Sunday, June 19, 2011

Clarence Clemens: RIP big man

Clarence Clemons January 11, 1942 – June 18, 2011

We lost one of the best known sidemen in all of music yesterday when Clarence Clemons died from complications of a stroke yesterday. He suffered the stroke a week earlier and all indications was he would pull through, but almost a week later the bad news hit and now one of the biggest personalities in rock is gone.

If you have never seen Bruce Springsteen live you will never truly know the impact of Clarence. You can hear stories, you can watch video, but it isn't the same. Clarence was like a big burly sax carrying bodyguard for Bruce always right there with him to his right and always with a big smile on his face. You could always tell he loved being on stage and loved playing in that band.

I've seen the band 3 times. The first time was on the "Born In The USA" tour at the Pontiac Silverdome. The band was at the top of it's game, it was a well known commodity before this, but now they were on a different planet and playing in front of 70,000 people and made it feel like a club that was just over stuffed with friends. Since I had never seen the band I didn't know what to expect, you always heard about these great 3 hour marathon shows and I was thinking "3 hours? This could get boring in the middle, ugh..." But because of the band chemistry and the show that was put on it felt like a short show and Clarence was a huge part of it.

The 2nd time was at the Joe Louis Arena, this time on the "Tunnel Of Love" tour and it was another show where I wasn't sure what we would get. The album was a somber one about relationships falling apart and most of the E street band was not on the record. But the band didn't disappoint. They had several stage props including a bench where Bruce sat with Clarence and sang "Glory Days", but I will never forget the beginning of the show... They had a ticket booth at the front corner of the stage, each band member walked out and bought a ticket and took their place on stage, one by one they come out to applause (by now everyone in the band was recognizable) and then the big man came out and the roof damn near came off the place! He stood there and smiled at the crowd for a second and took it in, I think he was as happy to see us as we were to see him. Of course Bruce was last out, but Clarence had just as big a reception... He was that important.

The 3rd time was on "The Rising" tour at the Palace of Auburn Hills. It had been a long time since I'd seen Bruce live, a few solo tours that just didn't do it for me and a E Street reunion that I was too broke for, but I loved the album and didn't want to miss them again, so we went. It was an odd show because the album was about Bruce's reaction to 9/11 and he wanted some reflective moments which is not a party type thing, but when the E Streeters were out there it was fun and Clarence lead the way.

The last time I actually watched them was on TV at the Superbowl half time show. For me they were the 2nd best performance that the Superbowl has had (hard to beat Prince) and the amazing thing is that up to a week before the show I was hearing Clarence may not be there. He had just had knee surgery and was having a hard time walking, let alone standing, he was a big man after all, and I was telling people that were looking forward to it to not get too upset because it wouldn't be the same without him. Yesterday I read an account from a sports writer who was there. He saw Clarence and some handlers struggling to get him on stage and then once he got up there... BOOM! The big man! If you watch that performance you would never know he was in great pain.

He most recently contributed to Lady Gaga's "Born This Way" on 2 songs, one of them being the single "Edge Of Glory" showing once again that he was more then just Bruce's sideman but also a sought out performer 40 years into his career.


Side men are rarely known unless they have a significant solo career also. Clarence was the E Street band. I don't know if they will play again, this is their 2nd loss (Danny Federici died in 2008 while they were on tour, he was not on tour with them though) and their drummer can't handle the road stress anymore (So his son replaced him, lol) but this feels like the main cog is gone. It will never be the same again.

I'm going to leave with one of my favorite songs from the band live and it also features Clarence pretty heavily


Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Michael Jackson 08/29/58 - 06/25/09

"Was Michael Jackson a friend of yours daddy?"

That's what my (then) 3 year old son said to me when I picked him up at daycare on June 25, 2009. I'd received a text about 30 minutes prior from a co-worker that read "Dude, Michael Jackson is dead". This particular co-worked spent a good amount of time on gossip websites so my immediate thought was "Nah... he read some BS on the internet". So I continued driving, listening to a mix CD in my car and finally arrived at my son's day care. When I turned the engine off, I opened my car door and stopped for a second. Again the thought of "Nah...." crossed my mind. Then I put the key back in the ignition and switched my car stereo to FM. I quickly flipped to one of the "pop" stations and heard the DJ say "...and that's all the information we have right now" then a far more familiar voice sang to me; "Another day is gone, I'm still all alone..." I turned the car off and literally went into shock.

I got out of the car and began to tear up. When I walked into the day care, people could see that I was shaken. They asked "What's wrong?" and my simple reply was "Michael Jackson died today". I could tell that this was news to those who asked because they all stopped what they were doing as well. Some became visibly shaken in the same way that I head. When I got to my son, he asked why I was so upset and knowing he wouldn't understand, I just said "Oh, daddy just got some very sad news, I'll be ok". When we got in the car, I couldn't help but leave the FM station on. I knew, if nothing else that there would be a bunch of his music playing.

When we made our way home, I turned on MTV to find that (as if it were 1983) they were playing Michael Jackson videos non stop. A very good friend of mine began to text me while watching the same broadcast I was across the state, consoling me (each other really) and talking about how shocking the news was, etc. My son sat on the couch next to me, enjoying the music and occasionally rubbing my back and smiling at me when I would get overcome.

Eventually, after hours of silence between us, my son said "Was Michael Jackson a friend of yours daddy?" When he first said it, I had about 2 seconds of shock; those of you who are parents know that "Kids Say The Darndest Things" moment. But I took a few more minutes, thought about it and replied "Yeah, Zakk. He certainly was"

Why did I say that? Why did he know to ask it?

I do not by any means claim to have been "friends" in the traditional sense with Michael Jackson. But what is a friend? Is a friend someone who brings something to your life? Is a friend someone who's there for you when you need it? Someone who lifts you up higher when you're doing great and someone who reaches down to help you up when you're at your lowest low? Seems like a pretty good definition to me of "friend" and I'll tell you what, Michael Jackson has been there for me TEN FOLD in both instances.

Does that mean I consider all musicians or all of my favorite bands "friends"? No, not by any means. It means that those rare tunes and/or artists, those who put it all out there, those who went in whatever direction their heart told them to and somehow, someway, I felt exactly what they were doing or meant to say... those are my friends. I count a song that knows how to bring me up and keep me there, or bring me down and keep me there as a friend. And Michael Jackson had so many of those to share with us and he did all the way to the end.

His passing was a world wide event in the same way that his record releases, tours and videos had been so many times in the past. On June 25, 2009 I had a friend on the other side of the planet stop in her tracks and stick to a TV to see the coverage. I had a friend (and contributor to this blog) who is as metal as metal gets, find a new appreciation for Michael and his music. I had a friend mine across the state who finds humor in EVERYTHING stop what he was doing to console me as much as possible and share in at least 25 years of Michael Jackson memories. I found my room mate and many of her friends gather at our house for a make shift vigil to Michael and his music. And I had my 3 year old son silent, sitting in support, appreciating the music with me in support.

Michael Jackson was something special and that is a vast understatement. This planet will never again see someone with such a wild imagination and so incredibly talented as a performer. As we approach two years without him, sometimes I get angry that he is gone, sometimes I am thankful he gave us everything he did. I sometimes find solace in watching This Is It, the documentary pieced together after his death about the incredible show he was planning. But at all times, I miss him.

To Michael Joseph Jackson, wherever you are, I say THANK YOU. I, along with so many others world wide, miss you so much. But you continually shared your will, determination and raw talent with us. It's so hard to deal with you being gone, but I truly believe that a world without you would've been so much less. They say "It's lonely at the top" and I hope that for all he had to endure, that Michael Jackson at least passed with the assurance that he had "friends" through the magic that he shared.

Michael Joseph Jackson
August 29, 1958 - June 25, 2009
I will miss you always
Your friend,
Russ