Clarence Clemons, E Street band saxophonist dead at 69

Clarence Clemons, saxophonist with Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band since since 1972, died yesterday following complications from a stroke.

Clemons fist met Springsteen in late 1971 at The Wonder Bar in Asbury Park, New Jersey. The tale of how he joined the E Street band has now passed into Rock N Roll folklore. In Clemons’ own words:

One night we were playing in Asbury Park. I’d heard The Bruce Springsteen Band was nearby at a club called The Student Prince and on a break between sets I walked over there. On-stage, Bruce used to tell different versions of this story but I’m a Baptist, remember, so this is the truth. A rainy, windy night it was, and when I opened the door the whole thing flew off its hinges and blew away down the street. The band were on-stage, but staring at me framed in the doorway. And maybe that did make Bruce a little nervous because I just said, “I want to play with your band,” and he said, “Sure, you do anything you want.” The first song we did was an early version of “Spirit In The Night”. Bruce and I looked at each other and didn’t say anything, we just knew. We knew we were the missing links in each other’s lives. He was what I’d been searching for. In one way he was just a scrawny little kid. But he was a visionary. He wanted to follow his dream. So from then on I was part of history.

Clemons’ collaborations outside of the E Street band included Jackson Browne and Aretha Franklin. He also acted, debuting as a trumpet player in Martin Scorsese’s New York, New York and playing one of the ‘Three Most Important People In The World’ in Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure (head down the page to see a clip). He appeared as a youth-program organiser in HBO’s The Wire.

Clemons married five times and leaves four sons behind.

Check out his memorable sax solo at around five minutes in on ‘Thunder Road’, take from the E Street Band’s 2009 Glastonbury appearance below .

And while we’re at it, here’s his appearance in Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure, for which we remember him fondly!