Scooter and the big man bust this city in half (Scooter)

1975, aged 18, in the sixth form at Mount Albert Grammar - I'm driving in my (mum's) car, I turn on the radio, I was riding alone through the drizzling rain, trying to look so hard, and a transistor blasts, I turn around the corner and things got real quiet real fast.

It's a wild song playing and I'm transfixed - turns out to be Born To Run by someone called Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band.

Aarrrgghhhh it's so good. The lyrics capture me, the driving drums get my body moving, the mid song count down hooks me, and the sax sound - always the sax sound. The Big Man on saxophone.

Clarence - you had a hold on me right from the start, a grip so tight I couldn't tear it apart.

Sadly the Big Man is no more than a plaintive saophone wail now, maybe that  one at the end of Jungleland. Who'll ease the sadness, who's gonna quiet the pain?

The answer is, of course, Clarence and the Boss will quiet the pain - with their song with the funky break.

It started here:


And it ends where it begins. Thanks Clarence and so long, sometimes you just gotta walk on, walk on.

The hungry and the hunted explode into rock'n'roll bands (Bruce Springsteen)

This is again about Clarence Clemons - I've now finished his book and I have a few more fairly random things to say.

It's a great rock book. One I will keep and put alongside my other rock books that are worth keeping (ie dipping into from time to time) like The Real Frank Zappa Book and Dylan's Writings and Drawings. Yep - bits of it are that good.

The mythic aspect present in Bruce's music and the Scooter/Big Man history is well represented. Tough to pull that off but they do.

The genuine love between Scooter and The Big Man personas and between Bruce and Clarence is etched into every sentence. Don Reo captures it well.

I love the Frank Sinatra story - it reminds me of Rock Dreams (another rock book that's a keeper). Actually that book is name-checked at the end of Big Man so they were obviously conscious of the similarities/connections.

I was forced back to the music. Bruce (as reported in the book) says that Jungleland is C's signature song (I'm not arguing with the Boss). I love the moment in the 2001 New York concert after C has had his moment in the spotlight and before Bruce ends the song. Bruce says something to Clarence as he walks out (7.35 minutes in after an outrageously passionate Big Man solo). I don't really want to know what he says...okay - I do! It's gotta be more that "great stuff C".

Here it is - a great version of a great song.

Scooter's searching for his group... and the Big Man joined the band (Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band)

Walked in the Virgin Megastore at Villaggio (Doha) and the first thing I see in a huge cacophony of products (T shirts, magazines, CDs, DVDs, stereo gear, TVs, phones, books etc) is a book. Seriously - the first thing!

It's BIG MAN by Clarence Clemons and Don Reo (yes it upper case glory). The cover picture is sublime - Clarence smiling backstage in his BIG MAN persona (black hat, black shades, dreads, big shoes...and his sax).

I walked up to it (or maybe it walked up to me). I reached for it (or maybe it reached out to me). I picked it up (it seemed to glow and grow BIGGER in size). I opened the cover to the promised foreward by Bruce Springsteen. The words read like they were ripped from the gospel of the ministry of music.

I'm 222 pages in (read over two days in a rush) and if you have ever been touched by the magic of The Boss (aka Scooter) or just music in general then you must read it. It's worth it for the hilarious bullshit story of Frank Sinatra wanting to record Born to Run alone.

I love the story of how Bruce named the band too. Who knew?

If you want more of the Big Man - try his website. http://www.clarenceclemons.com/

And to leave you - here's the awesome E Streeters doing some self-mythologising!Two from '75 (my first year in thrall). Big Man joined the band indeed!! Rosie is my favourite Springsteen song!