Bruce Springsteen said of Clarence

- Danny Clinch Jo lopez photography It is with overwhelming sadness that we inform our friends and fans that at 7:00 tonight, Saturday, June 18, our beloved friend and bandmate, Clarence Clemons passed away. The cause was complications from his stroke of last Sunday, June 12th. Bruce Springsteen said of Clarence: Clarence lived a wonderful life. He carried within him a love of people that made them love him. He created a wondrous and extended family. He loved the saxophone, loved our fans and gave everything he had every night he stepped on stage. His loss is immeasurable and we are honored and thankful to have known him and had the opportunity to stand beside him for nearly forty years. He was my great friend, my partner, and with Clarence at my side, my band and I were able to tell a story far deeper than those simply contained in our music. His life, his memory, and his love will live on in that story and in our band. COLUMBIA RECORDS RELEASES BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN'S "THE PROMISE: THE MAKING OF DARKNESS ON THE EDGE OF TOWN" DOCUMENTARY FROM ACCLAIMED BOX SET AS SINGLE DVD/BLU-RAY WITH BONUS MATERIAL INCLUDES ADDITIONAL VIDEOS "SONGS FROM THE PROMISE" CONCERT EVENT FILMED IN ASBURY PARK, NJ AND INTIMATE Q&A SESSION "A CONVERSATION WITH HIS FANS" Columbia Records has released Bruce Springsteen's "The Promise: The Making of Darkness On The Edge of Town" documentary on DVD and Blu-Ray. The award-winning film is be accompanied by the bonus features "Songs From the Promise," a five-song concert event filmed in Asbury Park, NJ, and "A Conversation With His Fans," an intimate question-and-answer session. "The Promise: The Making of Darkness On The Edge of Town" was directed by Grammy- and Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Thom Zimny. The film premiered on HBO and received a rapturous critical response around the world, including as an official selection, Toronto International Film Festival, The BFI London Film Festival, and The International Rome Film Festival. The Los Angeles Times gave 'The Promise' five stars, while Variety called it "thrilling--a vivid portrait." The ninety-minute documentary combines never-before-seen footage of Springsteen and the E Street Band shot between 1976 and 1978—including home rehearsals and studio sessions—with new interviews with Springsteen, E Street Band members, manager Jon Landau, former-manager Mike Appel, and others closely involved in the making of the record. The film was also included in the 2010 box set 'The Promise: The Darkness on the Edge of Town Story,' which Rolling Stone called "extraordinary [and] fascinating" and The Washington Post described as "a revelation." "Songs From The Promise" was filmed before an audience of approximately sixty fans in December, 2010, in Asbury Park, NJ's historic carousel house. For this one-time concert event, Springsteen and members of the E Street Band lineup—Clarence Clemons, Stevie Van Zandt, Max Weinberg, Roy Bittan, and Gary Tallent—were joined by keyboardist Charles Giordano, a full horn section—Ed Manion, Barry Danielian, Curt Ramm, Clark Gayton and Stan Harrison—and special guest David Lindley, who played violin during the original recording sessions. Directed and edited by Zimny and mixed by Emmy-winner Bob Clearmountain, the concert features the only live E Street Band performances of four tracks from 'The Promise' plus "Blue Christmas." "Songs From The Promise" Tracklist: 1. "Racing in the Street ('78) 2. "Gotta Get That Feeling" 3. "Ain't Good Enough For You" 4. "The Promise" 5, "Blue Christmas" Hosted by music critic and Springsteen biographer Dave Marsh, "A Conversation With His Fans" is an intimate, 22-minute question-and-answer session featuring Springsteen at his most candid. Before a small audience in the studios of Sirius XM's E Street Radio channel, Springsteen discusses the writing and recording of 'Darkness on the Edge of Town' and the decision to release the extensive collection of songs that didn't make the record. "We worked hard on the music that we didn't put out," Springsteen tells one fan. "The nice thing about it is it's still there, it hasn't gone anywhere--and I think we're at a point where it's nice to have the stuff sufficiently see the light of day." Questions are intercut with highlights from the 'The Promise' box set, including the Paramount Theater concert and rare archival footage from 1978. Order 'The Promise' Documentary DVD from brucespringsteen.net and get a limited edition set of postcards from Darkness Era. Also available at Amazon.com {DVD | Blu-Ray} FULL TEXT OF BRUCE'S LETTER TO THE EDITOR OF THE ASBURY PARK PRESS In response to the Asbury Park Press' article of March 27, titled "As poverty rises in NJ, cuts target aid," Bruce Springsteen wrote the following letter, published on March 31: "Thank you for your March 27 front-page story by Michael Symons, "As poverty rises, cuts target aid." The article is one of the few that highlights the contradictions between a policy of large tax cuts, on the one hand, and cuts in services to those in the most dire conditions, on the other. "Also, you've shone some light on anti-poverty workers and analysts such as Adele LaTourette, Meara Nigro, Cecilia Zalkind and Raymond Castro, among others, all of whom have something important to add to the discussion: real information and actual facts about what is happening below the poverty line. "These are voices that in our current climate are having a hard time being heard, not just in New Jersey, but nationally. Finally, your article shows that the cuts are eating away at the lower edges of the middle class, not just those already classified as in poverty, and are likely to continue to get worse over the next few years. I'm always glad to see my hometown newspaper covering these issues." Bruce Springsteen COLTS NECK "THE PROMISE" TO ENJOY LIMITED THEATRICAL RUN AS BENEFIT Bruce Springsteen's "The Promise: The Making of Darkness On The Edge of Town" will receive a limited theatrical run at community-based not-for-profit specialty cinemas, performing arts centers and independent art-houses as a benefit screening and fundraiser. The Columbia Records/Sony Music documentary will be distributed by Emerging Pictures through their nationwide network of cinemas utilizing digital distribution and projection. Theatres with 501-(c)(3) non-profit status will retain 100% of box-office receipts, while for-profit venues will keep 50%, donating the remaining funds to a charity of the their choice. All benefit screenings will occur between April 22nd and May 3rd and will include product giveaways, with audience members eligible to win "The Promise: The Making of Darkness On The Edge of Town" BluRay, available in stores on May 3rd. For a schedule (that will be updated regularly with more screenings), visit Emerging Pictures. BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN'S RECENT ACTIVITIES Bruce contributed vocals to a track on Stewart Francke's new album, Heartless World.. Read more on Stewart's web site Bruce made a surprise appearance at Asbury Park's Wonder Bar on April 2. Rolling Stone reports. Over the weekend, Bruce joined the Dropkick Murphy's at their hometown House of Blues in Boston. He sang three songs, "Peg O' My Heart," "Badlands" and "I'm Shipping Up to Boston." Read the coverage and watch some homemade video at Rolling Stone. Bruce gave support to Darlene Love as she was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on March 14, backing her on guitar during her performance of a Wall-of-Sound "Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah." In the photo above, Darlene and Bette Midler sing "He's A Rebel." (photo credit: Michael Zorn/Backstreets) Bruce appears on a track on the new Dropkick Murphys album, Going Out In Style. He and Ken Casey trade verses on the 1913 family parlour favorite "Peg O' My Heart," previously recorded by the likes of Dean Martin, Al Jolson, Lester Young, and Buddy Clark. Rolling Stone's Andy Greene spoke to Ken about the collaboration; read the article, which includes a great feature on Bruce's collaborations with seventeen artists over the years. For the past few years, Bruce has performed on behalf of Monmouth County's Ranney School, and this year's set at the Stone Pony was, by all accounts, a remarkable event. His three hour set, backed by Bobby Bandiera's band and Max Weinberg, spanned his entire songwriting career, from "Growin' Up" to "My Lucky Day." A number of guests participated, including Southside Johnny, Danny Clinch, Ron Aniello, Bruce's mom Adele, and a couple of Ranney School teachers. Check out Backstreets' coverage, with eyewitness coverage by Stan Goldstein. On January 15, Bruce contributed to an amazing night of music on behalf of the Light of Day Foundation, at the Paramount Theatre in Asbury Park. As he has often done in the past, Bruce sat in with Joe Grushecky and the Houserockers, but also participated in sets by Willie Nile, Jesse Malin, and Alejandro Escovedo. Check outBackstreets's detailed coverage with lots of photos and video (check out the acoustic "Your Own Worst Enemy," a connoisseur's favorite from Magic). Andy Greene was there too, reporting on behalf of Rolling Stone. Find out more about Light of Day, and see some great photos, on its Facebook page. Bruce collaborated on a track called "Better Things" on the new Ray Davies album 'See My Friends' in which Ray reinterprets old Kinks classics. On this one of a kind album, Ray collaborates with an amazing selection of artists on tracks from his incredible songwriting career, revisiting his back catalogue and crafting new versions of his classic songs. Everyone from Bruce Springsteen, Jon Bon Jovi to Metallica features on this diverse collection of material. Click below for a preview of music videos, interviews and performances from "The Promise"