Blood Brothers: Clarence Clemons And The Soul Of 'Born To Run'
Wednesday, 02 September 2015
Written by Simon Ramsay
Described by Bruce Springsteen as “the biggest man you ever seen”, the late Clarence Clemons left behind a legacy as large as his frame. While the beloved E Street Band saxophonist achieved success as a solo artist, actor and collaborator with Aretha Franklin and Lady Gaga, it was his work on 'Born To Run' - currently celebrating its 40th anniversary - that set the Big Man and the Boss on the road to musical immortality.
When Springsteen accepted his induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1999, his speech revealed how important Clarence was to his music: "Together we told a story of the possibilities of friendship; a story older than the ones that I was writing, and a story that I could never have told without him at my side.”
As retold in the sassy horn-fuelled grooves of Tenth Avenue Freeze Out, that shared journey began when the man from Virginia joined Springsteen's band in 1972 and played on his first two albums, 'Greetings From Asbury Park' and 'The Wild, The Innocent & The E Street Shuffle'.
The sweltering swing of Spirit In The Night provided an early glimpse of what they could achieve together, but it wasn't until Springsteen's make-or-break third album that the pair's creative chemistry took flight and their magical bond blossomed.
Those early releases cast Springsteen as an incredibly skilled composer and dexterous wordsmith, but his aesthetic was unvarnished and - particularly on 'The Wild, The Innocent...' - creative discipline was often lacking in what felt like a delightfully ramshackle free-for-all. Clarence's sax was purposeful and proud, but always jostling for oxygen with other elements as Springsteen threw everything and the proverbial kitchen sink into the mix.
'Born To Run' found Springsteen simplifying his songs in order to broaden their appeal. Gone were the intricate small town yarns of boardwalk life unfurled via an onslaught of rapid-fire lyrical gymnastics. Now, his prose breathed and touched upon universal experiences that anyone, anywhere, could relate to.
Likewise, the arrangements were also stripped back and refined, allowing the songs’ instrumental embellishments to feel both huge and, at the same time, crystal clear in the mix. Cut from Phil Spector's 'wall-of-sound cloth', the eight tracks are mini-masterpieces boasting cinematic soundscapes, razor-sharp B-movie street poetry, film noir ambience, primal notions of spirituality and glistening romantic imagery.
That stylistic shift allowed Clemons to find his place in Springsteen's universe. If the defining sound of the record, and arguably its heartbeat, is Roy Bittan's beautiful piano, then Clarence's emotionally rich playing conveys the untameable soul of Springsteen's determined dreamers.
Look at how the Big Man stirs up a sense of profound hope at the climax of Thunder Road. The song practically starts in black and white and gradually gains momentum, with the music and narrative accelerating in tandem. As Springsteen cries 'It's a town full of losers and I'm pulling out of here to win,' the sax begins to speak. You can see the cinema curtains pull back to reveal a widescreen vista as the adolescent couple speed off towards a horizon of limitless possibilities.
Likewise, witness the explosive release of tension in Night echoed by Clarence's intro, with its squeezed notes sounding like a valve letting off steam, or how he dances around a call and response motif in She's The One with the same flirtatiousness as the girl in question.
And then there's the title track's rousing solo, which makes every listener believe they can mount a spirited charge towards their own make-or-break date with destiny. He was never a flashy player but, like Springsteen, he made you feel an undeniable truth stirring deep inside.
“Clarence's saxophone, to me, sounds like that religious call. It's got that fervour in it. It is the true gospel of the E Street Band,” drummer Max Weinberg said in the Wings For Wheels documentary on the making of 'Born To Run'.
They say great musicians play like who they are, and such expressiveness is the product of their life experiences. It hardly comes as a surprise that Clemons was raised with a strong sense of faith and a passion for gospel music. A sax was in his hand before he hit his teens, a Christmas present from his father, but Clemons' journey was also shaped by events that occurred outside of his musical orbit.
When he moved to New Jersey the Big Man worked as a counsellor for children, having left behind hopes of playing football professionally after a serious car crash. Combine that with the fact that Clarence – in Springsteen's words - “carried within him a love of people that made them love him” and it's obvious how his playing might mirror the Boss's ceaseless exploration of the human condition.
Which brings us to his crowning glory and the moment for which he'll always be remembered; two minutes and 20 seconds that encapsulate everything Clemons brought to the E Street Band. It is, of course, his epic Jungleland solo.
It's well known that Clarence didn't play the piece in its entirety during the recording process. Instead, he racked up studio hours as it was knitted together by Springsteen in the edit. His sublime, soulful phrasing and to-die-for tone casts a spell. From the mesmerising introductory note into a gorgeous ebb and flow, its poignant beauty and emotional impact never diminishes. That is the definition of a true classic. “Every time I play it I feel that it represents our musical partnership in a way that's beyond words. To me that solo sounds like love," Clemons wrote in his book, Big Man.
Aside from the music, Clarence's appearance on the iconic 'Born To Run' album cover possesses a cultural significance that, back in the ‘70s when certain clubs wouldn't let bands with black musicians play, cannot be underestimated. Following the Big Man's passing in 2011, Jon Pareles wrote in the New York Times:
“Along with the sound his saxophone brought to the songs Mr. Clemons’s imposing figure declared that the E Street Band was sharing rock ’n’ roll’s black heritage, not plundering it. In America’s long, vexed cultural history of race, his bond with Mr. Springsteen made Mr. Clemons a symbol of unity and reconciliation.”
Furthermore, the image of a grinning Bruce leaning against the Big Man provided that powerful, unspoken bond of togetherness that not only typified their relationship, but also the record's underlying theme of escaping mundane existences and searching for elemental connections with friends, lovers and the world around us.
In the decades that followed, the Boss would never write in such a theatrical manner again. But Clarence's connection with his music was now indelible. The story of 'Born To Run' and how it birthed the legend of Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band is forever chiselled into the Mount Rushmore of rock 'n' roll mythology. As are the incalculable contributions of one of music's true giants.
“With Clarence at my side, my band and I were able to tell a story far deeper than those simply contained in our music,” Springsteen wrote after his dear friend's death. “His life, his memory and his love will live on in that story and in our band.”
NOTE FROM THE EDITOR
We don't run any advertising! Our editorial content is solely funded by lovely people like yourself using Stereoboard's listings when buying tickets for live events. To keep supporting us, next time you're looking for concert, festival, sport or theatre tickets, please search for "Stereoboard". It costs you nothing, you may find a better price than the usual outlets, and save yourself from waiting in an endless queue on Friday mornings as we list ALL available sellers!
