The Big Man Joined The Band
Monday, April 10, 2023, Entry #116
At the Springsteen concert in Brooklyn, NY (see Entry #69), I finally took photos (I was in the seats instead of the SRO pit this time, hence the poorer quality of the pictures) of a tender moment that I had found quite moving in previous shows. It occurs when the E Street Band exits the stage near the end of each show. Before Springsteen closes out the night with a solo acoustic performance, he shares a private word and a warm backslap with each musician. But, the only person he actually hugs is the saxophone player, the youngest member of the core group, Jake Clemons.
Jake is the nephew of the late Clarence Clemons, the E Street Band’s legendary sax man, fan favorite, and one of Springsteen’s main soul mates. My feeling is that Springsteen’s embrace of Jake is paternal in nature, the elder Springsteen physically demonstrating his support of and pride in Jake. Clemons, after all, embodies in a deep familial way the continuation of a legacy that remains of extreme importance to Bruce Springsteen.
Bruce Springsteen and Clarence Clemons both described their initial meeting of one another in spiritual terms (see Entry #63 for their full accounts). Springsteen maintains that he knew from the start that they would soon form a relationship that would be life (and career) changing for them both.
“The first time I saw my pal striding out of the shadows of a half-empty bar in Asbury Park, a path opening up before him; here comes my brother, here comes my sax man, my inspiration, my partner, my lifelong friend.” -Bruce Springsteen
This was one “prophecy” that actually came to be. As Springsteen tells it:
“Standing together, a big Black man and a skinny and weird white boy, we were bad ass, some of the baddest asses on the planet. And, we were coming to your town to shake you and to wake you!” -Bruce Springsteen
Besides the music, Springsteen saw a larger meaning in his and Clemons’ interplay onstage and their offstage friendship. It was the mid 1970’s, and everybody was trying to figure out how the seismic societal changes brought on by the Civil Rights movement would play out in everyday life.
“There was an idealism in our partnership. I always felt the audience looked at us and saw the America that they wanted to see and wanted to believe in…And so this became the biggest story I ever told…a story that transcended those I’d written in my songs and in my music. It was a story about the possibilities of friendship…It was a story where we kicked ass and remade the city, reshaping it into the kind of place where our friendship would not be such an anomaly…I’d never written a song bigger than Clarence and I standing next to each other.” -Bruce Springsteen
This vision first played out for the relatively small group of folks who were fortunate enough to witness the legendary club and theater shows during Springsteen and the E Street Band’s early years. Those were the the kinds of concerts that inspired rock critic Jon Landau (who eventually became Springsteen’s manager) to proclaim, “ I saw rock and roll’s future and its name is Bruce Springsteen.” However, when Springsteen’s breakthrough album Born to Run was released in 1975, with its instantly classic cover photo, the unique partnership between Springsteen and Clemons was revealed to a much wider audience.
“I brought Clarence to the session because I wanted to be photographed with him. Instinctively, I knew there was something we wanted to say about the two of us standing side by side…We were trying to create and present our own musical version of John Lewis’ beloved community.” -Bruce Springsteen
Clemons suffered a debilitating stroke in the summer of 2011. Springsteen was with Clarence and his family at a Florida hospital strumming “Land of Hope and Dreams” to the Big Man (Clarence’s Springsteen-given nickname) when his saxophone player and dear friend passed away. Springsteen said that “Clarence and I were very close for 40 years. We were different parts of the same spiritual body…Clarence was elemental in my life, and losing him was like losing the rain…The loss of that relationship is forever irreplicable”
Jake Clemons was inspired to take up the saxophone when he was a youngster after seeing his uncle onstage with Springsteen during the 1988 Tunnel of Love tour. He called his Uncle Clarence “the most loving and beautiful person that I know.”
Jake played “Amazing Grace” on the sax at Clarence’s funeral (Springsteen delivered the eulogy) and it wasn’t long before the young man was being considered by Bruce and the band to be his uncle’s heir. Springsteen addressed the process in his memoir:
“Steve (Van Zandt) on Jake: “He’s black. He plays the saxophone. His name is Clemons. He’s the guy! He’s the only guy!”…I knew what he meant. He was saying that “thing,” that world, that possibility that Clarence symbolized, going back to the early days of race-divided Asbury Park was tied to his overwhelming blackness...And that “thing” was a critical piece of the living philosophy of the E Street Band.”
Jake Clemons became an official member of the E Street Band in early 2012. Springsteen said of his new saxophone player that “he had ‘E Street soul’ in his blood and bones.”
“I found Jake to be a soulful, hardworking young sax player whom I had a deep feeling for…Clarence had been Jake’s uncle, had mentioned Jake to me when he wasn’t well, and I knew he’d have smiles over Jake being here. This felt like it had his blessing…I instructed Jake that the saxophone solos in our songs are compositions, collaborations between Clarence and me that are engraved on our fans’ hearts. I saw that somebody up there liked me and had sent us this very lovely kid with all the right ingredients (“he carried with him limitless sunshine”) to take what was potentially the most damaging injury to our family and help us move past it and down the road. This was not a job for a hired gun or mercenary, no matter how well intended…” -Bruce Springsteen in his 2016 memoir Born To Run
“Jake Clemons, who took the toughest position o replace in rock and roll and miraculously made it his with his youthful and wonderful spirit. At the same time he shows respect and love for his uncle, both in his playing and in his great presence onstage.” -Bruce Springsteen in the 2024 movie Road Diaries
Jake Clemons debut with the E Street Band was anything but low-pressure. Springsteen’s Wrecking Ball tour was scheduled to begin with a special performance, not at the usual arena or stadium, but rather in Harlem’s legendary soul venue, the Apollo Theater. However, though this was the first E Street concert without Clarence Clemons and the first with his nephew, there was a throughline that was a blessing for Jake. Clarence had been passing along to Jake his used saxophones over the years—many of them roughed up from the road—and those were the instruments Jake chose to play that night.
“It’s been really special to me to keep his name, his saxophone, on the E Street stage. I’m blowing through his mouthpieces to his saxophones. It’s a tremendous connection for me to maintain.” -Jake Clemons
E Street drummer “Mighty” Max Weinberg certainly feels it saying, “Those sax solos-”Badlands,” “Jungleland,” “Prove It All Night…” That puts Clarence right back there. It’s almost like this transference.”
It did seem unlikely that at least one type of connection could transfer over to Jake. Springsteen and Clarence Clemons were magnetic together-in a band filled with charismatic supporting players, Clarence was the first among equals. The two of them shared onstage proximity, quick banter, dance moves, and cornball shtick. Springsteen reflected that, “We were physically comfortable with each other, often hugging and embracing.” I would add, even kissing.
Unlike musicianship, that type of interpersonal dynamic couldn’t be replicated. And neither Springsteen nor Jake initially thought it would be a good idea to even try.
“At first I never put Jake in any staged position Clarence and I have been known for. That meant no opposite risers, no shoulder to shoulder, or any of the variety of other iconic poses Clarence and I casually knocked off…He (Jake) performed the difficult task of allowing Clarence’s spirit to inhabit him without giving up his own identity. Slowly, most of our rules fell away and we began, with our audience’s approval, to simply do whatever felt right.” -Bruce Springsteen
Now, in 2024, it is clear that Springsteen and Jake have become extremely comfortable with one another. They pull off some serious guitar and sax holding rock moves, share breezy moments of silliness, display an obvious mutual admiration, and are at this point quite often ‘shoulder to shoulder.’ Theirs is not a ‘buddies’ relationship, like Bruce and Clarence had with one another. It feels paternal on Bruce’s part, as I have said. With Jake, I sense his deep love and respect for Springsteen as well as a complete reverence for his uncle and a desire to honor the history and gestalt of the famous pair. In any event, the two of them have become compelling together in their own right. The pictures I have taken of Springsteen and Jake as a duo on this tour are among my favorites.
Bruce Springsteen made an obvious choice back in 2012 to pay tribute to Clarence Clemons at each and every concert on that year’s tour. During the song “Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out,” which tells the E Street Band origin story, Bruce stopped the band cold (right at the ‘Clarence verses’-”When the change was made uptown and the Big Man joined the band/I’m going to sit back right easy and laugh, when Scooter and the Big Man bust this city in half.”). At that point, a montage of Clarence photos scrolled on the jumbo screens, and Springsteen would hoist his microphone toward the fans as they cheered wildly for two solid minutes in honor of the Big Man.
It is a testimony to Springsteen’s loyalty and love for his friend and bandmate that twelve years later, there is still a similar reverent moment for Clarence (these days, the band keeps playing through the slides) at every Springsteen show. Often, during the tribute, as he does when he pulls off a trademark Clarence sax solo, Jake looks skyward, as if connecting to and sharing it all with the spirit of his late uncle.
Jake had this to say recently:
“I grew up seeing my uncle up there-it gave him so much happiness. Which is why I’ve always been really particular about playing his horn, and using his mouthpiece. I need to keep as much of him with me as possible.”
After that first tour with Jake, Springsteen said, “Clarence’s presence hovered over us without ever stopping our forward march toward our new direction. That was Clarence’s parting gift to us.” Rest in peace, Big Man.
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Extraordinarily tender and beautiful. Thank you!