For the ones who had a notion, a notion deep inside
That it ain't no sin to be glad you're alive
ORGAN DONATION SAVES LIVES http://www.UNOS.org
Donate Organs and Save a Life
I'll always remember this from Bruce: Clarence Clemons doesn't leave the E Street Band when he dies. He leaves when we die.
Amen brothers and sisters!
My hair stood up reading that beautiful piece.
Amen !
:thumbup:
For the ones who had a notion, a notion deep inside
That it ain't no sin to be glad you're alive
ORGAN DONATION SAVES LIVES http://www.UNOS.org
Donate Organs and Save a Life
I just gotta say Downbound Train is striking me like never before. Haunting.
Yeah, that one got to me a couple weeks ago. "Cover Me" and "Darlington County" struck me the most when I was listening to the album.
Shows: 6.27.08 Hartford, CT/5.15.10 Hartford, CT/6.18.2011 Hartford, CT (EV Solo)/10.19.13 Brooklyn/10.25.13 Hartford
"Becoming a Bruce fan is like hitting puberty as a musical fan. It's inevitable." - dcfaithful
cool story...i never imagined the song being autobiographical...then again, i never gave it much thought...i just love the song
The Boss on Stage, but ‘Saddie’ Out in Right
By KEVIN COYNE
Published: July 9, 2011
One summer night in 1973, two friends who had not met since high school bumped into each other outside a bar on the Jersey Shore: Bruce Springsteen was walking in, his old baseball teammate was walking out. They went back inside, had a few drinks and reminisced.
They talked about the nuns at St. Rose of Lima School, where they were seatmates in seventh grade, and about baseball games whose scores they still remembered. Springsteen told his friend that he had released two albums and that his band had just opened an arena show for the Beach Boys and was starting to draw big crowds. They stayed at the bar, the Headliner, in Neptune until closing, then did not see each other again for more than three decades. But “Glory Days,” a 1984 Springsteen song at least partly inspired by that night, brought them together again.
Those of us from Springsteen’s hometown, Freehold, N.J., knew that “Glory Days,” like much of his work, was about the place where we grew up and where many of us still live. So rich are Springsteen’s descriptions of the characters he knew, the plots he watched unfold, that some of his songs sound to us like documentaries.
But “Glory Days” was also the source of an enduring mystery. Who was that speedball pitcher in the song?
I finally found out at a reunion we held recently for our Little League’s 60th anniversary — not from Springsteen, who did not come, but from Dick Enderly, once a fine schoolboy pitcher, who had put the question to Springsteen at their 30th high school reunion in 1997, and received the answer.
“Joe DePugh,” Enderly told me. “I got it straight from the horse’s mouth.”
DePugh, the oldest of six brothers, was a star Little League pitcher and a teammate of Springsteen’s in the Babe Ruth League. A joint assessment of their comparative baseball skills led to DePugh’s affectionate nickname for Springsteen, a right fielder: Saddie.
By high school, they had drifted apart.
“He lost interest in baseball, and I was nothing but sports,” said DePugh, now 61, who also played basketball and football.
As a high school senior, he had several offers to play college basketball and an invitation to try out for the Los Angeles Dodgers.
In a telephone interview, DePugh said: “I was like: ‘I’m going to be a pitcher for the Dodgers. No, I’m going to college. No, I’m going to be a pitcher for the Dodgers.’ Well, the tryout cleared all that up.”
He played basketball at King’s College in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., and earned a degree in English. But by the time he graduated, his parents had died and DePugh was the legal guardian of his two youngest brothers. DePugh was a substitute teacher for a while but could not find a permanent teaching position, so he became a self-employed contractor. He also played in a summer basketball league, and it was after a game that he ran into Springsteen at the Headliner.
A few years later, DePugh moved to Vermont. His friend Scott Wright always played Springsteen’s music on a boom box on job sites, and DePugh told him about meeting Springsteen at the Headliner. When “Glory Days,” a track on “Born in the U.S.A.,” was released, Wright heard it first.
“He told me, ‘Springsteen has a new album out, and there’s a song on there about you,’ ” DePugh said. “ ‘It’s exactly the story you told me.’ ”
DePugh was skeptical, so Wright called a radio station in Montpelier, Vt., and requested the song.
“My wife starts bawling,” DePugh said. “That’s how I knew exactly that it was me.”
The story spread slowly among his friends in Vermont and, when DePugh was 50, he was recruited to join a baseball league for older men.
“When I showed up for the first practice that summer,” he said, “these guys would come up to me and feel the sleeve of my shirt, and say: ‘Oh, you’re real. We thought you were a legend.’ I pitched the whole season that year and ended up with a 0.00 earned run average.”
DePugh attended his 35th high school reunion in 2002, but Springsteen did not. Their classmate Don Norkus eventually got them together for lunch in May 2005, at an Italian restaurant in Red Bank, N.J.
“Bruce pulls in and I point at him and he points at me, and that’s when the hugging started,” DePugh said. They stayed until they were almost the last customers left, as they had at the Headliner three decades earlier.
DePugh spends the colder months in Florida, stopping in New Jersey when he passes through in the spring and the fall. He and Springsteen met again a couple of years ago, at an Italian restaurant in Freehold. At the end of the night, they said their goodbyes at the back door.
“He said, ‘Always remember, I love you,’ not like some corny Budweiser commercial, but a real sentimental thing,” DePugh said. “I was dumbfounded. I said, ‘Thanks, Saddie.’ That was all I could come up with, and all of a sudden, he’s out the door. And it hit me that you’ve got to do a little better than that, so I pulled the door open and yelled down to him, ‘Sad!’ He turned around and I pointed at him and said, ‘I love you, too, and I’m real proud of you.’ And he just waved.”
cool story...i never imagined the song being autobiographical...then again, i never gave it much thought...i just love the song
The Boss on Stage, but ‘Saddie’ Out in Right
By KEVIN COYNE
Published: July 9, 2011
One summer night in 1973, two friends who had not met since high school bumped into each other outside a bar on the Jersey Shore: Bruce Springsteen was walking in, his old baseball teammate was walking out. They went back inside, had a few drinks and reminisced.
They talked about the nuns at St. Rose of Lima School, where they were seatmates in seventh grade, and about baseball games whose scores they still remembered. Springsteen told his friend that he had released two albums and that his band had just opened an arena show for the Beach Boys and was starting to draw big crowds. They stayed at the bar, the Headliner, in Neptune until closing, then did not see each other again for more than three decades. But “Glory Days,” a 1984 Springsteen song at least partly inspired by that night, brought them together again.
Those of us from Springsteen’s hometown, Freehold, N.J., knew that “Glory Days,” like much of his work, was about the place where we grew up and where many of us still live. So rich are Springsteen’s descriptions of the characters he knew, the plots he watched unfold, that some of his songs sound to us like documentaries.
But “Glory Days” was also the source of an enduring mystery. Who was that speedball pitcher in the song?
I finally found out at a reunion we held recently for our Little League’s 60th anniversary — not from Springsteen, who did not come, but from Dick Enderly, once a fine schoolboy pitcher, who had put the question to Springsteen at their 30th high school reunion in 1997, and received the answer.
“Joe DePugh,” Enderly told me. “I got it straight from the horse’s mouth.”
DePugh, the oldest of six brothers, was a star Little League pitcher and a teammate of Springsteen’s in the Babe Ruth League. A joint assessment of their comparative baseball skills led to DePugh’s affectionate nickname for Springsteen, a right fielder: Saddie.
By high school, they had drifted apart.
“He lost interest in baseball, and I was nothing but sports,” said DePugh, now 61, who also played basketball and football.
As a high school senior, he had several offers to play college basketball and an invitation to try out for the Los Angeles Dodgers.
In a telephone interview, DePugh said: “I was like: ‘I’m going to be a pitcher for the Dodgers. No, I’m going to college. No, I’m going to be a pitcher for the Dodgers.’ Well, the tryout cleared all that up.”
He played basketball at King’s College in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., and earned a degree in English. But by the time he graduated, his parents had died and DePugh was the legal guardian of his two youngest brothers. DePugh was a substitute teacher for a while but could not find a permanent teaching position, so he became a self-employed contractor. He also played in a summer basketball league, and it was after a game that he ran into Springsteen at the Headliner.
A few years later, DePugh moved to Vermont. His friend Scott Wright always played Springsteen’s music on a boom box on job sites, and DePugh told him about meeting Springsteen at the Headliner. When “Glory Days,” a track on “Born in the U.S.A.,” was released, Wright heard it first.
“He told me, ‘Springsteen has a new album out, and there’s a song on there about you,’ ” DePugh said. “ ‘It’s exactly the story you told me.’ ”
DePugh was skeptical, so Wright called a radio station in Montpelier, Vt., and requested the song.
“My wife starts bawling,” DePugh said. “That’s how I knew exactly that it was me.”
The story spread slowly among his friends in Vermont and, when DePugh was 50, he was recruited to join a baseball league for older men.
“When I showed up for the first practice that summer,” he said, “these guys would come up to me and feel the sleeve of my shirt, and say: ‘Oh, you’re real. We thought you were a legend.’ I pitched the whole season that year and ended up with a 0.00 earned run average.”
DePugh attended his 35th high school reunion in 2002, but Springsteen did not. Their classmate Don Norkus eventually got them together for lunch in May 2005, at an Italian restaurant in Red Bank, N.J.
“Bruce pulls in and I point at him and he points at me, and that’s when the hugging started,” DePugh said. They stayed until they were almost the last customers left, as they had at the Headliner three decades earlier.
DePugh spends the colder months in Florida, stopping in New Jersey when he passes through in the spring and the fall. He and Springsteen met again a couple of years ago, at an Italian restaurant in Freehold. At the end of the night, they said their goodbyes at the back door.
“He said, ‘Always remember, I love you,’ not like some corny Budweiser commercial, but a real sentimental thing,” DePugh said. “I was dumbfounded. I said, ‘Thanks, Saddie.’ That was all I could come up with, and all of a sudden, he’s out the door. And it hit me that you’ve got to do a little better than that, so I pulled the door open and yelled down to him, ‘Sad!’ He turned around and I pointed at him and said, ‘I love you, too, and I’m real proud of you.’ And he just waved.”
This was wonderful to read, thanks for sharing.
The closing lines especially touched me and made me well up.
Rock on , Saddie.
For the ones who had a notion, a notion deep inside
That it ain't no sin to be glad you're alive
ORGAN DONATION SAVES LIVES http://www.UNOS.org
Donate Organs and Save a Life
1 week till the sole U2 NJ/NY area appearance.
I hope a certain Mr Springsteen makes a cameo that night,
and i hope they do a song or two together,..
honoring the man , the myth, ...& the Legendary E - Street Band .
For the ones who had a notion, a notion deep inside
That it ain't no sin to be glad you're alive
ORGAN DONATION SAVES LIVES http://www.UNOS.org
Donate Organs and Save a Life
turns out Bruce was in the house last night with Patti.
Wonder how Bruce felt when Bono and Company
did the snippets of Promised Land and Jungleland,...
great show !
For the ones who had a notion, a notion deep inside
That it ain't no sin to be glad you're alive
ORGAN DONATION SAVES LIVES http://www.UNOS.org
Donate Organs and Save a Life
The new issue of Rolling Stone, on stands and available through Rolling Stone All Access on July 22nd, contains an in-depth tribute to Clarence Clemons, who died on June 18th. In the piece, Clemons' widow Victoria shares her memories of life with the Big Man. Here is the complete e-mail interview with Victoria Clemons.
Remembering Clarence Clemons: His Life and Career in Photos
How did you meet Clarence?
We met in Mill Valley, California at the Piazza D’ Angelo restaurant. He walked in, saw me and said: "Thank you for bringing beauty into my day," and handed me a flower. He never left. Clarence was old school. He sent white roses to me every day. Even after he left town, the roses never stopped coming in. He came back in about a month later. That is when our love story became reality. He brought beauty and meaning into my life.
What initially drew you to him?
I saw his soul and his spirit deep inside his eyes. I knew then he came for me. He was real, he was humble and as sweet as any person can be and I was very attracted to that.
I spoke to him in February and he told me that the last Springsteen tour was "pure hell" because of his many ailments. What drove him to stay on the tour despite the pain?
He would always say: "My purpose in life is to bring joy to people all over the world through my music." He was music. To him, life without the ability to play his sax was similar to death. His spirituality also helped him enjoy his life, despite his multiple ailments. He pushed himself every step of the way, every day out of the four years we were together. He was a compilation of love, strength, wisdom, willpower and spirituality.
He also seemed overjoyed to be on the Lady Gaga record. Is that accurate?
I saw it coming. The phone rings on a Friday afternoon: "Lady Gaga wants you in Manhattan tonight at her studio." We started packing right after he hung up the phone. We barely made the last flight out of Ft. Lauderdale that night. We arrived in New York at midnight. By 3:00 a.m. they recorded three songs together. I remember Gaga saying, "Oh, my God, I might need to move to another planet . . ." Everybody was absolutely ecstatic. To me, Clarence’s sound brought so much soul and power to the songs they recorded. He was so honored to be part of it.
Bruce Springsteen on Clarence Clemons: 'His Loss is Immeasurable'
What were his experiences like on American Idol and filming the video with Gaga?
Clarence thought his collaboration with Lady Gaga was a new highlight of his professional life. She took him to "The Edge of Glory." On the set, Gaga grabbed Clarence’s hands, looked into his eyes and said: "I believe in you seven days of the week, not just five." I will never forget that. He needed to hear those words to get through the night. He loved Gaga dearly.
What was he like offstage? I mean, the only Clarence that most people knew was the Clarence playing the sax on "Badlands" and other Bruce songs. What was he like the 99.5 percent of his time when he wasn't doing that?
When Clarence wasn’t out blowing his sax, he really was a homebody. We did enjoy going on fishing trips, but at home he liked to cook, watch movies and smoke cigars. He loved to watch sports, especially NBA basketball and the NFL (his teams were the Miami Heat, and both the Dolphins and the Jets). He played golf in his imagination. He broke 100 every time. He liked to help around the house too. A couple of his chores were to fold laundry and wash the large broiling pans. He put a lot of "elbow grease" into washing those pans. For the four years that I was with him he wasn’t able to walk without crutches. We enjoyed our life together without taking romantic walks on the beach or in the park. It worked for us . . . Clarence had physical therapy three times a week. His therapist Mike inspired him. Clarence came back stronger physically and emotionally every time. My husband had a routine that, as his wife, I had to learn. I served him breakfast in bed every day of the week. His favorite breakfast was Russian pancakes. He was an original guy who appreciated things from original sources: authentic cuisine, Italian wine and cheese, Cuban cigars etc.
Clarence was very peaceful. People that talked too much annoyed him. Often he would ask me to lie next to him and just be in a moment. He often recorded voice memos of his thoughts and melodies that he developed in his head while driving, cooking, watching TV, etc. Clarence was the same person under any circumstance – always kind and generous. He was the most giving person I’ve ever met. In our relationship, it translated into the most caring husband and lover.
I'm sorry if this is painful to remember, but how did he spend his final days before the stroke?
Clarence was getting himself ready to go back on tour with the E Street Band. He lost 20 pounds. He was motivated and driven by the opportunity to play his sax again. He was working on a couple of his own projects: a one-man Broadway show and a movie about himself. Recently his friend Bob asked him: "What is the movie about?" Clarence replied: "About me. You have to write about something great!"
Shortly before the stroke, Clarence lost sensation in his index finger and his thumb. He had carpal tunnel surgery performed. He was seriously concerned about the ability to play sax again. He had his cell phone silenced for a few days. He only spoke with a few people. He talked to Bruce several times a day. He learned something new about Bruce that week that he never knew. It made Clarence very happy. Clarence and I spent the last week of his life cooking, going out to dinner and watching movies on Netflix.
How did he keep such a sunny and joyful exterior when he was enduring such chronic pain?
His spirit was stronger than physical pain. He compared himself to a mule that his grandfather used to have on a farm. He would tell me how strong and powerful the beast was. There was nothing he wouldn’t be able to endure.
I know he liked to fish. Tell me about some of his other hobbies.
He was such a connoisseur. He loved to cook. One of his favorite meals was Cornish hen with "Old Bay" spice and corn on a cob. He shared his passion for cooking with me. We enjoyed spending time with our friends and family. He loved to tell jokes too. He was really funny! His favorite music was Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band. E Street radio was always on whenever we took a ride in a car. Clarence collected unique cars: 1978 Rolls Royce Cornish, Twin Star Cadillac, etc. He collected scented candles, candle holders and teddy bears. His favorite teddy bear was "Puggs." I called him "Bugs" to make him laugh. He took him on tour. Clarence enjoyed taking a long, hot, salt baths. He loved heat. His comfort indoor temperature was 80 degrees. He couldn’t tolerate cold at all. The only water Clarence consumed was Fiji. He made no exceptions.
How would you describe his relationship with Bruce?
He admired and loved Bruce as his friend, lifetime partner, his boss and his brother. Bruce’s phone calls and text messages would make Clarence very happy. He would always let me know that Bruce called him and smile inside. Clarence had tremendous respect for the Boss. He called him "Genius."
In February, Clarence told me about his spiritual teacher Sri Chinmoy. How was important was religion/spirituality in Clarence's life?
Clarence’s spirituality was a key to his love, friendships and music. It came across everything he did and anyone he ever encountered. You couldn’t help to love him for everything he was.
Springsteen said this in his eulogy: "C" never approached anything linearly, life never proceeded in a straight line. He never went A... B....C... D. It was always A... J... C... Z... Q... I...! That was the way Clarence lived and made his way through the world. I know that can lead to a lot of confusion and hurt." What exactly did he mean by all that?
My interpretation of that is that Clarence had many sides to him. He could embark on myriad projects at the same time. He had so much going on at any given moment of his life. He got divorced, got married, wrote a bestselling book, had a bilateral knee replacement surgery, started a two-year tour with Bruce and bought a house during the year of 2008. Most people don’t experience that in their lifetime. Clarence didn’t have stereotypes. He loved to experiment. He was married to women from five different continents.
How would you like the world to remember Clarence?
Clarence Clemons was an exceptional person whose dedication to his family, friends, his band and his wife had no boundaries. He loved passionately. He lived his life like he played his sax – without holding back. He undoubtedly was one of the most genuine human beings that ever put his footprint on this planet. He became bigger than life. His soul broke free when his body couldn’t tolerate another struggle. He moved on to another dimension.
For the ones who had a notion, a notion deep inside
That it ain't no sin to be glad you're alive
ORGAN DONATION SAVES LIVES http://www.UNOS.org
Donate Organs and Save a Life
Shows: 6.27.08 Hartford, CT/5.15.10 Hartford, CT/6.18.2011 Hartford, CT (EV Solo)/10.19.13 Brooklyn/10.25.13 Hartford
"Becoming a Bruce fan is like hitting puberty as a musical fan. It's inevitable." - dcfaithful
The new issue of Rolling Stone, on stands and available through Rolling Stone All Access on July 22nd, contains an in-depth tribute to Clarence Clemons, who died on June 18th. In the piece, Clemons' widow Victoria shares her memories of life with the Big Man. Here is the complete e-mail interview with Victoria Clemons.
Remembering Clarence Clemons: His Life and Career in Photos
How did you meet Clarence?
We met in Mill Valley, California at the Piazza D’ Angelo restaurant. He walked in, saw me and said: "Thank you for bringing beauty into my day," and handed me a flower. He never left. Clarence was old school. He sent white roses to me every day. Even after he left town, the roses never stopped coming in. He came back in about a month later. That is when our love story became reality. He brought beauty and meaning into my life.
What initially drew you to him?
I saw his soul and his spirit deep inside his eyes. I knew then he came for me. He was real, he was humble and as sweet as any person can be and I was very attracted to that.
I spoke to him in February and he told me that the last Springsteen tour was "pure hell" because of his many ailments. What drove him to stay on the tour despite the pain?
He would always say: "My purpose in life is to bring joy to people all over the world through my music." He was music. To him, life without the ability to play his sax was similar to death. His spirituality also helped him enjoy his life, despite his multiple ailments. He pushed himself every step of the way, every day out of the four years we were together. He was a compilation of love, strength, wisdom, willpower and spirituality.
He also seemed overjoyed to be on the Lady Gaga record. Is that accurate?
I saw it coming. The phone rings on a Friday afternoon: "Lady Gaga wants you in Manhattan tonight at her studio." We started packing right after he hung up the phone. We barely made the last flight out of Ft. Lauderdale that night. We arrived in New York at midnight. By 3:00 a.m. they recorded three songs together. I remember Gaga saying, "Oh, my God, I might need to move to another planet . . ." Everybody was absolutely ecstatic. To me, Clarence’s sound brought so much soul and power to the songs they recorded. He was so honored to be part of it.
Bruce Springsteen on Clarence Clemons: 'His Loss is Immeasurable'
What were his experiences like on American Idol and filming the video with Gaga?
Clarence thought his collaboration with Lady Gaga was a new highlight of his professional life. She took him to "The Edge of Glory." On the set, Gaga grabbed Clarence’s hands, looked into his eyes and said: "I believe in you seven days of the week, not just five." I will never forget that. He needed to hear those words to get through the night. He loved Gaga dearly.
What was he like offstage? I mean, the only Clarence that most people knew was the Clarence playing the sax on "Badlands" and other Bruce songs. What was he like the 99.5 percent of his time when he wasn't doing that?
When Clarence wasn’t out blowing his sax, he really was a homebody. We did enjoy going on fishing trips, but at home he liked to cook, watch movies and smoke cigars. He loved to watch sports, especially NBA basketball and the NFL (his teams were the Miami Heat, and both the Dolphins and the Jets). He played golf in his imagination. He broke 100 every time. He liked to help around the house too. A couple of his chores were to fold laundry and wash the large broiling pans. He put a lot of "elbow grease" into washing those pans. For the four years that I was with him he wasn’t able to walk without crutches. We enjoyed our life together without taking romantic walks on the beach or in the park. It worked for us . . . Clarence had physical therapy three times a week. His therapist Mike inspired him. Clarence came back stronger physically and emotionally every time. My husband had a routine that, as his wife, I had to learn. I served him breakfast in bed every day of the week. His favorite breakfast was Russian pancakes. He was an original guy who appreciated things from original sources: authentic cuisine, Italian wine and cheese, Cuban cigars etc.
Clarence was very peaceful. People that talked too much annoyed him. Often he would ask me to lie next to him and just be in a moment. He often recorded voice memos of his thoughts and melodies that he developed in his head while driving, cooking, watching TV, etc. Clarence was the same person under any circumstance – always kind and generous. He was the most giving person I’ve ever met. In our relationship, it translated into the most caring husband and lover.
I'm sorry if this is painful to remember, but how did he spend his final days before the stroke?
Clarence was getting himself ready to go back on tour with the E Street Band. He lost 20 pounds. He was motivated and driven by the opportunity to play his sax again. He was working on a couple of his own projects: a one-man Broadway show and a movie about himself. Recently his friend Bob asked him: "What is the movie about?" Clarence replied: "About me. You have to write about something great!"
Shortly before the stroke, Clarence lost sensation in his index finger and his thumb. He had carpal tunnel surgery performed. He was seriously concerned about the ability to play sax again. He had his cell phone silenced for a few days. He only spoke with a few people. He talked to Bruce several times a day. He learned something new about Bruce that week that he never knew. It made Clarence very happy. Clarence and I spent the last week of his life cooking, going out to dinner and watching movies on Netflix.
How did he keep such a sunny and joyful exterior when he was enduring such chronic pain?
His spirit was stronger than physical pain. He compared himself to a mule that his grandfather used to have on a farm. He would tell me how strong and powerful the beast was. There was nothing he wouldn’t be able to endure.
I know he liked to fish. Tell me about some of his other hobbies.
He was such a connoisseur. He loved to cook. One of his favorite meals was Cornish hen with "Old Bay" spice and corn on a cob. He shared his passion for cooking with me. We enjoyed spending time with our friends and family. He loved to tell jokes too. He was really funny! His favorite music was Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band. E Street radio was always on whenever we took a ride in a car. Clarence collected unique cars: 1978 Rolls Royce Cornish, Twin Star Cadillac, etc. He collected scented candles, candle holders and teddy bears. His favorite teddy bear was "Puggs." I called him "Bugs" to make him laugh. He took him on tour. Clarence enjoyed taking a long, hot, salt baths. He loved heat. His comfort indoor temperature was 80 degrees. He couldn’t tolerate cold at all. The only water Clarence consumed was Fiji. He made no exceptions.
How would you describe his relationship with Bruce?
He admired and loved Bruce as his friend, lifetime partner, his boss and his brother. Bruce’s phone calls and text messages would make Clarence very happy. He would always let me know that Bruce called him and smile inside. Clarence had tremendous respect for the Boss. He called him "Genius."
In February, Clarence told me about his spiritual teacher Sri Chinmoy. How was important was religion/spirituality in Clarence's life?
Clarence’s spirituality was a key to his love, friendships and music. It came across everything he did and anyone he ever encountered. You couldn’t help to love him for everything he was.
Springsteen said this in his eulogy: "C" never approached anything linearly, life never proceeded in a straight line. He never went A... B....C... D. It was always A... J... C... Z... Q... I...! That was the way Clarence lived and made his way through the world. I know that can lead to a lot of confusion and hurt." What exactly did he mean by all that?
My interpretation of that is that Clarence had many sides to him. He could embark on myriad projects at the same time. He had so much going on at any given moment of his life. He got divorced, got married, wrote a bestselling book, had a bilateral knee replacement surgery, started a two-year tour with Bruce and bought a house during the year of 2008. Most people don’t experience that in their lifetime. Clarence didn’t have stereotypes. He loved to experiment. He was married to women from five different continents.
How would you like the world to remember Clarence?
Clarence Clemons was an exceptional person whose dedication to his family, friends, his band and his wife had no boundaries. He loved passionately. He lived his life like he played his sax – without holding back. He undoubtedly was one of the most genuine human beings that ever put his footprint on this planet. He became bigger than life. His soul broke free when his body couldn’t tolerate another struggle. He moved on to another dimension.
Beautiful interview. It brought a smile to me and made me tear up a bit.
Shows: 6.27.08 Hartford, CT/5.15.10 Hartford, CT/6.18.2011 Hartford, CT (EV Solo)/10.19.13 Brooklyn/10.25.13 Hartford
"Becoming a Bruce fan is like hitting puberty as a musical fan. It's inevitable." - dcfaithful
something tells me theyd have the same stance on medical marijuana, too.
For the ones who had a notion, a notion deep inside
That it ain't no sin to be glad you're alive
ORGAN DONATION SAVES LIVES http://www.UNOS.org
Donate Organs and Save a Life
For the ones who had a notion, a notion deep inside
That it ain't no sin to be glad you're alive
ORGAN DONATION SAVES LIVES http://www.UNOS.org
Donate Organs and Save a Life
For the ones who had a notion, a notion deep inside
That it ain't no sin to be glad you're alive
ORGAN DONATION SAVES LIVES http://www.UNOS.org
Donate Organs and Save a Life
For the ones who had a notion, a notion deep inside
That it ain't no sin to be glad you're alive
ORGAN DONATION SAVES LIVES http://www.UNOS.org
Donate Organs and Save a Life
Shows: 6.27.08 Hartford, CT/5.15.10 Hartford, CT/6.18.2011 Hartford, CT (EV Solo)/10.19.13 Brooklyn/10.25.13 Hartford
"Becoming a Bruce fan is like hitting puberty as a musical fan. It's inevitable." - dcfaithful
giveit a few seconds and the camera focuses in just fine.
After all these years, the overall style has remained the same,
and the guitar skills are underappreciated and go without mention ,..
This is 1978 in Passaic NJ .
For the ones who had a notion, a notion deep inside
That it ain't no sin to be glad you're alive
ORGAN DONATION SAVES LIVES http://www.UNOS.org
Donate Organs and Save a Life
chatter is that a new album is close to finished
done in studios inside Germany.
For the ones who had a notion, a notion deep inside
That it ain't no sin to be glad you're alive
ORGAN DONATION SAVES LIVES http://www.UNOS.org
Donate Organs and Save a Life
chatter is that a new album is close to finished
done in studios inside Germany.
Possibly Hansa Studios in Berlin?
Shows: 6.27.08 Hartford, CT/5.15.10 Hartford, CT/6.18.2011 Hartford, CT (EV Solo)/10.19.13 Brooklyn/10.25.13 Hartford
"Becoming a Bruce fan is like hitting puberty as a musical fan. It's inevitable." - dcfaithful
chatter is that a new album is close to finished
done in studios inside Germany.
You got this from BTX?
no
from bruce springsteen news facebook page.
For the ones who had a notion, a notion deep inside
That it ain't no sin to be glad you're alive
ORGAN DONATION SAVES LIVES http://www.UNOS.org
Donate Organs and Save a Life
chatter is that a new album is close to finished
done in studios inside Germany.
You got this from BTX?
no
from bruce springsteen news facebook page.
How did I miss that?
Shows: 6.27.08 Hartford, CT/5.15.10 Hartford, CT/6.18.2011 Hartford, CT (EV Solo)/10.19.13 Brooklyn/10.25.13 Hartford
"Becoming a Bruce fan is like hitting puberty as a musical fan. It's inevitable." - dcfaithful
Shows: 6.27.08 Hartford, CT/5.15.10 Hartford, CT/6.18.2011 Hartford, CT (EV Solo)/10.19.13 Brooklyn/10.25.13 Hartford
"Becoming a Bruce fan is like hitting puberty as a musical fan. It's inevitable." - dcfaithful
totally stoked.
Surely the big man had laid down some tracks,
or they can do some dubbing of some sort.
Tour ?
wouldnt this be wonderful ?
Get Jake Clemons or the Kingfish Eddie Manion for the horns.
where we could all go and to an extent mourn with the boss
but also celebrate life and how wonderful it is despite it being so fragile.
For the ones who had a notion, a notion deep inside
That it ain't no sin to be glad you're alive
ORGAN DONATION SAVES LIVES http://www.UNOS.org
Donate Organs and Save a Life
Comments
impossible!
That it ain't no sin to be glad you're alive
ORGAN DONATION SAVES LIVES
http://www.UNOS.org
Donate Organs and Save a Life
Amen brothers and sisters!
My hair stood up reading that beautiful piece.
R.i.p. My Dad - May 28, 2007
R.i.p. Black Tail (cat) - Sept. 20, 2008
beautiful eulogy
yes i cried reading it
Sammi: Wanna just break up?
Amen !
:thumbup:
That it ain't no sin to be glad you're alive
ORGAN DONATION SAVES LIVES
http://www.UNOS.org
Donate Organs and Save a Life
"Becoming a Bruce fan is like hitting puberty as a musical fan. It's inevitable." - dcfaithful
The Boss on Stage, but ‘Saddie’ Out in Right
By KEVIN COYNE
Published: July 9, 2011
One summer night in 1973, two friends who had not met since high school bumped into each other outside a bar on the Jersey Shore: Bruce Springsteen was walking in, his old baseball teammate was walking out. They went back inside, had a few drinks and reminisced.
They talked about the nuns at St. Rose of Lima School, where they were seatmates in seventh grade, and about baseball games whose scores they still remembered. Springsteen told his friend that he had released two albums and that his band had just opened an arena show for the Beach Boys and was starting to draw big crowds. They stayed at the bar, the Headliner, in Neptune until closing, then did not see each other again for more than three decades. But “Glory Days,” a 1984 Springsteen song at least partly inspired by that night, brought them together again.
Those of us from Springsteen’s hometown, Freehold, N.J., knew that “Glory Days,” like much of his work, was about the place where we grew up and where many of us still live. So rich are Springsteen’s descriptions of the characters he knew, the plots he watched unfold, that some of his songs sound to us like documentaries.
But “Glory Days” was also the source of an enduring mystery. Who was that speedball pitcher in the song?
I finally found out at a reunion we held recently for our Little League’s 60th anniversary — not from Springsteen, who did not come, but from Dick Enderly, once a fine schoolboy pitcher, who had put the question to Springsteen at their 30th high school reunion in 1997, and received the answer.
“Joe DePugh,” Enderly told me. “I got it straight from the horse’s mouth.”
DePugh, the oldest of six brothers, was a star Little League pitcher and a teammate of Springsteen’s in the Babe Ruth League. A joint assessment of their comparative baseball skills led to DePugh’s affectionate nickname for Springsteen, a right fielder: Saddie.
By high school, they had drifted apart.
“He lost interest in baseball, and I was nothing but sports,” said DePugh, now 61, who also played basketball and football.
As a high school senior, he had several offers to play college basketball and an invitation to try out for the Los Angeles Dodgers.
In a telephone interview, DePugh said: “I was like: ‘I’m going to be a pitcher for the Dodgers. No, I’m going to college. No, I’m going to be a pitcher for the Dodgers.’ Well, the tryout cleared all that up.”
He played basketball at King’s College in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., and earned a degree in English. But by the time he graduated, his parents had died and DePugh was the legal guardian of his two youngest brothers. DePugh was a substitute teacher for a while but could not find a permanent teaching position, so he became a self-employed contractor. He also played in a summer basketball league, and it was after a game that he ran into Springsteen at the Headliner.
A few years later, DePugh moved to Vermont. His friend Scott Wright always played Springsteen’s music on a boom box on job sites, and DePugh told him about meeting Springsteen at the Headliner. When “Glory Days,” a track on “Born in the U.S.A.,” was released, Wright heard it first.
“He told me, ‘Springsteen has a new album out, and there’s a song on there about you,’ ” DePugh said. “ ‘It’s exactly the story you told me.’ ”
DePugh was skeptical, so Wright called a radio station in Montpelier, Vt., and requested the song.
“My wife starts bawling,” DePugh said. “That’s how I knew exactly that it was me.”
The story spread slowly among his friends in Vermont and, when DePugh was 50, he was recruited to join a baseball league for older men.
“When I showed up for the first practice that summer,” he said, “these guys would come up to me and feel the sleeve of my shirt, and say: ‘Oh, you’re real. We thought you were a legend.’ I pitched the whole season that year and ended up with a 0.00 earned run average.”
DePugh attended his 35th high school reunion in 2002, but Springsteen did not. Their classmate Don Norkus eventually got them together for lunch in May 2005, at an Italian restaurant in Red Bank, N.J.
“Bruce pulls in and I point at him and he points at me, and that’s when the hugging started,” DePugh said. They stayed until they were almost the last customers left, as they had at the Headliner three decades earlier.
DePugh spends the colder months in Florida, stopping in New Jersey when he passes through in the spring and the fall. He and Springsteen met again a couple of years ago, at an Italian restaurant in Freehold. At the end of the night, they said their goodbyes at the back door.
“He said, ‘Always remember, I love you,’ not like some corny Budweiser commercial, but a real sentimental thing,” DePugh said. “I was dumbfounded. I said, ‘Thanks, Saddie.’ That was all I could come up with, and all of a sudden, he’s out the door. And it hit me that you’ve got to do a little better than that, so I pulled the door open and yelled down to him, ‘Sad!’ He turned around and I pointed at him and said, ‘I love you, too, and I’m real proud of you.’ And he just waved.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/10/sport ... .html?_r=1
clarence was the E in estreet
imo the estreet band is no longer
rip big man
thanks for 30years of sonic wrinkles
This was wonderful to read, thanks for sharing.
The closing lines especially touched me and made me well up.
Rock on , Saddie.
That it ain't no sin to be glad you're alive
ORGAN DONATION SAVES LIVES
http://www.UNOS.org
Donate Organs and Save a Life
I hope a certain Mr Springsteen makes a cameo that night,
and i hope they do a song or two together,..
honoring the man , the myth, ...& the Legendary E - Street Band .
That it ain't no sin to be glad you're alive
ORGAN DONATION SAVES LIVES
http://www.UNOS.org
Donate Organs and Save a Life
Wonder how Bruce felt when Bono and Company
did the snippets of Promised Land and Jungleland,...
great show !
That it ain't no sin to be glad you're alive
ORGAN DONATION SAVES LIVES
http://www.UNOS.org
Donate Organs and Save a Life
but oh , what coulda been,...
http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/ ... a-20110721
The new issue of Rolling Stone, on stands and available through Rolling Stone All Access on July 22nd, contains an in-depth tribute to Clarence Clemons, who died on June 18th. In the piece, Clemons' widow Victoria shares her memories of life with the Big Man. Here is the complete e-mail interview with Victoria Clemons.
Remembering Clarence Clemons: His Life and Career in Photos
How did you meet Clarence?
We met in Mill Valley, California at the Piazza D’ Angelo restaurant. He walked in, saw me and said: "Thank you for bringing beauty into my day," and handed me a flower. He never left. Clarence was old school. He sent white roses to me every day. Even after he left town, the roses never stopped coming in. He came back in about a month later. That is when our love story became reality. He brought beauty and meaning into my life.
What initially drew you to him?
I saw his soul and his spirit deep inside his eyes. I knew then he came for me. He was real, he was humble and as sweet as any person can be and I was very attracted to that.
I spoke to him in February and he told me that the last Springsteen tour was "pure hell" because of his many ailments. What drove him to stay on the tour despite the pain?
He would always say: "My purpose in life is to bring joy to people all over the world through my music." He was music. To him, life without the ability to play his sax was similar to death. His spirituality also helped him enjoy his life, despite his multiple ailments. He pushed himself every step of the way, every day out of the four years we were together. He was a compilation of love, strength, wisdom, willpower and spirituality.
He also seemed overjoyed to be on the Lady Gaga record. Is that accurate?
I saw it coming. The phone rings on a Friday afternoon: "Lady Gaga wants you in Manhattan tonight at her studio." We started packing right after he hung up the phone. We barely made the last flight out of Ft. Lauderdale that night. We arrived in New York at midnight. By 3:00 a.m. they recorded three songs together. I remember Gaga saying, "Oh, my God, I might need to move to another planet . . ." Everybody was absolutely ecstatic. To me, Clarence’s sound brought so much soul and power to the songs they recorded. He was so honored to be part of it.
Bruce Springsteen on Clarence Clemons: 'His Loss is Immeasurable'
What were his experiences like on American Idol and filming the video with Gaga?
Clarence thought his collaboration with Lady Gaga was a new highlight of his professional life. She took him to "The Edge of Glory." On the set, Gaga grabbed Clarence’s hands, looked into his eyes and said: "I believe in you seven days of the week, not just five." I will never forget that. He needed to hear those words to get through the night. He loved Gaga dearly.
What was he like offstage? I mean, the only Clarence that most people knew was the Clarence playing the sax on "Badlands" and other Bruce songs. What was he like the 99.5 percent of his time when he wasn't doing that?
When Clarence wasn’t out blowing his sax, he really was a homebody. We did enjoy going on fishing trips, but at home he liked to cook, watch movies and smoke cigars. He loved to watch sports, especially NBA basketball and the NFL (his teams were the Miami Heat, and both the Dolphins and the Jets). He played golf in his imagination. He broke 100 every time. He liked to help around the house too. A couple of his chores were to fold laundry and wash the large broiling pans. He put a lot of "elbow grease" into washing those pans. For the four years that I was with him he wasn’t able to walk without crutches. We enjoyed our life together without taking romantic walks on the beach or in the park. It worked for us . . . Clarence had physical therapy three times a week. His therapist Mike inspired him. Clarence came back stronger physically and emotionally every time. My husband had a routine that, as his wife, I had to learn. I served him breakfast in bed every day of the week. His favorite breakfast was Russian pancakes. He was an original guy who appreciated things from original sources: authentic cuisine, Italian wine and cheese, Cuban cigars etc.
Clarence was very peaceful. People that talked too much annoyed him. Often he would ask me to lie next to him and just be in a moment. He often recorded voice memos of his thoughts and melodies that he developed in his head while driving, cooking, watching TV, etc. Clarence was the same person under any circumstance – always kind and generous. He was the most giving person I’ve ever met. In our relationship, it translated into the most caring husband and lover.
I'm sorry if this is painful to remember, but how did he spend his final days before the stroke?
Clarence was getting himself ready to go back on tour with the E Street Band. He lost 20 pounds. He was motivated and driven by the opportunity to play his sax again. He was working on a couple of his own projects: a one-man Broadway show and a movie about himself. Recently his friend Bob asked him: "What is the movie about?" Clarence replied: "About me. You have to write about something great!"
Shortly before the stroke, Clarence lost sensation in his index finger and his thumb. He had carpal tunnel surgery performed. He was seriously concerned about the ability to play sax again. He had his cell phone silenced for a few days. He only spoke with a few people. He talked to Bruce several times a day. He learned something new about Bruce that week that he never knew. It made Clarence very happy. Clarence and I spent the last week of his life cooking, going out to dinner and watching movies on Netflix.
How did he keep such a sunny and joyful exterior when he was enduring such chronic pain?
His spirit was stronger than physical pain. He compared himself to a mule that his grandfather used to have on a farm. He would tell me how strong and powerful the beast was. There was nothing he wouldn’t be able to endure.
I know he liked to fish. Tell me about some of his other hobbies.
He was such a connoisseur. He loved to cook. One of his favorite meals was Cornish hen with "Old Bay" spice and corn on a cob. He shared his passion for cooking with me. We enjoyed spending time with our friends and family. He loved to tell jokes too. He was really funny! His favorite music was Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band. E Street radio was always on whenever we took a ride in a car. Clarence collected unique cars: 1978 Rolls Royce Cornish, Twin Star Cadillac, etc. He collected scented candles, candle holders and teddy bears. His favorite teddy bear was "Puggs." I called him "Bugs" to make him laugh. He took him on tour. Clarence enjoyed taking a long, hot, salt baths. He loved heat. His comfort indoor temperature was 80 degrees. He couldn’t tolerate cold at all. The only water Clarence consumed was Fiji. He made no exceptions.
How would you describe his relationship with Bruce?
He admired and loved Bruce as his friend, lifetime partner, his boss and his brother. Bruce’s phone calls and text messages would make Clarence very happy. He would always let me know that Bruce called him and smile inside. Clarence had tremendous respect for the Boss. He called him "Genius."
In February, Clarence told me about his spiritual teacher Sri Chinmoy. How was important was religion/spirituality in Clarence's life?
Clarence’s spirituality was a key to his love, friendships and music. It came across everything he did and anyone he ever encountered. You couldn’t help to love him for everything he was.
Springsteen said this in his eulogy: "C" never approached anything linearly, life never proceeded in a straight line. He never went A... B....C... D. It was always A... J... C... Z... Q... I...! That was the way Clarence lived and made his way through the world. I know that can lead to a lot of confusion and hurt." What exactly did he mean by all that?
My interpretation of that is that Clarence had many sides to him. He could embark on myriad projects at the same time. He had so much going on at any given moment of his life. He got divorced, got married, wrote a bestselling book, had a bilateral knee replacement surgery, started a two-year tour with Bruce and bought a house during the year of 2008. Most people don’t experience that in their lifetime. Clarence didn’t have stereotypes. He loved to experiment. He was married to women from five different continents.
How would you like the world to remember Clarence?
Clarence Clemons was an exceptional person whose dedication to his family, friends, his band and his wife had no boundaries. He loved passionately. He lived his life like he played his sax – without holding back. He undoubtedly was one of the most genuine human beings that ever put his footprint on this planet. He became bigger than life. His soul broke free when his body couldn’t tolerate another struggle. He moved on to another dimension.
That it ain't no sin to be glad you're alive
ORGAN DONATION SAVES LIVES
http://www.UNOS.org
Donate Organs and Save a Life
http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/ ... e-20110721
"Becoming a Bruce fan is like hitting puberty as a musical fan. It's inevitable." - dcfaithful
"Becoming a Bruce fan is like hitting puberty as a musical fan. It's inevitable." - dcfaithful
something tells me theyd have the same stance on medical marijuana, too.
That it ain't no sin to be glad you're alive
ORGAN DONATION SAVES LIVES
http://www.UNOS.org
Donate Organs and Save a Life
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y3MPTs00qk8
:thumbup:
you can tell the battery was dying,..
That it ain't no sin to be glad you're alive
ORGAN DONATION SAVES LIVES
http://www.UNOS.org
Donate Organs and Save a Life
Your images may only be up to 480 pixels high rule.
http://a1.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos- ... 8293_n.jpg
That it ain't no sin to be glad you're alive
ORGAN DONATION SAVES LIVES
http://www.UNOS.org
Donate Organs and Save a Life
R.I.P. Bigman
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1wg9jyvfN0
That it ain't no sin to be glad you're alive
ORGAN DONATION SAVES LIVES
http://www.UNOS.org
Donate Organs and Save a Life
"Becoming a Bruce fan is like hitting puberty as a musical fan. It's inevitable." - dcfaithful
Gorgeous!
giveit a few seconds and the camera focuses in just fine.
After all these years, the overall style has remained the same,
and the guitar skills are underappreciated and go without mention ,..
This is 1978 in Passaic NJ .
That it ain't no sin to be glad you're alive
ORGAN DONATION SAVES LIVES
http://www.UNOS.org
Donate Organs and Save a Life
done in studios inside Germany.
That it ain't no sin to be glad you're alive
ORGAN DONATION SAVES LIVES
http://www.UNOS.org
Donate Organs and Save a Life
"Becoming a Bruce fan is like hitting puberty as a musical fan. It's inevitable." - dcfaithful
You got this from BTX?
no
from bruce springsteen news facebook page.
That it ain't no sin to be glad you're alive
ORGAN DONATION SAVES LIVES
http://www.UNOS.org
Donate Organs and Save a Life
"Becoming a Bruce fan is like hitting puberty as a musical fan. It's inevitable." - dcfaithful
An E-Street Record? I wonder if Clarence had done any recording before his passing. It sure would sound strange without him.
"Becoming a Bruce fan is like hitting puberty as a musical fan. It's inevitable." - dcfaithful
http://ultimateclassicrock.com/bruce-sp ... 011-album/
Turns out it mightve been true,.......who knew.
totally stoked.
Surely the big man had laid down some tracks,
or they can do some dubbing of some sort.
Tour ?
wouldnt this be wonderful ?
Get Jake Clemons or the Kingfish Eddie Manion for the horns.
where we could all go and to an extent mourn with the boss
but also celebrate life and how wonderful it is despite it being so fragile.
That it ain't no sin to be glad you're alive
ORGAN DONATION SAVES LIVES
http://www.UNOS.org
Donate Organs and Save a Life