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At the private memorial service for Clarence Clemons last week, Bruce Springsteen gave a eulogy. Yesterday he posted his speech on his site, Bruce Springsteen.
You may also want to listen to last week's NPR On Point which featured a 45 minute discussion on Clemons with guests Robert Santelli (original education director for the Rock Hall) and Tim Riley.
'On Point' Remembers Clarence Clemons
This weekend kicks off the Summer Festival for the Cleveland Orchestra at Blossom Music Center. It is one of my favorite activities in Cleveland.
I try and attend at least three times a season and I make a long day of it. First will be a stop at a market for picnic provisions. That could be the Westside Market, West Point Market in Akron, Whole Foods, Trader Joe's or Heinen's. A couple of bottles of wine are on every shopping list since, unlike other concerts at Blossom, you can drink alcohol. Actually, we sometimes stop by Sarah's Vineyard directly across from Blossom for the wine.
I get there when the gates open, usually 2 to 3 hours before the start of the concert. It's a fact that should be remembered anytime you go to Blossom...the earlier you arrive the faster you'll get out at the end of the evening. Trust me, this is of huge importance at sellout shows.
It's rare that I buy pavilion seating, opting instead for lawn tickets. Either way we throw a blanket down in a prime spot, low and center. Sometimes there's a group of us sharing foods, drinks, and great conversation while other times it's only two of us reading magazines we've brought and enjoying the tranquil setting.
My preference is to attend shows featuring the main orchestra itself performing true classical works. It's unfortunate this year that our very busy conductor, Franz Welser-Most, will only be appearing on two evenings. Last year I saw him hours before he had to take to the stage, in jeans, walk up to the lawn to join some friends for a bit.
The big news this year is the use of the astounding Maltz Family Foundation $20 million dollar gift last year to help turn on younger people to the joys of the orchestra. With every pavilion ticket purchased a free ticket is eligible to anyone under 18. A lawn ticket gives you two free tickets for the kids. Here's the details on this great program.
If you've never seen the Cleveland Orchestra or any of the Summer Festival programs you really need to remedy that. And look for me, as I say, on the lawn low and center stage.
I hadn't realized it but it's been about eight years since the last Gillian Welch album. I guess it's because she's still toured over these past years and I'd hear her set from the Newport Folkfest and what not. So it's great news that today she releases a long awaited new one called, The Harrow And The Hollow.
She's still mining that old-timey vein to great effect. The best news is that her long time cohort David Rawlings is still there helping create some of the best roots music you'll hear this year. There's a decidedly country sound added to the folk music this time around.
Artist: Gillian Welch
Album: The Harrow And The Harvest
Review: The Telegraph
It's a stretch but you can call the double bill of The Madison Square Gardeners and Tim Easton a homecoming of sorts. Well, most of the members of MSG are from the Columbus area now living in Brooklyn, New York with countless other relocated bands. Tim Easton spent some formidable years in the Akron area going to Firestone High School. He now resides in Joshua Tree, California. Tonight, Monday June 27, they both play the Beachland Tavern.
I've missed the Madison Square Gardeners previous shows at The Happy Dog but have been listening to the series of three EPs the band has released over the past 12 months or so. Truthfully, they didn't really click for me unitl I caught them live in New York City last month. In the live setting their musicianship and band chemistry shine. I was quite blown away.
Easton's been putting out music since the late 90s and had a good indie buzz going in the CMJ era which was my way of staying informed before the internet.
It's a handy double bill as some members of the Madison Square Gardeners like Mark Stepro and Aaron Lee Tasjan play in Easton's band. Stepro, in fact, handles bass in MSG and plays drums for Easton. Reminiscent of Cleveland's own Brent Kirby. Here's a write up from Modern Drummer on Mark Stepro.
Madison Square Gardeners
Tim Easton and band
If you're a regular visitor of Radio Hannibal then you know I have an eclectic taste in music. Right now I'm listening to jazz sax player Jimmy Heath's 1974 release, The Time And The Place. Yesterday I wrote about my love of Glen Campbell and today I wish I was heading to Las Vegas for the biggest electronic dance music show in the country.
If I have a "go to" music it's probably roots based rock. So my go to radio station is KPIG. For me, life would be quite dull if I limited my listening to only that type of music though. From KPIG I might crank up one of dozens of Casey Kasem American Top 40, The '70s I've recorded or listen to some 1960s radio via Reel Radio. That's not to mention the music collection I've amassed over the years where I typically don't know what I'll choose until I start searching the library. Maybe it'll be a pristine vinyl copy of George Szell conducting the Cleveland Orchestra or a CD from my Hotel Costes collection of chill DJ grooves.
It saddens me when I talk to someone who's quite passionate about music but it turns out to be only a certain type. I may bring up an artist from a totally different universe and the response will be something like "oh, I don't listen to that stuff". It's kind of like limiting yourself to one style of food or drink. As good as it may be, after awhile you need a change. Something that will make you see and feel life from a different perspective.
I guess it's why I'm still a strong proponent of the, seemingly dying, liberal arts education. To be a renaissance man is to embrace life in all its fascinating glory. And it starts with music for me.
There's two very cool music events happening this weekend that would certainly help enlarge your musical palette. Unfortunately I can't attend either as I've got to put my eclectic taste to work DJing a wedding.
The Cleveland Museum Of Art is holding their Summer Solstice Party with an imaginative line up of world music and DJs. It's encouraging to hear that it sells out every year. John Soeder of the Cleveland Plain Dealer writes about it today, Cleveland Museum of Art's Summer Solstice Party will show off an artful collection of music.
As I mentioned earlier, Las Vegas will be throbbing to the sounds of electronic dance music at the annual Electric Daisy Carnival this weekend. You may have never heard of this event and probably don't know just how big this genre of music is these days.
Electronic music had a short run in the US back in the 90s with bands like the Chemical Brothers, The Prodigy, Underworld, etc. It never caught on here. I heard a great explanation as to why.
Electronic dance music was pioneered by Detroit and Chicago DJs back in the late 70s along with bands like Kraftwerk and Can in Germany. The UK music magazines reported on it and readers became fans of the music. It had a stigma here in the US as it got its origins in the gay club scene where there was prevalent drug use going on at the time.
There was no such stigma in England where young fans of the music grew up to form their own electronic bands (see those mentioned above) creating new genres and styles of the music. The UK had a history with this music where as in the US there was no history and, thus, came off as an empty fad.
Things are different today and, though it may still be considered under the radar, it'll be hard to remain that way. Last years' event in Los Angeles attracted 185,000 fans. Here's some videos to give you an insight.
The news of Glen Campbell's affliction with Alzheimer's Disease hit me hard. Not only had he recorded the best single ever in my opinion, Wichita Lineman, but my mother is dealing with the terrible hand life has dealt too.
I know the stages, as so many others do who have loved ones taken down by the disease, and am wondering where Campbell is at. Especially in light of the fact that he's going to do a farewell tour.
He played a show in Indiana a few weeks back and word is the performance wasn't so good. He seemed lost and forgot words at times. Considering his drunken run in with the law some years ago, it's no surprise the rumors were that he was drunk. Now we find the truth and it's at once sad, pitiful and admiring.
He's got a great deal of courage to undertake this tour considering his condition. I can only hope that fans who attend know what to expect and are supportive.
Here's a nice story from today's Pittsburgh Post Gazette, Glen Campbell's Poignant Farewell. There's numerous YouTube videos included, many of them rare insights into his fabulous guitar playing.
One thing I've learned as I get older is to stop looking forward to the future, like "oh boy, I can't wait for the weekend". I can wait. It's a cliche but I'm hear to confirm it, the older you get the faster time flies by. I'm trying to follow Eckhart Tolle's Power Of Now philosophy and it is quite a challenge.
The point of all this as that we're nearly at the midpoint of 2011 and as is the want/need of music freaks it's time to reflect on what I find to be the best music of the year thus far. I'll just list some of my favorite releases in no particular order.
Garland Jeffreys - The King Of In Between
Levon Helm - Ramble At The Ryman
That's just a quick glance at my iTunes and what I've been playing with some regularity. Where these will land at the end of the year, who knows.
Don't let anyone ever tell you it's a bad year for music, no matter what the year. Sure, in retrospect, say a decade past, you can see which years really stood out with albums that had legs but every year there's great music being made.
When Clarence Clemons suffered a stroke last week an interesting thing happened in regard to Radio Hannibal. Back in February the Plain Dealer ran a story of how Clemons was set to try out for the Cleveland Browns. I wrote about it and linked to the PD article, Clarence Clemons, The Big Man, Almost Played For Browns, Not Bruce. It must be ranked highly on google search because my page views jumped significantly. When news of his passing on Saturday night spread to his fans, Radio Hannibal page views jumped into the stratosphere.
We at Radio Hannibal are truly saddened by the "big man's" passing and send our condolences out to his family, band mates, friends and fans. My hope is that this attention on us means more people will discover the Springsteen 101 song countdown which took place over the past six months.
JT, who authored the countdown from his home in Perth Australia, had this to say about the death of Clarence Clemons.
Fuck.
There's one thing that I've learned this week and that is preparing for the inevitable doesn't make the inevitable seem any easier when it occurs. Massive strokes like the one suffered by Clarence Clemons don't turn into miraculous recoveries. Sure, you hope and pray that for once the inevitable conclusion is never reached, but deep down you know that isn't going to be the case. As such, today we say goodbye forever to the 'Big Man', Clarence Clemons.
It's hard to articulate the feelings you have when you lose someone you only know through their work. I've never met Clarence Clemons and never saw him perform, yet I'm filled with sadness. It isn't the sadness that one gets when a death comes as a complete and utter shock, just the sadness that is felt when one of your heroes has breathed their last, final breath. The sadness in knowing that the man will never get to play on stage with one of the greatest rock and roll bands, the sadness in knowing that one of the world's greatest rock and roll bands will never get to play again with the man who helped them get to where they are. No matter how many more concerts the remainder of the E Street Band play, history has already judged them. They have nothing left to prove, and Clarence Clemons is a massive reason as to why the legacy of the E Street Band is secure.
And what's that legacy? Well, it's the legacy of countless concerts giving every last breath each of the band members had to ensure that every single person in the room was changed. That every person in the room walked out at the end of the night knowing that they were better than when they walked in. That the hard-earned money they spent to see the show wasn't wasted on costume changes or fancy light shows which distracted from the music... it was spent on a band which night-in, night-out gave you pure rock and roll. At the moment, I can't help but talk about the life of the Big Man in terms of his life with the E Street Band. Because the two go hand in hand. Without Clarence, it can't be the E Street Band. They may have the same name, and the faces may be the same (for the most part), but without Clarence Clemons, it won't be the same. It can't be the same. And we wouldn't ever want it to be the same.
When the Big Man was on, it was heavenly. There's countless songs which have his imprint left on them... three of which are coming to me at the moment. There's the epic theatricality of 'Jungleland'. The sad but melodic solo in 'Drive All Night', then there's the playful burst which makes 'Janey Don't You Lose Heart' just that little bit greater than it honestly should be.
We lost Danny Federici in 2008 and that hit me like a tonne of bricks. I was sure he was going to survive, I thought he was going to get better. But then I woke up one morning and found out he was gone. That was tough to take, just as Clarence Clemons' death is. I'd heard he was on the mend. I heard he was getting better. Even though I knew the possibility of that happening was remote (to say the least), I just wished the rumours to be true. Wishes like that don't get granted too often.
But the Big Man's now in peace at least. He'll be up there somewhere, sax draped around his neck, walking freely like he hasn't walked in years. The strains on his body will be gone but the same old smile will be there for all to see, and when he raises that saxophone to his lips, we'll finally get to say that Clarence's saxophone is the music that's played in heaven.
R.I.P
There's much that makes it hot in Cleveland. There's the weather, at least in the summer as we head toward 90 next week. There's the resurgent inner city neighborhoods like Gordon Square and Tremont. There's the astonishing collection of highly regarded restaurants. There's nearby attractions like Cedar Point and the Lake Erie islands along with the Metroparks and the Cuyahoga Valley National Park. And, of course, there's the music scene which I tend to talk about from time to time.
To have a sitcom titled Hot In Cleveland in which the city is embraced for what it is with details that can only be created by writers with roots here is a nice PR campaign. So these past couple of days the TV show and the city took advantage of each other in the best of ways.
The four woman cast did a promotional stop here this week to stimulate ratings while Cleveland leaders took the chance to use it as a marketing campaign. It culminated in a presenting of the keys to the city by Mayor Frank Jackson.
Haven't done this in awhile. Here's some.
Brian Eno
Debbie Harry
Jeff Lynne and his parents
Kraftwerk
Leon Russell, Gary's mom, Gary Lewis, Snuff Garrett
Packy Malley's Wedding DJs