Clarence Clemons, or How I Learned To Stop Worrying and Learn To Love Friday Night Videos.

When I was in the 6th grade I told my parents about a man playing the saxophone with Bruce Springsteen on Friday Night Videos. Clarence Clemons had a growling sound to his instrument that many in the 1980’s tried to imitate, but none could. The next week I started taking saxophone lessons and I quickly learned that I couldn’t imitate it either. Clemons was a rarity, and possible the last of now gone breed of animal. Without him, the rock ‘n roll saxophone solo is nothing more than cartoonish furniture masquerading as emotional resonance. In 2005 I was an artist-in-residency at the Edward Albee Foundation with Taylor Mac, Gabriel Ayerza, and Michael Krumenacker. We all became fast friends and spent a night building the “ultimate” Bruce Springsteen mix-disc. I insisted “Thunder Road” be in the mix, only for Clemons role in the song. The play list was in this order:

Growin’ Up
I’m On Fire
Badlands
Born To Run
The River
Streets of Philadelphia
Down Bound Train
One Step Up
Tunnel of Love
Thunder Road
Brilliant Disguise
Dancing In The Dark
My Home Town
Human Touch
Hungry Heart

For years after our residency I would listen to this mix everyday at the gym. When I see Gabe and Mike we still talk of mix disc, which I claim to be the best mix in the history of human sound. The saxophone solo at the end of “Thunder Road” always stones me. The song underwent considerable evolution as it was written, with an early version titled "Wings for Wheels" first performed at The Main Point in Bryn Mawr on February 5, 1975, two months before I was born. That phrase would be used in the final version of the lyrics. The original version also mentions a girl named "Angelina" (I named one my most produced plays after this) rather than the studio homage to "Mary". I love the story of that song and the raw power of Clemons, supported by the piano riff, blasts the ending into outer space. When I was a kid, Clemons looked like a giant on Friday night Videos. R.I.P. Clarence Clemons, "the Big Man" in the E-Street Band, has passed away at 69.

Timothy Braun
Austin, TX
June 19, 2011


Five Easy Pieces (a quintet of other matters on my mind).
1.) Just got back from Seattle. Had halibut ceviche, tequila chamucos, and Mexican Coke braised pork belly tacos with Gabriel Ayerza on Capital Hill in Seattle. Outstanding.
2.) I know it is a tourist trap, but I love Pike Place Market (pictured).
3.) Now back in Austin, I ate at Eastside Show Room for the first time in months with my financial advisor. Had the charcuterie and antelope tartare. Why must raw meat be bad for man when it tastes so good?
4.) Thinking heavily about the upcoming football season (I expect the labor deal to be settled by the end of the summer) and I think I like Kansas City more than I should.
5.) Also thinking about my upcoming trip to New York. Much business to do (readings, workshops, my agent, ect.) but looking forward to taking a day off and hitting Coney Island, if I can.