"Tenth Avenue Freeze Out" - Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band
Very sorry to hear about the death of Clarence Clemons, the long-time saxophone player for the E Street Band. Although you would occasionally run into musical snobs who would disparage his playing, those of us who love Springsteen found his sound and his presence perfect. One of the things that set the E Street Band apart when it emerged on the scene in the mid-70s was the expansiveness of its sound -- with sax, piano, organ, occasional accordions and mandolins -- it had a very different feel then the overwhelmingly guitar driven bands of the time, reflecting Springsteen's ecumenical tastes and love of old soul music.
The Clemons/Springsteen brotherhood -- played out in sweaty, marathon shows before the faithful -- also had great symbolic resonance in a very racially troubled time. The mid to late 70s was a time of enormous disappointment for many people of good faith -- the white backlash against affirmative action and forced busing engendered an era of political ugliness and retrenchment that could not help but provoke deep doubt in people who felt that the civil rights movement was going to usher in a very different world.
Watching Springsteen and Clemons together gave you a feeling of hope in those difficult days. This iconic album cover said more about that feeling than mere words can convey:
Their friendship and partnership endured for forty years and gave a whole lot of happiness to a huge number of people.
We're sorry to see him go.
a lot of joy, a lot of love, a lot of joining together. if i should fall behind was a good song on one of the records after springsteen let the band go (good god), but not, i thought, much more than an average love song not. the imagery is a bit cliched. the song became one of my favorites after the 1999 tour, when, reunited with the band, springsteen turned it into a song about friendship and community and looking out---all without changing the lyrics just the presentation.
Posted by: big bad wolf | June 19, 2011 at 08:47 PM
The celebratory nature of the shows -- despite the dark subject matter of a lot of Sprigsteen's work -- and the palpable bonds of affection within the band, really made seeing them an incredible event.
Posted by: Sir Charles | June 20, 2011 at 12:35 AM
I like that album cover a lot.
Posted by: Neil the Ethical Werewolf | June 20, 2011 at 07:32 PM
It's nice, eh?
How you doing Neil?
Posted by: Sir Charles | June 20, 2011 at 08:15 PM
I only got to see them live once, here at the Tacoma Dome, right before Springsteen's marriage blew up (we could see his wife dancing just off-stage). It was an incredible show, and the interplay between him and Clemons was a big part of it. A huge loss.
Posted by: beckya57 | June 20, 2011 at 09:05 PM
Julianne Phillips inspired some great songs.
Posted by: Sir Charles | June 20, 2011 at 10:44 PM