Tous les fans de Bruce Springsteen sont en deuil ce soir à la suite de l'annonce du décès du saxophoniste Clarence Clemons, membre du E Street Band, le groupe du rocker du New Jersey. Clemons est mort à 69 ans, moins d'une semaine après avoir été victime d'un ACV. Le New York Times lui consacre cet article dont je cite un extrait dans le texte :

A former college football player, Mr. Clemons towered over Mr. Springsteen at 6 feet 4 inches and about 250 pounds - his self-evident nickname was the Big Man - and for most of its history he stood out as the sole black man in a white, working-class New Jersey rock band. (The keyboardist David Sancious, who is also black, played with the group until 1974.) Onstage he had almost as much magnetism as Mr. Springsteen, and even if much of his time was spent hitting a cowbell or singing backup, he could still rile a stadium crowd with a few cheerful notes on his horn.

For many fans, the bond between Mr. Springsteen and Mr. Clemons was symbolized by the photograph wrapped around the front and back covers of the 1975 album "Born to Run." In that picture, a spent yet elated Mr. Springsteen leans on a shoulder to his right for support; the flip side revealed that it belonged to Mr. Clemons.

"When you look at just the cover of 'Born to Run,' you see a charming photo, a good album cover, but when you open it up and see Clarence and me together, the album begins to work its magic," Mr. Springsteen wrote in a foreword to "Big Man: Real Life and Tall Tales," Mr. Clemons's semifictional memoir from 2009, written with Don Reo. "Who are these guys? Where did they come from? What is the joke they are sharing?"

P.S. : Ce clip est tiré du dernier spectacle de Bruce Springsteen avec le E Street Band et Clemons, présenté à Buffalo :

P.P.S. : Le Washington Post propose ce retour sur les interviews et performances de Clemons.