BIG MAN TRIBUTE GETS SHORT SHRIFT AT THE GRAMMYS

2/15/2012

Whitney Houston's death during the weekend apparently aced the late Clarence Clemons of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band out of a special tribute during the Grammy Awards ceremony on Sunday (February 12) in Los Angeles. Saxophone hero Maceo Parker posted a note on his Facebook page saying, "I can now reveal that I was asked to perform a Clarence Clemons tribute and then it got dropped to accommodate the tribute to Whitney Houston." It's not know who else was to have been involved in the segment; Springsteen and the E Street Band, of course, were in the house and opened the show with his latest single, "We Take Care Of Our Own." Clemons will, however, be included in the E Street Band's induction into the New Jersey Hall of Fame, which will take place on June 9 -- while the group is on tour in Europe.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2012-02-16 03:19 by tatters.

They could have squeezed both in, these shows are already too long.

the Etta james tribute could have been longer also..

I dont buy this for a second, if they really cared they would have axed that Nicki Manj debacle (they knew what that garbage was going to be in rehearsals) and done something classy for the Big Man. They sure didnt ax the Etta James tribute song, and I still wonder what happened to the Allman Brother tribute, or are they going to blame that on WH too?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2012-02-16 04:06 by Max'sKansasCity.

talk about a 10th avenue freeze out - what a load of crap if true - but i doubt a high profile player like that would post that if it wasn't true

They rarely pay tribute to back-up band members. The Big Man is a beloved figure to Bruce fans and others, but to a mainstream audience - he's probably not as well-known. I say that as a Bruce fan, love Clarence, believe he gave early Bruce a distinct feel, sound different than other rockers...but unfortunately that's how they decide who is going to be a prominent feature on the telecast, if this is true.
BTW, I'd forgotten, but was that The Big Man on Aretha's Freeway of Love?

how annoying is the planet today? cahllenged as to why they left Etta James and Don Cornelius out of the tribute piece, the Grammys tweeted


@TheGRAMMYs
Re: Etta James tribute was by Bonnie Raitt & @aliciakeys at the top of the telecast & @questlove gave special attn to Don Cornelius



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2012-02-16 04:19 by hbwriter.

Quote
hbwriter
how annoying is the planet today? cahllenged as to why they left Etta James and Don Cornelius out of the tribute piece, the Grammys tweeted


@TheGRAMMYs
Re: Etta James tribute was by Bonnie Raitt & @aliciakeys at the top of the telecast & @questlove gave special attn to Don Cornelius

Bugged me that they found room for non-musician Steve Jobs and yet they couldn't squeeze in a nanosecond for Tom Ardolino, when three of NRBQ's biggest boosters (Raitt, Costello, and McCartney ) were in the house.

Quote
stupidguy2
They rarely pay tribute to back-up band members. The Big Man is a beloved figure to Bruce fans and others, but to a mainstream audience - he's probably not as well-known. I say that as a Bruce fan, love Clarence, believe he gave early Bruce a distinct feel, sound different than other rockers...but unfortunately that's how they decide who is going to be a prominent feature on the telecast, if this is true.
BTW, I'd forgotten, but was that The Big Man on Aretha's Freeway of Love?

Yup, that is absolutely true. And just out of curiosity, are you a member of BTX? Its a pretty good Bruce forum. I say pretty good in that there's quite a bit of negativity over there, but its definitely nice some conversation over there.

Whitney Houston sold over 170 million albums, and she died the day before the Grammys.

I fail to see the how anyone could be surprised that a tribute to Clarence Clemons was bumped in order to celebrate the extremely recent death of a woman who was an iconic figure in pop music.

Did I mention she sold over 170 million albums?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2012-02-16 09:27 by vermontoffender.

Quote
vermontoffender
Whitney Houston sold over 170 million albums, and she died the day before the Grammys.

I fail to see the how anyone could be surprised that a tribute to Clarence Thomas was bumped in order to celebrate the extremely recent death of a woman who was an iconic figure in pop music.

I guess that's why only Diana Ross was there... and none of his fellow Supremes...

That's awesome.

My kid just finished reading a piece in the New Yorker on the Supreme Court Justice, Clarence Thomas, for a class project. I've clearly lost my mind.

Although, if the Grammys ever did an "In Memoriam" to Supreme Court Justices, I'm sure they would have a medley of Supremes hits playing beneath it.

Quote
vermontoffender
Whitney Houston sold over 170 million albums, and she died the day before the Grammys.

I fail to see the how anyone could be surprised that a tribute to Clarence Clemons was bumped in order to celebrate the extremely recent death of a woman who was an iconic figure in pop music.

Did I mention she sold over 170 million albums?

She sold over 170 million albums, but her importance or relevance to music is none. That can not be said from Sprinsteen. He might have sold less albums (but I guess still a fair amont), but his relevance is much, much greater.

Mathijs

Quote
Mathijs


I fail to see the how anyone could be surprised that a tribute to Clarence Clemons was bumped in order to celebrate the extremely recent death of a woman who was an iconic figure in pop music.

Did I mention she sold over 170 million albums?

She sold over 170 million albums, but her importance or relevance to music is none. That can not be said from Sprinsteen. He might have sold less albums (but I guess still a fair amont), but his relevance is much, much greater.

Mathijs[/quote]

In the eyes of singer songwriters and guitarist perhaps, but to young female singers with aspirations of musical greatness, Whitney is their queen. You are seeing things soley from a rock music fans perspective.

Quote
Mathijs

Quote
vermontoffender
Whitney Houston sold over 170 million albums, and she died the day before the Grammys.

I fail to see the how anyone could be surprised that a tribute to Clarence Clemons was bumped in order to celebrate the extremely recent death of a woman who was an iconic figure in pop music.

Did I mention she sold over 170 million albums?

She sold over 170 million albums, but her importance or relevance to music is none. That can not be said from Sprinsteen. He might have sold less albums (but I guess still a fair amont), but his relevance is much, much greater.

Mathijs

And I am sure there are people who would say Whitney's importance and relevance is huge, and Springsteen's is zero... variety is the spice.... that is why they make strawberry vanilla and chocolate.


After thinking about this supposed bump, it is pretty sad that anyone would say this/do this, no matter what/who/where it is rooted in. There is plenty of time for everything... who cares if it goes over? cant wait for the nighyl news? Heck, even my DVR had the warning "this live event may run over, would you like to extend recording?" The dang show lasts over 3 hours, and who cares if it goes 4 hours? The Oscars usually run way way over time.

They should have cut nothing, they should have kept it all and added things for Whitney and anyone who whined about the eaxtra time would be told, "It ran over to the addition of Whitney tributes, you got a problem with that?" and if they did... say "oh well".

Quote
RollingFreak

Quote
stupidguy2
They rarely pay tribute to back-up band members. The Big Man is a beloved figure to Bruce fans and others, but to a mainstream audience - he's probably not as well-known. I say that as a Bruce fan, love Clarence, believe he gave early Bruce a distinct feel, sound different than other rockers...but unfortunately that's how they decide who is going to be a prominent feature on the telecast, if this is true.
BTW, I'd forgotten, but was that The Big Man on Aretha's Freeway of Love?

Yup, that is absolutely true. And just out of curiosity, are you a member of BTX? Its a pretty good Bruce forum. I say pretty good in that there's quite a bit of negativity over there, but its definitely nice some conversation over there.

I'm on BTX. You have to wade knee deep through the BS sometimes. But to find out Bruce info,it's as good as it gets on the Net.

Quote
Big Al

Quote
Mathijs


I fail to see the how anyone could be surprised that a tribute to Clarence Clemons was bumped in order to celebrate the extremely recent death of a woman who was an iconic figure in pop music.

Did I mention she sold over 170 million albums?

She sold over 170 million albums, but her importance or relevance to music is none. That can not be said from Sprinsteen. He might have sold less albums (but I guess still a fair amont), but his relevance is much, much greater.

Mathijs

In the eyes of singer songwriters and guitarist perhaps, but to young female singers with aspirations of musical greatness, Whitney is their queen. You are seeing things soley from a rock music fans perspective.[/quote]


Well, that's life - if Macca had died half an hour before the show, Whitney's dead would soon have been forgotten....

Btw. "Jah is not dead" ;o))



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2012-02-16 19:59 by mtaylor.

Quote
mtaylor

Quote
Big Al

Quote
Mathijs


I fail to see the how anyone could be surprised that a tribute to Clarence Clemons was bumped in order to celebrate the extremely recent death of a woman who was an iconic figure in pop music.

Did I mention she sold over 170 million albums?

She sold over 170 million albums, but her importance or relevance to music is none. That can not be said from Sprinsteen. He might have sold less albums (but I guess still a fair amont), but his relevance is much, much greater.

Mathijs

In the eyes of singer songwriters and guitarist perhaps, but to young female singers with aspirations of musical greatness, Whitney is their queen. You are seeing things soley from a rock music fans perspective.

Well said.
Her soundtrack to The Bodyguard won the Grammy for album of the year. That album is the 4th most selling album of all-time and the biggest selling soundtrack. Whether you like her or not, clearly she was important and relevant in the music world.

Quote
GumbootCloggeroo

Quote
mtaylor

Quote
Big Al

Quote
Mathijs


I fail to see the how anyone could be surprised that a tribute to Clarence Clemons was bumped in order to celebrate the extremely recent death of a woman who was an iconic figure in pop music.

Did I mention she sold over 170 million albums?

She sold over 170 million albums, but her importance or relevance to music is none. That can not be said from Sprinsteen. He might have sold less albums (but I guess still a fair amont), but his relevance is much, much greater.

Mathijs

In the eyes of singer songwriters and guitarist perhaps, but to young female singers with aspirations of musical greatness, Whitney is their queen. You are seeing things soley from a rock music fans perspective.

Well said.
Her soundtrack to The Bodyguard won the Grammy for album of the year. That album is the 4th most selling album of all-time and the biggest selling soundtrack. Whether you like her or not, clearly she was important and relevant in the music world.

Also, well said. Love that girl.

Quote
mtaylor
Btw. "Jah is not dead" ;o))

No, he isn't.

Listening to Whitney on the train to work right now. You go gal. Great stuff!

To me, Whitney should've been produced by the likes of Tom Dowd, or Jerry Wexler. They would've made her work, whereas the Clive Davis material has this monstrous 80s gloss and sheen to it.

You could also double the awfulness by having Diane Warren write a big power ballad. I always thought Whitney turned I Will Always Love You into a monstrous Diane Warren-esque power ballad.

However, I am saddened that she destroyed herself, needlessly, on drugs. But musically her music was insubstantial, probably due to Clive Davis. Clive Davis ruined Aretha Franklin's music, with all the 80s sheen on Arista, and he also, retrospectively, after Supernatural's cast of thousands, ruin Santana.