This week began with the terribly sad news of the death of Clarence Clemons of the E-Street Band. Clemons had been a member of Bruce Springsteen’s legendary backing band since 1969, and his exuberant saxophone was a key component in creating the distinctive sound of Springsteen’s early records.

You’ll have read reams about Clemons’ vast contribution to Springsteen’s career in obituaries and articles written since last weekend, so I won’t bore you with a copy-and-paste job here; but I had an interesting conversation with Martin Savings & Loan the other day about where the loss of Clemons leaves the E-Street Band as a viable outfit moving forward.

When original E-Street Band organist Danny Federici died a few years ago; Charles Giordano, Federici’s opposite number from the band Springsteen had been working with on the Seeger Sessions project, shifted sideways and filled Federici’s E-Street position.

With no disrespect to Danny Federici or his legacy, it won’t be so straightforward for Springsteen to bring a sub off the bench to fill Clemons’ sizable shoes.

I don’t think it will simply be a case of finding another horn player competent enough to play Clemons’ parts in the songs. Both Clemons and Springsteen are on record stating that the first time they jammed together in 1969, few words were spoken but they felt they shared a subconscious “connection”; that they were each what the other had been searching for in a muse.

Clemons delivered a dynamism and sense of motion to Springsteen’s epic ballads. Put simply, he brought the soul, providing an echo of classic rock n’ roll history. His energy and enthusiasm seemed to electrify the sound of both the records and the band’s live performances. In concert , while the rest of the band would either prowl hunched and elusive with their electric guitars, or be nailed to the spot by their drums or keyboard rigs; Clemons would stand shoulder to shoulder with Springsteen at the front of the stage, almost a co-frontman.  

He was the perfect foil for Springsteen. Physically opposites; a huge athletic black man, a mountain of rippling muscles clad in colourful, exotic fashions, stood strident alongside this scrawny, scruffy white dude in worn-out denims and ripped lumberjack shirts, they were a compelling spectacle. And musically Clemons’ style – a mixture of jazz, funk, gospel and traditional rock n’ roll – can’t have been seen as the obvious accompaniment to  Springsteen’s introspective, angry ballads composed on an acoustic guitar.

Yet despite – or probably because of - that juxtaposition, the partnership worked and created some of the most popular American music recorded in the last forty years or so. I’m aware that Bruce Springsteen is a favourite amongst many of the readers and contributors to this site, and a love of his music – perhaps reflecting Clemons’ and Springsteen’s odd-couple companionship – unites musicians and fans of disparate tastes and genres that I speak to.

So beyond the immediate devastating loss, where do Bruce Springsteen and The E-Street Band go from here?