Insider's book chronicles 'The Big Man' and his life
By: Nancy Dunham
Special to The Examiner
October 29, 2009
"Big Man -- Real Life & Tall Tales,"
By Clarence Clemons and Don Reo
Grand Central Publishing
384 pages
$26.99
At one point in "Big Man -- Real Life & Tall Tales," Clarence Clemons' co-author Don Reo, talks about his decades-long friendship with the legendary saxophone player.
Hollywood buffs realize that Reo -- who has produced such popular television shows as "MASH" and "Everybody Hates Chris" -- is himself a legend. Yet even his star dims when he's with the "Big Man."
"If I'm in a crowded restaurant with Clarence, I believe I could pick up my knife and stab our waiter in the neck and nobody, including the waiter, would be able to give an accurate description of me. I would appear in the reports as 'some guy with Clarence Clemons,' " he writes.
And that, in a sense, is the theme of this book. Clemons -- like Bruce Springsteen and the other members of the E Street Band -- is larger than life, with fans packing arenas and shoving such stars as Matthew McConaughey out of the way for a chance to meet them.
This is the first official tome by an E Street insider and the authors share intimate stories -- but not any true dirt -- about the Boss, the band, and those around them.
In 384 pages -- with some first-person accounts by Clemons, others by Reo, and a host of third-person stories and "legends" -- we learn about the creative, complicated and unbelievably gifted Clemons who has performed with everyone from the Grateful Dead to Aretha Franklin.
We learn how Clemons' father wanted him to study sax and emulate jazz saxophone great Sil Austin and years later walk with Clemons into New York's Bloomingdale's where an elegant, older woman gives the struggling young musician the "Big Man" moniker.
Reo is the readers' tour guide, a die-hard fan and deep insider who generously and quite humbly shares his experiences and impressions.
"I was blown away by these experience," Rao said by phone. "I am a lifelong fan of Bruce and the band; these experiences were, as I described them, dazzling ... and I don't lead a quiet life."
But the heart of the book, of course, is the decades-long partnership between Clemons and the Boss.
"I'll tell you something," Clemons writes about his first gig with Springsteen. "When we stated to play that night we looked into each other's eyes and it was like ... total magic."
Of course, it still is.
