Great Rock Albums of 1986: Clarence Clemons- Hero
In spite of my adamant stance of being a metalhead in 1986, there were still a few non-metal albums which caught my attention in the right way. One of these albums was the solo album, “Hero,” from Bruce Springsteen’s famous saxophonist, Clarence Clemons. Here’s my controversial statement for the week: While Bruce deserves all the honours he has received for more than the past four decades, his E Street Band hasn’t gotten so much of the honour they deserve for making him sound so great for so long. Of course, everyone who knows Bruce knows Clarence and what he could do with the sax. That alone made me want to check out this album.
Let me dispel one myth some people had about Clarence’s solo album. That myth was that it would be nothing but saxophone instrumentals. True, there is one such song, “Liberation Fire,” and it proved that a saxophone could make an 80s synth pop song sound good, but the big man does sing on all the other tracks and he has a good voice. On the second track, “Temptation,” he combines his vocal and saxophone talents very well.
“Hero” did produce a couple of singles for the top forty crowd. MTV gave “Your a Friend of Mine” quite a lot of airplay back in the day. What made this song single-worthy was that Jackson Browne produced it and sings on it as does film star Daryl Hannah. Actually, her vocals are pretty good. “I Wanna Be Your Hero” was also released as a single. This tune sounds a little more like Bruce Springsteen although, I’m convinced that Clarence wanted to make his own sound with this album. Although the start of the song eerily reminds me of “Mickey” by Toni Basil.
The remainder of the tracks follow the 1980s pop/rock formula. No song more so than “It’s Alright With Me Girl.” Not a bad song but it could be called ‘dated’ these days. Although Clarence does his magic with the sax making it a little better than the average pop song. However, being my contradictory self, the cover of the Walker Brothers hit, “The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine Anymore” is performed well by Clarence and his band. I’d like to know which lady accompanies him on the vocals. The jazzy blues sounding “Cross the Line” is also another great combination of Clarence’s sax playing and vocals and “Kissin’ On You” has a great funky vibe. I think Clarence has a lot of fun on this one.
Track Listing:
- You’re a Friend of Mine
- Temptation
- It’s Alright With Me Girl
- Liberation Fire
- The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine Anymore
- I Wanna Be Your Hero
- Cross the Line
- Kissin’ On You
- Christina
Clarence Clemons
Clarence Clemons- vocals, saxophone, percussion
Jackson Browne, Daryl Hannah- vocals on “You’re a Friend of Mine”
Kitty Beethoven- vocals
Princess Loria- vocals
Jennifer Hall- vocals
Liz Jackson- vocals
Sundari- vocals
Brenda Joy Nelson- vocals
Tina B.- vocals
Richard Walsh- vocals
Craig Thomas- vocals, saxophone
Lotti Golden- vocals
Darlene Love- vocals
Norman Mershon- vocals
Tony ‘Rocks’ Cowans- guitar
Carlos Pepper- guitar
Lewis West- guitar
Billy Loosigian- guitar
Corrado Rustici- guitar
Vernon ‘Ice’ Black- guitar
Stuart Kimball- guitar
Bob Messano- guitar
Maurice Starr- bass
John Siegler- bass
Doug Wimbish- bass, drums
Preston Glass- acoustic guitar, keyboards, vibraphone
Booker T Jones- keyboards, organ
Walter Afanaseiff- keyboards, sound effects
Frank Martin- keyboards
David Sancious- keyboards
David Scher- keyboards
William Beard- drums
Anton Figg- drums
Premik McFly- saxophone, baritone sax
Greg ‘Gigi’ Gonaway- glockenspiel, percussion
Bill Sebastian- glockenspiel, percussion
Randy Jackson- bass, drums, percussion
Michael Rado- harp
Back in 1986, Clarence Clemon’s “Hero” album wouldn’t normally have been my cup of tea but there’s just something about it. It’s an easy listening, enjoyable album whether you’re a Springsteen fan or not.
Next post: Jackson Browne- Lives in the Balance
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November 14, 2019 at 9:22 pm
The only instrument sexier than a guitar is a sax. 🙂 ❤
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November 14, 2019 at 11:39 pm
LOL!
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November 14, 2019 at 10:56 pm
Man, check out those guns on Clarence.
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November 14, 2019 at 11:40 pm
Oh yes, check them out!
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November 15, 2019 at 12:14 pm
Nice list of musicians. I see quite a few I know. And without the E Street Band, Bruce is not the same Bruce. To me, it was the whole package.
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November 15, 2019 at 10:00 pm
I nearly didn’t include the list in the post because I thought it would be too long, I’m glad I did now. You’re totally correct! Without the E Street Band, Bruce is not Bruce.
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