The Big Man

Took me a few days to gather my thoughts on this, plus I wasn't around a computer to write. Sorry I'm late to the party.

Obviously I'm a Bruce fan. But when people talk about Bruce, it's not just him. It's the band. And who is the soul of the band? The Big Man, without a doubt.

Something that makes E Street classic is the saxophone. You don't see it in many rock bands. You don't see it much in "mainstream" because it's associated with a different genre. Yet Bruce took a chance with it and it worked beautifully. Think about every hook of every song. It relies on Clarence's sound, working harmoniously with Bruce's chords and moans. It was the noise.

What's great about Clarence was his larger-than-life stature. He was massive. He seemed mysterious. There was something special about how he was presented. The story of lore of how they met was a large black man walked into a Jersey bar on a stormy night and played his saxophone with a young rocker trying to make it. The rest as they say, is history.

I'm obviously very partisan here. Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band is the best show I've ever seen. I was lucky to see them four times. It angers me that I didn't see them more times with the core intact. The thing is I could have. I heavily considered it several times, but if it wasn't the money/distance/friends, it never came to fruition. Even in those four shows, including one with my father, it was a gift to see them. I have every show in bootleg (along with 100+ others) and enjoy every one.

It's sad because I knew it was coming. I know this sounds morbid, but it's real: everyone passes. It was going to happen. I didn't have the luxury of knowing Big Man in his youth. I only knew him from when he was 60+. He couldn't move well. He was out of breath after every time he did Jungleland. He couldn't stand the whole show. It's hell getting old, and it's sad to see that his time has come. It reminds you to take advantage of all the time that you have here on this Earth.

When I try to pick my favorite song involving The Big Man? Everyone points to Jungleland. I would argue it's The Promised Land. Thunder Road is also another beautiful option. I could also change favorite songs every day. Right now it's that, because you know it's coming in Jungleland, but it's somewhat forgotten in some of the other songs. You forget that they happened until you really think about it. People go nuts when Big Man plays a solo on Bruce's songs. Or when he sings ANYTHING. He gets bigger ovations than Bruce. He was the key crutch of the band. He was Santa Claus in Santa Claus in Coming to Town. What more needs to be said.

It's possible that I've listened to every Bruce song since Saturday night. I've tried imagining a song without him. Would Bruce have been so successful? So catchy? I don't know. I believe so, but you never know. Bruce's songs were still intact, still focused on the American Dream of making it on your own, being your own man, finding your Jersey Girl, etc. The message would have stayed the same, but who knows where it would of ended up without the Big Man in the picture. Yet he was. So it doesn't matter to waste time on it.

It was a blessing. It has touched so many lives and emotions. And now we carry on. It's great that we live in a YouTube / MP3 / DVD era, where they can truly live on for as long as Google's servers can hold them. I love that I could watch almost any show from the past 10 years online. And I could download even more of them. (I just looked, I have 114 bootlegs albums. One day I'm going to count how many times I've listened to Born to Run. I'm going to guess over 200. Does anyone think I'm cool?)

What I can't wait for is the next tour Bruce goes on. You know it's coming. How does it work? How will it start? What happens when the piano starts on Jungleland? Who is the heir apparent? I pray it's Clarence's nephew, who came out a few times on tour and covered well. I'm excited to see how it plays out, and see what's next for E Street. Next for me: I'm going to read Big Man's book. It's probably not great, but I'll eat up every word. I've been trying to read every article and tribute online in the past few days. I won't get enough. It's really not fair, but that's just me being selfish.

The world was never the same when the Big Man joined the band.