Clarence Clemons 1942 - 2011

Man-myth and heart and soul of the E Street Band, saxophonist Clarence Clemons passed away this past weekend.

He was the spirit of the E Street Band, and the oaken staff that Bruce Springsteen leaned on.
Clarence Clemons — the Big Man with the big horn — died yesterday of complications from a stroke he suffered last weekend. He was 69.

“Clarence lived a wonderful life,” Bruce Springsteen said in a statement last night. “He carried within him a love of people that made them love him. He created a wondrous and extended family. He loved the saxophone, loved our fans and gave everything he had every night he stepped on stage.”

When the change was made uptown

And the big man joined the band

One night we were playing in Asbury Park. I'd heard The Bruce Springsteen Band was nearby at a club called The Student Prince and on a break between sets I walked over there. On-stage, Bruce used to tell different versions of this story but I'm a Baptist, remember, so this is the truth. A rainy, windy night it was, and when I opened the door the whole thing flew off its hinges and blew away down the street. The band were on-stage, but staring at me framed in the doorway. And maybe that did make Bruce a little nervous because I just said, "I want to play with your band," and he said, "Sure, you do anything you want." The first song we did was an early version of "Spirit In The Night". Bruce and I looked at each other and didn't say anything, we just knew. We knew we were the missing links in each other's lives. He was what I'd been searching for. In one way he was just a scrawny little kid. But he was a visionary. He wanted to follow his dream. So from then on I was part of history.

R.I.P., Clarence

Radio KBwD is on the air

If we had a retro-active bucket list, one of the items contained therein would be to see these guys live back in the mid-70s.

Ladies and Gentlemen, from Asbury Park, New Jersey and performing at the Hammersmith Odeon in London, it's Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band performing "Rosalita"







"I know pretty little place in Southern California down San Diego way. There's a little cafe where they play guitars all night and all day. You can here'm in the backroom strummin'"

"Put down that CD!"

Bruce Springsteen, who will be performing the half-time show at the Super Bowl has himself a little problem with Big Left.

Springsteen or Springsteen’s people made a deal with Wal-Mart this month to exclusively sell Springsteen’s greatest hit CD.

Springsteen, for his part said it was a mistake and that he shouldn’t have made the deal with Wal-Mart.

"It was a mistake. Our batting average is usually very good, but we missed that one. Fans will call you on that stuff, as it should be."

How one is not cognizant that one is inking a deal with what is not only one of the largest retail chains on the planet but also the Great Satan of unorganized, cut-throat capitalism is a difficult concept for our brain to wrap around.

But, hey, its cool, Bruce. Just look at this as an opportunity for wider distribution and access to your songs of freedom and card checks for the lumpen, mouth-breathing masses of the outer rings.


We’re looking forward to Bruce going old school this evening. “Rosalita” and “Tenth Avenue Freeze-out” are tops on our list.

Radio KBwD Christmas Special

KT has been putting together his Top 10 Christmas songs – we’ve been enjoying it and it has inspired us to share some of our favorites. Our little brother Matty, said this was his favorite Christmas song and it is among our favorites as well. The video is a little fuzzy and the audio a tad scratchy but the spirit is there and as Tom Petty once said, “It’s rock’n’roll, man – it ain’t supposed to be good”. Ladies and Gentlemen, from Asbury Park, New Jersey…. It’s Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band performing, “Santa Claus is Coming to Town”



Stay tuned as Mongo sent us one that sums up our sentiments this year and which we'll share later.

Hey Brucie Baby, how about "Born to (Swim)", instead?

Recall back in 1984, the Reagan campaign attempted to co-opt Bruce Springsteen’s “Born in the U.S.A.” as a patriotic anthem when Springsteen, himself, advised them it was nothing of the sort but rather a song that told the story of a working-class kid who gets shipped-off to Vietnam only to return to an America of unemployment and disillusion.

(As much as we hated the “youth vote” even when we were youths, we were convinced by this incident that every politician needed a bona fide “youth consultant” to avoid stepping in it like the Reagan campaign did)

Well, according to Brian Williams of NBC Nightly News on Sunday, Bruce dedicated his performance of “Born in the U.S.A.” while in concert in Jacksonville to a kid from Baltimore who gets shipped off to Beijing only return to America with 8 more gold medals, endorsement opportunities, fame and adulation.

... ah yes, how nearly a quarter a century will change perspective on things.