Big Man: Real Life & Tall Tales [Hardcover]

Clarence Clemons (Author), Don Reo (Author), Bruce Springsteen (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 21, 2009

For the first time ever comes the inside story of Clarence "Big Man" Clemons--his life before, during and beyond the E-Street Band, including unbelievable, never-before-told adventures with Bruce Springsteen, the band, and an incredible cast of other famous characters recounted by himself and his best friend, television writer/ producer Don Reo.

Here are just a few things you'll get from reading it:

• The truth behind the final hours of making Born To Run
• The real story of how the E-Street Band got its name
• What happened when Clarence and Ringo Starr were sitting in a hotel room and Clarence got the call that Bruce was breaking up the band
• How Bruce and Clarence met that dark, stormy night at the Student Prince
• The E-Street band's show at Sing-Sing prison where all of their equipment blows out right as they take the stage
• The secret that Robert De Niro told Clarence and Bruce they had to keep for 25 years

But that's merely a glimpse. This is not your average rock book. It is something creative, something unique, something new. It is the story of E-Street. It is the story of stories. It is the story of the Big Man.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

As the saxophonist for the E Street Band, the famed backup band for Bruce Springsteen, Clemons has lived a kind of pop music celebrity that's rare these days, a life spent rising and staying at the top of the album charts and performing before stadiums packed with tens of thousands of people. Along the way, he's mastered the art of telling yarns that are entertaining, whether plausible or dubious. It's a skill acquired during long hours waiting for gigs, traveling to gigs and recovering from gigs (Clemons now suffers from knee, hip and other joint ailments). His storytelling prowess is on display in this memoir, written with friend and producer Reo (My Wife and Kids; 'Til Death). The book is part episodic memoir (printed on white pages) and part bull session (legends printed on gray pages). The authors trade chapters about how the E Street Band got its name, how Spring-steen and Clemons met and why Big Man decided not to cut his hair, among other things. The intent is to give readers, especially fans, an idea of life behind the music by sharing the stories bandmates told each other. It's a novel approach to memoir that unfortunately skimps on serious insight and Springsteen's music and too often settles on nostalgia and celebrity name-dropping. Fans of Springsteen (who contributes a foreword to the book) will no doubt be more tolerant and eager to savor every page. (Oct. 21)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review

"Legends have a way of growing every time they're told. This time, the tales of rock and roll history are brought to life by a legend himself, Clarence Clemons. Big Man relives Clemons's story in a unique personal narrative that's bound in both history and folklore. This is an essential read for any music lover."
--President Bill Clinton

"Big Man takes you on an outrageous journey with one of the most charismatic, gracious, kind and talented men of our time. This peek into the world of Clarence is full of fun and laughter, which is exactly what this guy is all about. He's a genuine soul worth his weight in gold. That's why he's been an inspiration to me for years and years, and his incredible music brings great joy to my heart. His role in the E Street Band helped place him and the band in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame...right where he belongs."
--Pat Riley, NBA Hall Of Fame coach

"Big Man is one of the greatest books about a big black man ever written. If you want to get really close to a big black man without getting punched in the face, this book's for you!"
--Chris Rock


"The feeling I get watching Clarence walk to center stage to play his sax must be similar to the feeling a Yankee fan had watching Babe Ruth walk to home plate: you're sure a big man is about to do something that's gonna make you cheer louder than you ever have before. This great book makes that feeling even stronger. Now excuse me while I drive my sleek machine over the Jersey state line."
--Artie Lange, New Jersey native, E-Street fanatic, and New York Times bestselling author of Too Fat To Fish

"Big Man is too funny, soulful, outrageous and wise to have been written by two people. I suspect Don Reo is an invented character. A mystical book, an oddly beautiful book, a wonderful book."
--Kinky Friedman

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 384 pages
• Publisher: Grand Central Publishing; First Edition ~1st Printing edition (October 21, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0446546267
• ISBN-13: 978-0446546263
• Product Dimensions: 6.5 x 1.2 x 9.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (46 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #333,426 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A class act!, October 13, 2009

By 

On line shopper "On line shopper" (New York) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Big Man: Real Life & Tall Tales (Hardcover)

As a Springsteen junkie (more than 100 shows under my belt starting with No Nukes in 1979) I buy lots of these books. Most I scan through and never get to reading all the way through. Even as one who would find what Springsteen eats for breakfast entertaining, I get bored. Not the case with Big Man! I read it in one day. It is truly enjoyable, funny and well written. Clarence's tales are so convincing, I found myself googling Englebert Humperdinck to see if he was still alive! As a black man, that on a given night may perform in front of 50,000 white people and on a good night maybe a dozen black people, he did not set out to prove anything. (Damon Wayons, a friend of Don Reo's comments at his first show that Bruce must be a Sopranos fan since he just spotted Stevie Van Zandt backstage!) Clarence is immensely talented, incredibly likable and really funny. And, he gets 50,000 white people pay money to see him! His stories come off as honest and straight forward. Clarence doesn't offer inside gossip on Bruce and the other band members; he doesn't have to; his stories are more than enough entertainment. There are really great photos that you don't want to miss, so don't opt for the Kindle version. As larger than life as Springsteen is, The Big Man never plays second fiddle. He doesn't do this with ego, but with talent, presence, likeability and a smile that can light up a stadium.

Don Reo's additions are really amusing. He is obviously a very successful man in his on right, and surely has met and hung out with many a celebrity, but offers his observations from a very humble perspective. He gets as excited by the private planes with the band, the backstage access, the inside scoop as any die hard fan would. In many cases he is the fly on the wall that we would all like to be. His perspective on Clarence is that of an old dear friend; by no means a ghost writer.

This book is a really good read, that even a less than obsessed fan could enjoy. I hope Clarence's new knees keep him pain free and performing for many years to come. Springsteen without the Big Man would never be the same!

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Hmmm, well, you see, the problem is......., November 15, 2009

By 

L. A. Schappert "Peanut's Ma" (Nashville,TN) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Big Man: Real Life & Tall Tales (Hardcover)

I've always been a big fan of Clarence, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band. Come on everyone who's buying the book are. I was excited to read Clarence's book. There is absolutely no question in reading this book that The Big Man is a very intelligent and witty guy. The book is really three books in one. The first book is written by Clarence about Clarence, his life and experiences. The second book is written by Clarence and is partially true and partially fiction. The third is written by the co-author, Clarence's good friend (groupie?) Don Rio. All three books are mixed together. This seems to work for a while and then it stops working quite abruptly.
Here are the problems as I see them: Problem number one is the part of the book that is written by the co-author. I didn't know who Don Rio was, but I sure do now. The thing is, this is a book about Clarence Clemons. Let Mr. Reo write his own book! It's not that I don't care about Mr. Reo, just not in this book. He also goes on and on about how wonderful Clarence is, oh yes, on and on. We already knew this or we probably wouldn't be reading the book. Mind you this is a full third of the book! I becomes quite painful and not just a little annoying. If you do purchase the book, a word of advise, skip the chapters that start with, "Don." The second problem is the "Tall Tales." They are amusing at first and then the name dropping really gets on your nerves and it's not just people in the music business, really odd references and they seem to get longer and longer and your mind starts to wander and zzzzzzzzzzzzzz. The biggest problem with the book is the part that Clarence wrote about his experiences. It's too short. We don't really learn much about him at all. He tells us very little about his childhood. He tells us very little about his relationships or his children. And come on, most of us want to know about his history with Bruce and the E Street band. We get very little of this. I'm not even certain that he mentions everybody by name. Maybe I'm wrong, but there's precious little about the band. What he does tell us about all this stuff just made the situation worse because it was like the first bite of a cookie, but you get no more!
This guy could have written a brilliant autobiography. He really does have a way with words. I certainly don't think he needed help doing so by using a co-author. Or, if he wanted to, he could have written a work of fiction. Maybe he can put out another book called "Big Man, Take 2," and tell us all the things we had hoped to learn about him in this book. I'm really, really disappointed, but I still love the Big Man! See you 11/18!

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A refreshing, hilarious journey through life, love and rock "n" roll, October 18, 2009

By 

Russell Fellezs (honolulu hawaii) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Big Man: Real Life & Tall Tales (Hardcover)

Very enjoyable, well written, fresh, laugh out funny. I was hoping it would not be a typical tell all. Having read many tell all books they are stupid and boring. I don't care to know how many chicks the guy screwed our how much he drank or snorted. Big deal, I get it man. Enough already. This is different. It cleverly weaves strories with famous people in and of Big Man's life. Some are true some are not. He tells you that before you read the story. His point being, having already met (or maybe not) the person,-example: Robert DeNiro,Norman Mailer,Ringo Starr, Bob Dylan, he paints a picture of what they would say and act in a given situation.It's called storytelling.That's what Bruce Springsteen is, a storyteller. Many have told me they don't "get" Bruce. I tell them he tells stories thats it. Don't think to hard. The stories of he and the E Street Band are wonderful, funny, poignant and refreshing. Don Reo gives great insight as an outsider privileged to "tag along". Buy this book, try not to read it all in one sitting. You will feel empty when it's over.