Saturday, June 18, 2011

RIP Big Man

link

Clarence Clemons, sax player and pillar of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band, passed away at the age of 69 due to complications from a stroke suffered last weekend. I'd read about the updates that The Boss was handing out then.

The whole Bruce Springsteen and the E Street band experience had little in common with the life of a Great Plains farm boy. Their music spoke of an entirely different and foreign existence compared to what little I and my friends had experienced. However, the talent shone through - even us country bumpkins knew when we were hearing greatness.

Jungleland is my favorite Springsteen tune - even more so than Born to Run, which was kind of an anthem even to us. Mr. Clemons also has a substantial solo that successfully captured a gamut of emotions that even a musical dullard like myself could identify.

RIP Big Man.

2 comments:

drjim said...

R.I.P., Clarence.
Next to "Jungleland", my favorite is "Meeting Across The River".

Dad Bones said...

Ditto on the Jungleland sax solo; it soars.