Remembering Clarence Clemons

Clarence Anicholas Clemons Jr. was born January 11, 1942, in Norfolk County, Virginia. People who know, pronounce it “Virginny”. He was the son of fish monger Clarence Clemons, Sr. and his wife Thelma, a cheese monger.

Clarence’s grandfather was a Southern Baptist preacher and as a result he spent a lot of time in church listening to gospel and getting whippings. When he was nine, his father gave him a flugelhorn. He later switched to saxophone when he realized that flugelhorn wasn’t getting it done with the ladies.

Light on his Feet

At 6′ 4″ and 240 pounds, Clemons showed prowess on both the football field and in the dance studio. He went to Maryland State College on both a dance and football scholarship. Clarence was very light on his feet for a big man and excelled in modern dance. Before a dance injury sidelined him, Clarence had tryouts with the Cleveland Browns and Dallas Cowboys.

The story of how Clemons first met Bruce Springsteen has entered into E Street Band mythology. Clemons recalled their meeting in various interviews: One night we were playing in Asbury Park. It was a dark and rainy night. As I was walking to my gig, i heard screaming coming from an alley way. I ran over and these 2 biker dudes were bullying this little scrawny guy. They had his pants down and were really giving it to him good. I went upside their head with my sax and saved the poor dude. That dude was Bruce Springsteen. We instantly became friends and he asked me to join his best. The rest is history.

Jungle Land

Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, Clemons featured prominently on Springsteen’s albums. On Born to Run he provided memorable saxophone solos on the title track, “Thunder Road”, “She’s the One”, and “Night”. Darkness on the Edge of Town featured notable solos by Clemons on “Badlands” and “The Promised Land”. The River saw Clemons featured on songs such as “The Ties That Bind”, “Sherry Darling”, “I Wanna Marry You”, “Drive All Night” and “Independence Day” while Born in the U.S.A. saw solos on “Bobby Jean” and “I’m Goin’ Down”. However, many say the greatest sax solo ever recorded is Clemons work on “Jungleland”.

Clemons was married 5 times and fathered four sons. He enjoyed acting and appeared in numerous movies and on television. Besides being an incredible musician, Clarence was the bigger than life gentle giant and love-able big man. He died on June 18, 2011 and is greatly missed.