Sidetracked

I had heard that Bruce Springsteen used to surf a lot, but I didn’t know that the Big Man, Clarence Clemons, was also a slider.

According to his new book, “Big Man: Real Life & Tall Tales,” the entire band surfed a lot in the early days. In fact, he relates, this photo of the band that graced the back of “The Wild, The Innocent and the E Street Shuffle” was actually taken immediately after a surf session. The boys had wanted to clean up after their Stoke, but the photographer told them he liked the laid-back, sun drenched look, so he went ahead and shot them salted. When the shoot was done, the band returned to the water.

The book is loaded with interesting stories (I’ll get to one of those later), but there are three chapters that deal specifically with surfing. In one, Clemons fantasizes about being a big wave surfer, taught to tow into giant waves by Laird Hamilton and Dave Kalama. In another, he relates meeting surf icon Miki Dora at Nepenthe in Big Sur.

Some of the book — as the title suggests — is fictionalized, though most legends have at least a grain of truth. Still, it’s not clear if Clemons met Dora or not.

But back to the band and surfing:

Before there was even an E Street Band, Springsteen used to hang out at Jersey surf shops. Sometimes his early bands would even play gigs at surf shops, as in this photo, featuring his group, the Castiles, in the late 60s. In the early 70’s, the E Street Band would often rehearse at the Challenger Surfboard Factory in Wannamassa, NJ.

 I’m not sure how recent any member of the band has surfed. But they are getting older. Clemons, in particular, has had many health issues, including bad knees and a minor heart attack.

The best thing about the book, written with TV and film writer Done Reo, is the genuine friendship between Springsteen and Clemons — a relationship that has spanned nearly four decades.

Posted on November 12th, 2009 by Pat
Filed under: Surf stuff