Mr Mojo Rising Posted June 19, 2011 Share Posted June 19, 2011 Taken from wesh.com  Legendary rock saxophonist Clarence Clemons died Saturday of complications from a stroke, bandmate Bruce Springsteen said. He was 69.  Clemons had played sax in Springsteen's E Street Band off and on since 1972.  "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," Springsteen said in a statement.  "His loss is immeasurable and we are honored and thankful to have known him and had the opportunity to stand beside him for nearly 40 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."  Clemons played on such classic hits as "Born to Run" and "Thunder Road" and is widely credited with helping to shape Springsteen's sound.  He passed away at a hospital in Palm Beach, Florida, where he had stayed ever since suffering a stroke last Sunday, said a spokesperson for Springsteen and the E Street Band. He was surrounded by members of his family, including his wife, Victoria, according to the spokesperson.  Standing at more than 6 feet tall, Clemons was affectionately known as the "Big Man" to fans. He published his autobiography "Big Man: Real Life & Tall Tales" in 2009 and suffered some health problems in recent years.  In addition to his career as a musician, Clemons also worked as an actor, appearing in the TV shows "The Wire" and "The Simpsons" as well as the films "Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure" and "New York, New York."  Tributes to the musician began to pour in on Springsteen's Facebook page Saturday night.  "RIP CC, you were the heart and soul of the E Street Band. Thank you for all the music, you got me through some dark days. Blessings on your journey," one post read.  "I just can't imagine that space on stage not being occupied by the big man. We are all better people having been moved by your huge music. Now go play with Louis, Miles and the rest and have a blast," read another.   Not much else to say except, RIP Big Man. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Posted June 19, 2011 Share Posted June 19, 2011 I had the pleasure of seeing the big chap play live with Springsteen in Glasgow. Â RIP indeed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Healys Chutney Spoon Posted June 19, 2011 Share Posted June 19, 2011 Legendary and songs as mentioned above will never sound the same again without the Big Man. Â RIP Clarence. A genuine legend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrick "Madman" Kelly Posted June 19, 2011 Share Posted June 19, 2011 Truly one of the best sax players of all time and a larger than life character that made the E street band one of the greatest live acts ever  I got to see him at Hyde Park and the sax solo on jungleland was spine tingling.  RIP Big Man you will be missed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Awards Moderator HarmonicGenerator Posted June 19, 2011 Awards Moderator Share Posted June 19, 2011 From Rolling Stone:  Clarence Clemons, the legendary saxophonist in the E Street Band who played alongside Bruce Springsteen for the past 40 years, died on June 18th. Clemons had suffered a massive stroke on June 12th. While initial signs had been hopeful after his hospitalization and two subsequent brain surgeries, he reportedly took a turn for the worse later in the week. He was 69. Clemons Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
InvertedSmiley Posted June 19, 2011 Share Posted June 19, 2011 That moment in Badlands where Clarence bursts in with his saxaphone never fails to take my breath away. It totally epitomises the E Street Band sound of the era. Â His work on Jungleland, as mentioned, will surely live on forever. An extraordinary performance on that track. Â The E Street Band will never sound the same again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrick "Madman" Kelly Posted June 19, 2011 Share Posted June 19, 2011 Â Never seen a studio version of this before and it seemed quite apt. Â As the Boss said " you want to be him but you cannot because in all the world there is only one Clarence Bigman Clemons" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amazing_Red_Fan Posted June 19, 2011 Share Posted June 19, 2011 Just incredibly sad news as a huge Bruce/E Street fan. I knew he had been in rough shape for a while, with his advanced age and health problems. I saw Bruce and the E Street Band in Hampden Park in July 09 he was as fantastic as ever there. I had been selfishly hoping for another tour since then but always doubted it would come. Â His work on Badlands, Jungleland, Thunder Road, Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out and countless others was world class. I will also always love Darlene Love's 'All Alone on Christmas' which Clarence and Steven Van Zandt played a huge part in. Â Sorry if this is all over the place, it's hard to put your thoughts together during times like these. Â Thanks for sharing your talent with the world Clarence 'Big Man' Clemons. RIP. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Awards Moderator Frankie Crisp Posted June 19, 2011 Awards Moderator Share Posted June 19, 2011 That moment in Badlands where Clarence bursts in with his saxaphone never fails to take my breath away. It totally epitomises the E Street Band sound of the era. His work on Jungleland, as mentioned, will surely live on forever. An extraordinary performance on that track.  The E Street Band will never sound the same again. Bang on about the Badlands sax. It's brilliant. I've been out all day so have only just read about this and it's sad stuff. Here's played live, from October '02. Lovely to see Clarence just enjoying every second of it, whether he had the sax in his hand or not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Healys Chutney Spoon Posted June 19, 2011 Share Posted June 19, 2011 Â Never seen a studio version of this before and it seemed quite apt. Â As the Boss said " you want to be him but you cannot because in all the world there is only one Clarence Bigman Clemons" Â Reading some of the comments on there makes that song seem even more special. Â Bruce and the Band have a real knack for writing songs that are timeless and fit in moods perfectly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cobra1000 Posted June 19, 2011 Share Posted June 19, 2011 Â Never seen a studio version of this before and it seemed quite apt. Â As the Boss said " you want to be him but you cannot because in all the world there is only one Clarence Bigman Clemons" Â Reading some of the comments on there makes that song seem even more special. Â Bruce and the Band have a real knack for writing songs that are timeless and fit in moods perfectly. Â Wow, just wow. I've never heard that before. Â Hearing this news today has really made me sad. I feel really selfish in thinking how absolutely honoured I was to see him play in Dublin last year. RIP. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Awards Moderator HarmonicGenerator Posted June 19, 2011 Awards Moderator Share Posted June 19, 2011 Just watched a few songs from the Hyde Park DVD as a little tribute - Rosalita, Jungleland and a couple of others - and I know they basically retired 'Hungry Heart' from concerts after Danny Federici died, but (and I know others have echoed this) how many tracks are just not going to sound the same anymore? (If they do decide to carry on, that is) Â I'll never forget the massive pop he got for singing his line in 'Out in the Street' that night, either. Â There've been quite a few heartfelt tributes from other musicians which kind of shows how respected he was. Tom Morello and Slash have both been tweeting about him, and Bono did a little tribute at last night's U2 show. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrick "Madman" Kelly Posted June 19, 2011 Share Posted June 19, 2011 Just watched a few songs from the Hyde Park DVD as a little tribute - Rosalita, Jungleland and a couple of others - and I know they basically retired 'Hungry Heart' from concerts after Danny Federici died, but (and I know others have echoed this) how many tracks are just not going to sound the same anymore? (If they do decide to carry on, that is)Â I'll never forget the massive pop he got for singing his line in 'Out in the Street' that night, either. Â There've been quite a few heartfelt tributes from other musicians which kind of shows how respected he was. Tom Morello and Slash have both been tweeting about him, and Bono did a little tribute at last night's U2 show. Â http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qZbyLsiHzY Â A pop like that is a result of presence and he had plenty of that. I remember it like it was yesterday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Awards Moderator HarmonicGenerator Posted June 20, 2011 Awards Moderator Share Posted June 20, 2011 Rolling Stone has done a feature of 13 of Clarence Clemons' greatest performances. Some stunning stuff on here, well worth spending some time watching these videos. Â Some gorgeous and poignant stuff in that link - I'm thinking especially the 1978 version of 'Jungleland' and the 2002 version of 'Badlands' particularly. Not sure if I'm quite so keen on the All Starr Band, but... yeah, the majority's brilliant . Takes you right from the early 70s up to his Gaga video just a few weeks ago, and some interesting facts too - like the fact that some of the first steps Clemons took after his knee replacement surgery were at the Superbowl halftime show, and that in his final regular Springsteen gig, they recreated the cover of Born To Run. Â Click the link, anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Healys Chutney Spoon Posted June 21, 2011 Share Posted June 21, 2011 Thanks for that HG. Very interesting and worth spending some time reading and listening. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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