Thank You Clarence Clemons

I love the saxophone – whether it’s Baker Street or Just the Way You Are – Lisa Simpson or Charlie Parker – there’s something about the instrument which is just – excuse me – fucking cool.

Born To Run

Clarence Clemons died this weekend and I’ve been thinking about his music; his playing touched me and made me smile. I remember being blown away by Born to Run – the album cover: this dude with a telecaster – clean and white – simple typesetting – a handful of songs and a big ass black dude with a saxophone. I sat up half the night listening to it

And the music; strings, guitars, stunning piano playing, that amazing horn and the stories…the stories were pure genius. I wanted to be the Rat, I wanted to be the Poet, I sure as hell wanted the girls and ended up marrying a Wendi.

I fell over laughing listening to New York City Serenade from The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle. The first three minutes of that song let me be a piano player in a rock band – it enabled me to pursue music in a way that made sense to me. David Sancious – and Bruce Springsteen – thank you too!

Bat Out Of hell

This Sunday morning’s playlist included Bat out of Hell; if you haven’t listened to it for a while – go take 45 minutes out of your day and crank it up - Paradise by the Dashboard Light taught me everything I needed to know about rock and roll.

More amazing music – more E street band players – and similarly to Born to Run – long songs. Funny that two of the best selling albums eschewed the single format.

Richard

It was Richard who left me alone with Born to Run 25 years ago – one of those evenings that imprinted hard on my 16 year old brain. He’s a super guitar player, singer songwriter and I love to play music with him.

We haven’t played together for a year – possibly more – but we grabbed an hour the other week – iPhone recording in the room...

Stirling Brig - Warm Up

I'm working on a blues piece in 57 bpm for Nath - have some chops to work up!

Was riffing off this old Stirling Brig groove - it's a simple Em / D thing with the odd C / Cmaj7 thrown in for fun every now and then. Was playing around with it on the guitar earlier this evening - this of course sounds nothing like it but it was a good place to be for a while. Gonna enjoy this one...;-)

AudioBoo tracks are just the iphone capturing what's playing in the room - not terribly concerned about audio here - just ideas!

Richard - 13 minutes 52 seconds

Multiple strings over two distinct piano themes inspired by my brother, Richard.

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My older brother has his birthday every year on the same day, the 11th of December - it is the most normal thing about him. He is an amazing human being and I love him. This was written for his 41st birthday - the opening cadence was sung in my head, "Richard my brother," and off it goes.

I experimented a lot with this track. the core piano theme came first and defined the structure. I then laid 4 different string voices on top, one pass after the other without listening to the previous pass. By then removing what didn't work, I arrived at what you hear now; a piece for a string quartet with piano. This is another piece that I look forward to sitting down and developing if I ever get time!

It was Richard who opened a door to this magical musical world in which I now live and adore, I will be eternally grateful for his invitation.

The dramatic change in the piece at around six and half minutes is a variation on one of Richard's creations. We have played music together for most of our lives and he is a terrific singer songwriter guitarist and musician. This is a variation on a song called "This Way Out" from the Stirling Brig years. I always loved his lyrics, they were always - and still are - from his heart - and "This Way Out" spoke volumes to me.

Coming out of that variation back into the core theme at ten minutes or so, I'm trying to create a sense of hope and optimism. Which is of course what I wish for him and his family.

If you like the track you can share it across your Networks – just click share on the right of the player.

Richard is part of The Thinker's Playlist.