This story originally published in the Asbury Park Press on June 20, 2011.
ASBURY PARK – On Sunday afternoon, Clarence Clemons packed The Stone Pony one last time.
The legendary club on Ocean Avenue held an informal memorial gathering in honor of Clemons, the iconic saxophone player for Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band who died Saturday at age 69 of complications from a stroke he suffered June 12.
Clarence Clemons and Bruce Springsteen perform with the E Street Band during a concert at the Izod Center in East Rutherford, New Jersey, on May 21, 2009.
Pictures of Clemons taken over the years in and around Asbury Park by local photographer John Cavanaugh stood on the club’s stage, while classics that Clemons recorded with Springsteen — including “Thunder Road,” “Hungry Heart” and “Dancing in the Dark” — played over the house sound system.
Cavanaugh, a Jackson resident and the club’s house photographer, said displaying the photos was “a little token, something I can do to pay my respects, mine and the Pony’s, to a great man.”
Among the fans who visited The Stone Pony to honor Clemons on Sunday were Denise Kelly and her husband, Patrick. Denise, who said she and her husband had made the trip from South Philadelphia to Asbury Park to attend the memorial, described Clemons as “the heart and soul of the E Street Band.”
“Words can’t express how much (Clemons) meant to the E Street Band, and to the fans,” she said.
Kyle Brendle, house promoter for The Stone Pony, described Clemons as “definitely a cornerstone of Asbury Park’s musical explosion of the ’70s. His sound, his persona is just unique.”
Springsteen posted a tribute to Clemons on his website.
“Clarence lived a wonderful life. 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. His loss is immeasurable and we are honored and thankful to have known him and had the opportunity to stand beside him for nearly forty years. He was my great friend, my partner, and with Clarence at my side, my band and I were able to tell a story far deeper than those simply contained in our music. His life, his memory, and his love will live on in that story and in our band.”
Bruce Springsteen and Clarence Clemons perform with the E Street Band on opening night of their concert tour at Continental Airlines Arena in East Rutherford, New Jersey, July 15, 1999.
Clemons lent his signature sound to a pair of tracks on Lady Gaga’s recent “Born This Way” album, and in May he performed with her on the season finale of “American Idol.”
“(Lady Gaga) is one of the biggest current artists there is, so (Clemons’) music is still current, vital and happening,” Brendle said.
Standing outside The Stone Pony in a T-shirt from Springsteen and the band’s 1974 tour in support of his debut LP, “Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J.” (1973), Lorraine Leenig of Wall said seeing Springsteen and Clemons on stage together was “a communion of hope.”
Lorraine Leenig of Wall talks about her reaction to the loss of Bruce Springsteen’s saxophonist Clarence Clemons, who passed away Saturday June 18, 2011, at the Stone Pony in Asbury Park, New Jersey, June 19, 2011.
Clemons’ death, Leenig said, “has rocked my world. It’s like I grew up with (the band). They touched every fiber of my being.”
Elsewhere in Monmouth County, fans of Springsteen and Clemons had been heading to Jack’s Music Shoppe in Red Bank throughout the day on Sunday, according to manager Matthew Forman.
In the 1980s, Clemons owned a club in Red Bank called Big Man’s West on Monmouth Street, not far from where Jack’s is located, and around the same time, he led a band labeled Clarence Clemons and the Red Bank Rockers.
Forman described the musician known to millions as “the Big Man” as “pretty irreplaceable, even just his presence up there (on stage). Even if they had a substitute musician with a saxophone, it would just be strange to see somebody else up there.”
Joe Koukos, co-owner of HoldFast Clothing and Records on Cookman Avenue in Asbury Park, said Sunday that Clemons’ passing was “heartbreaking. He was a sweet guy.”
“He was a gentleman,” said Koukos, who described Clemons as “super-humble. He brought something to the table you just can’t match.”
Caroline O’Toole, general manager of The Stone Pony, said she sees up-and-coming musicians night after night on the club’s stage, following in Clemons’ footsteps.
“What he left was a hope,” O’Toole said, “a hope for the music to keep playing.”
This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Clarence Clemons: Fans remember E Street icon at Stone Pony, 2011
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