R.I.P. Clarence...

[Glenn]

...The E Street Band will never be the same.


He was 69 years old.

See you at the Crossroads...

[Behshad]

RIP. Dean will be devastated

[Glenn]

RIP. Dean will be devastated

Yup...I was just thinking that.

[StevePerryHair]

Very sad:( just talked about him last night when we saw a picture of him at the Hard Rock Hotel in Tampa.

[Behshad]

I can almost hear a tune from the other side. Gary Moore , Marcel Jacob and Big Man jamming away with Dio on Vox.

[slucero]

sad day...

[Glenn]

I thought I had heard he was doing better.

[Triple S]

Terrible, sad news - R.I.P

[Rick]

Such awful news. What a great man.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJIXkgnOl9c

[conversationpc]

Bummer...

[Babyblue]

That is really sad news.

RIP

[portland]

RIP....

Sorry Deano

[scarab]

So sad...

Prayers to his family and friends...

the big man will leave a big void in rock and roll, no other quite like his sax.

[strangegrey]

Party On, Dude!!!
RIP, Big man!

[Deb]

Very sad. RIP.

[Ftloperry]

WOW so shocking and so sad. This is shocking.

[rockinfayrose]

So very sad to hear this

[Argus]

beati qui lugent: quoniam ipsi consolabuntur

[Ftloperry]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=81wv_w6_Z8M&feature=related

[strangegrey]

I can almost hear a tune from the other side. Gary Moore , Marcel Jacob and Big Man jamming away with Dio on Vox.

and maybe Lennon, Harrison, Hendrix, Janis, Mercury, Ronson, Bolan, Holly, Bopper and Valens, Bon Scott and maybe Michael and Elvis!

Don't forget Stevie Ray!

Man....the older we get, the better the concerts are going to be in heaven....

[conversationpc]

I can almost hear a tune from the other side. Gary Moore , Marcel Jacob and Big Man jamming away with Dio on Vox.

and maybe Lennon, Harrison, Hendrix, Janis, Mercury, Ronson, Bolan, Holly, Bopper and Valens, Bon Scott and maybe Michael and Elvis!

Don't forget Stevie Ray!

Man....the older we get, the better the concerts are going to be in heaven....

Well, except when Yngwie dies...Well, perhaps he can play loud enough from down there that we'll be able to hear him.

[Behshad]

FIFTY YEARS IN THE FUTURE:

A guitarist dies and is quite please to find that he ends up standing before the pearly gates of Guitar Heaven. St. Peter shows him in, and gives him a guided tour.

"This is Stevie Ray's room here..." says Peter, and the guitarist is saying "Wow! Stevie Ray!"
"And this is Jimi's room..." and the guitarist is totally over the moon.

Finally Peter shows the guitarist to his own room. Before Peter leaves, he says to him, "I have to ask. Is Yngwie here?" Peter shakes his head sadly and says "I'm afraid he went... the "other" way..."

The guitarist is disappointed but goes to his room and tries to get some sleep. He is woken up in the middle of the night by someone playing a really fast harmonic minor lick - and it sounds just like Yngwie. He presses his ear to the wall, and listens more closely. Someone in the next room is playing really fast neo-classical shreds through what sounds very much like a vintage Strat. The guitarist is confused as it sounds so much like Yngwie. The next day he tells Peter that he is almost certain that Yngwie's in the next room.

Peter pulls him to one side, and whispers into his ear, "Shhh.... don't tell anyone. That's God. He thinks he's Yngwie Malmsteen"

[Don]

Made the front page of the BBC.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-13827267

Clarence Clemons, the saxophone player in Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band, has died, aged 69, a spokeswoman for the band has said.

Clemons was taken to hospital about a week ago after suffering a stroke at his home in Singer Island, in the US state of Florida.

Known as the Big Man for his 6ft 5in frame, Clemons was credited with shaping the early sound of The Boss.

His solos powered Springsteen hits such as Born to Run and Jungleland.

Springsteen spokeswoman Marilyn Laverty confirmed the death on Saturday.

On his website, Springsteen said the loss of Clemons was "immeasurable" and that he and his bandmates were honoured to have stood beside him for nearly 40 years.

The statement said: "Clarence lived a wonderful life. He carried within him a love of people that made them love him."

It added: "He loved the saxophone, loved our fans and gave everything he had every night he stepped on stage."

A former youth councillor, Clemons once described performing as his natural environment.

The stage, he said, "always feels like home - it's where I belong".

Clemons began playing saxophone at the age of nine after receiving one unexpectedly from his father for Christmas.

"I wanted an electric train for Christmas, but he got me a saxophone. I flipped out," he told the Associated Press news agency in a 1989 interview.

After his dreams of being a football player were dashed by a car accident, he turned to music.

An original member of the E Street Band, Clemons also performed with the Grateful Dead, the Jerry Garcia Band, and Ringo Starr and his All Starr Band.Clemons also recorded with Aretha Franklin, Roy Orbison and Jackson Browne.

[Rick]

His solo in Jungleland

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-PTJHhUeAfc#t=4m17s

[Argus]

His solo in Jungleland

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-PTJHhUeAfc#t=4m17s

Classic! Makes me think of days at the Shore back in NJ many years ago.

[Don]

His solo in Jungleland

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-PTJHhUeAfc#t=4m17s

Classic! Makes me think of days at the Shore back in NJ many years ago.

The shore. From the time I was one year old until I left home at 17, two weeks every year was spent at Wildwood. We rented out the same house every summer. Aunts, uncles, cousins, grand parents all together for summer vacation.

Fun times.

[Ehwmatt]

Well this sucks.

[Argus]

His solo in Jungleland

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-PTJHhUeAfc#t=4m17s

Classic! Makes me think of days at the Shore back in NJ many years ago.

The shore. From the time I was one year old until I left home at 17, two weeks every year was spent at Wildwood. We rented out the same house every summer. Aunts, uncles, cousins, grand parents all together for summer vacation.

Fun times.

Wow... similar to my upbringing except all my Italian girlfriends used to drag me along to their places where their Mom's could try to fatten me up. My folks would drag us back to Long Lake Wisconsin where the same house would be rented every year too. Crappies, Walleyes and Northerns with chipmunk feedings in the morning. Sigh.. those were fun times.

[No Surprize]

There's a darkness on the edge of town tonight.

Rest in peace. E STREET NATION mourns.

[SusieP]

Awww God Bless him.

I loved Clarence.

Back in the day the BBC broadcast a live show and I had it recorded on a video tape.
There was a great live version of them doing 'Santa Claus Is Coming To Town' and Bruce and Clarence were really in high spirits and having real fun on that stage.
I rewound that and played it over and over. Tape finally wore out and went all grainy.
But I will always remember that and feel happy.

Just as I will when I think of those iconic photos of Bruce leaning on Clarence's shoulder.

A real character gone.

Rest in peace big man, you earned your place in music history.

xxx