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.

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Song Stories

“Let My Love Open the Door”

Pete Townshend | 1980

A peppy, hopeful love song, "Let My Love Open the Door" became a U. S. Top Ten hit for Pete Townshend in 1980, anchored by the kind of repeating synthesizer figures that he'd used in some of the Who's recordings in the previous decade. Although Townshend brushed the song off as "just a ditty" in Rolling Stone shortly after its release, in 1996 he revealed it was about love of the holiest sort. "It's supposed to be about the power of God's love," he remarked. "That when you're in difficulty, whether it's major or minor, God's love is always there for you."

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