper than those simply contained in our music."[48]
At their concert in Portsmouth, Virginia, on June 19, 2011, Phish covered "Thunder Road" as a tribute to Clemons.[49] At an Eddie Vedder concert in Hartford, Connecticut, on June 18, 2011, upon hearing of Clemons' health struggles, Vedder wished Clemons well, and Vedder was soon notified by a sound tech that Clemons had died. Vedder later played a tribute to Clemons during the Pearl Jam song "Better Man", changing the lyrics to include, "Can't find a Bigger Man" (paying homage to Clemons' nickname "The Big Man"). During a subsequent performance on the Late Show with David Letterman, Vedder played a ukulele with "Clarence" written across the front of it.[50] Before singing "Moment of Surrender" at the U2 concert in Anaheim on June 18, 2011, Bono paid tribute to Clemons. He read lyrics from Springsteen's "Jungleland" near the end of the song, and repeated them at the song's conclusion.[51] Bono repeated this dedication and tribute during "Moment of Surrender" at the U2 concert in New Jersey on June 21[52] and again in Baltimore on June 22.[53] Bon Jovi performed "Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out" as the first encore during their concert in Horsens on June 19, 2011. While playing that song, photos of Clemons were shown on the giant video screen behind the band.[54][55] Jimmy Buffett added verses that included Clemons in "The Stories We Could Tell" during his final encore during his concert on June 21, 2011. The rest of the band left the stage and it was Buffett playing and singing alone.[56] During the Gaslight Anthem's set at the 2011 Glastonbury Festival, frontman Brian Fallon dedicated their song "The '59 Sound" to Clemons.[57] In October 2011, Lady Gaga paid tribute to him when she accepted the "Big Man of the Year" from Little Kids Rock.[58] In a June 21, 2012, concert in Sydney, Gaga dedicated her song "The Edge of Glory" in which Clemons had contributed.[59]
On July 17, 2011, a tribute concert was held at the Wonder Bar in Asbury Park, New Jersey. Springsteen performed a 45-minute set playing some of Clemons' songs. Clemons' son, Clarence III, (known as Nick), opened the show with his band, The Nick Clemons Band.[60] On October 1, 2011, a tribute to Clemons took place at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Florida. Traditionally an annual charity event hosted by Clemons called The Classic Rock & Roll Party, the event paid tribute to Clemons' life and all he did for Home Safe, a non-profit organization helping victims of child abuse and domestic violence.[61][62]
In January 2012, Clemons' hometown paid tribute with memorial concerts featuring members of the E Street Band. The concert took place at The NorVa concert hall.[63] On July 28, 2012, in Gothenburg, Springsteen and the E Street Band performed "Jungleland" for the first time on the Wrecking Ball World Tour, with Clemons' nephew Jake Clemons playing the saxophone solo and the song being dedicated to Clemons.[64]
A documentary about his life directed by Nick Mead, titled Clarence Clemons: Who Do I Think I Am? was released in August 2019.[65]