His name is on the posters and the album covers; he might even have the nickname ‘The Boss’, but Bruce Springsteen would be one of the first to admit that he wouldn’t be where he was in his career were it not for the E Street Band. He has a connection with his band that is difficult to come across, which has led to some of the best rock music ever written and a reputation as one of the best live musicians on the planet.
When you see Springsteen perform live, one of the things that comes through more than anything else is his affinity towards his band. This resonates in how perfectly tight their sound is, but also in the way Springsteen admires them. He often walks up to the barrier, turns his back on the crowd, and watches his band play like any other punter. Despite how big the crowds he might play to are, no one in the room likes the E Street Band more than Bruce Springsteen, which has been massive in contributing to their success.
As such, Clarence Clemons’s death was a devastating blow to the entire band. Upon visiting him in the hospital, with the inevitable on the horizon, The Boss did the only thing he thought would be appropriate and played a song.
“I had a feeling he could hear me because he could squeeze your hand,” said Springsteen, “When I first went to see him [after his stroke], there was some response to your voice and to you being in the room, it felt like. I knew that he was going to die, and so I just brought the guitar in and I strummed a song called ‘Land of Hope and Dreams.’ … It’s about passing over to the other side. It’s about life and death.”
The song was very fitting, not only because of the theme but also because it was one of the last songs that Clemons and Bruce worked on together. “His brother was there,” he said, “I think Jake, his nephew, was there. And there were a few other people. But it was just a little tiny space… It’s a hymn… it was a song we were playing at the end of the night [on tour], and it was one of the last songs that Clarence and I worked on a sax solo together on.”
Clemon’s legacy lives on not only in the music that Bruce continues to perform but also in who is performing it. Since his uncle’s passing, Jake has been playing as the resident saxophonist for the E Street Band, carrying Clarence’s legacy and still making fantastic music that Bruce, and more importantly, his uncle, will be proud of.
“He is present, man,” Jake said, “He’s on that stage every single night. He has not left that stage. There’s a connection as far as our sound is concerned. Even when I was playing as Jake Christian, people would tell me that I sounded like Clarence Clemons.”
