Hanny from Oirschot has been a big fan of Bruce Springsteen and the E-Street Band for almost forty years. “His shows are really great, the interaction with the audience, and that for hours. You have to see it once to understand it.” In 2010 she received an unexpected visit at home from the current saxophonist, Jake Clemons.
It’s 1984 when Hanny is overwhelmed by The Boss. Springsteen broke through to the general public that year with the album Born in the USA. It turns out to be Springsteen’s most successful album ever, with seven singles as top 10 hits. Hanny hears more and more of his music, and sees him appear in the occasional formation USA for Africa of ‘We are the world’.
“Bruce in that video clip, I absolutely loved that. That year there was also a special about Springsteen on TV: ‘Glory days’. I didn’t know what I was seeing, so much chemistry. That year I wanted to go to his concert but unfortunately didn’t have any tickets.”
Her first concert follows in 1988 in De Kuip in Rotterdam. “I didn’t know what happened to me, such a great show. During that time he told many stories on stage, together with his saxophonist Clarence Clemons. I thought it was magical.”
She has now attended about 35 of his concerts. The artist will tour again next year after a long time. Hanny already has tickets for five concerts. “Twice in the Netherlands, once Hamburg, Zurich and Monza.”
She has plenty of anecdotes about her love for Springsteen, but one takes the cake. She meets fans at every concert she attends and has built a whole club of Springsteen friends. Likewise in Brussels. “My friend Anneke lives there. She ran into Jake Clemons at a Springsteen concert in 2010. Jake Clemons is present as a spectator and is the nephew of saxophonist Clarence Clemons.
“My girlfriend started talking to him and he told me that he really wanted to perform in Europe. If she didn’t know an address.” Her friend arranges something in Belgium and also points Clemons to the possibility of performing in the Netherlands. Because friend Hanny can probably do something for him too.
“I thought of a barbecue, but I had to play the kitchen princess.”
“That was no problem. We arranged a room where he could play, above cafe The Movies on the Stationsplein in Eindhoven. But during the preparation it turned out that he was missing a cable. We searched the whole city for such a cable, but we couldn’t find it anywhere.” Hanny calls her brother, a handy Harry who can make anything. It has all the parts and makes the perfect cable for Clemons.
Meanwhile, Hanny asks what Clemons wants to eat. “I asked him if he wanted to eat with me or in the city. And what he wanted to eat. ‘Typical Dutch food’, was his answer. I actually thought I’d light the barbecue, because Americans always like that, but now I had to play the kitchen princess,” she laughs.
When her brother brings the cable, she immediately orders him to do some shopping. “I said, ‘Get some potatoes, kale and smoked sausage and I’ll make kale stew.’ My brother thought it was a crazy idea. But yes, Jake wanted to eat something typically Dutch.”
“Jake still uses that one cable.”
And so it happens. Clemons goes to Oirschot after the performance and ends up at Hanny’s kitchen table. “I put the pot of kale mash on the table and he scooped it up three or four times, the pot was almost empty. My girlfriend pointed out to him that he had to make a well in the stamp, so that the gravy could go in there. He loved it!”
Clarence Clemons dies a year later. Jake has been on stage with Bruce Springsteen ever since as a saxophonist. Her friend is still in contact with him, she does not rule out meeting him again. “He still uses that one cable. We saw that at one of the last performances.”
Omroep Brabant Radio is diving into The Feeling of the Eighties this week. We step into a time machine and go back about 40 years in time. You can still hear the best music from the 80s this whole week. Do you want to go to the movie ‘ET’ exclusively in the cinema? Listen to ‘The Feeling of the Eighties’ and win tickets!