E Street's Clarence Clemons: "This Is the Best the Band's Ever Been"

Last week, Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band saxophonist Clarence Clemons stopped by our offices and answered questions directly from our Twitter followers. (Ironically, Clemons dropped by while we were in the midst of trying to get tickets for Springsteen's Madison Square Garden show!) This time around, we got "The Big Man" to talk about his new book Big Man, life on the road ("Every night is a new night, I love these long tours"), the band's ever-changing set lists and how a car running over his foot won't make him miss soundcheck.

Clemons also recounts that legendary rainy day in Asbury Park, New Jersey, when he first encountered a young Springsteen and asked if he could play along with him. "Halfway through that first song, I knew, right then, I envisioned me sitting here with you right now," Clemons tells RS. For more from the Big Man, check out our video above.

• 
  MUSIC The Top 25 Teen Idol Breakout Moments
• 
  MOVIES & TV 'Game of Thrones': The Show Vs. the Books
• 
  POLITICS Matt Taibbi: Facebook IPO vs. Shareholders
• 
  VIDEOS Exclusive: Garbage Rip Through 'I Think I'm Paranoid'

Song Stories

“Smells Like Teen Spirit”

Nirvana | 1991

"Smells Like Teen Spirit," named after a brand of deodorant marketed to girls, was Kurt Cobain's attempt to "write the ultimate pop song," he said, using the soft-loud dynamic of his favorite band, the Pixies. Cobain "had that dichotomy of punk rage and alienation," the song’s producer, Butch Vig, told Rolling Stone, "but also this vulnerable pop sensibility. In 'Teen Spirit,' a lot of that vulnerability is in the tone of his voice." Sadly, by the time of Nirvana's last U.S. tour, in late '93, Cobain was tortured by the obligation to play "Teen Spirit" every night. "There are many other songs that I have written that are as good, if not better," he claimed.

More Song Stories entries »

Twitter