
Posts Tagged 'Clarence Clemons'

#17: Book Expo 2009: The Big Man & Steven Tyler Show

Big Man at BEANow that Book Expo America is behind us, I’m still trying to figure out what it all meant. The keynote session on May 28 sums it up: appearances by  joint keynote with Steven Tyler and Clarence Clemons, refereed by Chuck Klosterman. As much as I love Aerosmith, I had to wonder if Tyler wasn’t going to be just another variation of James Frey –– after all, being one of the Toxic Twins probably didn’t exactly enhance his memory! But I really wanted to see the Big Man.

First off, it didn’t exactly pack the event hall; maybe 300 or 400 people. Jerome Kramer of Publishing Perspectives and I  entertained ourselves while waiting for the show to start (it was around 30 minutes late) by speculating on how much “work” Tyler has had done and trying to wade through the workmanlike text of the Big Man blad.  The Big Man appeared with his co-author, Don Reo, rather than Tyler, which did make sense. Despite a few lame questions from CK (namely, variations on “Are celebrities in real life the way we think they are?”) and rather dull chatter from Reo, the session took a magical turn when Clarence brought out his sax and deconstructed the solo in “Jungleland.” He explained that he and Bruce spent 16 hours just getting the first intro right, then he played it, after issuing a disclaimer that he’d never played it before without the band. VERY cool! When Chuck asked if it bothered him that Bruce had so much input, Clarence replied, “He’s the boss, and he’s a genius!”

Tyler & Hudson at BEAThen CC and Reo departed and the circus really started. Tyler strutted out accompanied by a 1970s hippie throwback formerly known as one of the Hudson Brothers (Mark) and currently known as Kate’s uncle. Why the Hudson brother, I wondered. Was he the co-author? No, he was the sidekick. At one point, the Hudson brother mentioned that he was there to prompt Steven and keep him on task, not that it helped; he was almost as goofy as Tyler. He danced verbal circles around Chuck (who trotted out another variation of his aforementioned celebrities question) and was quite entertaining, although if you read the transcript, he probably didn’t make all that much sense (there was some bizarre mention of raccoon hunting).

After lots of non sequiturs and some mention of Tyler deciding that last year, after the death of his mother, it was time to write his book, the Hudson brother piped up to say that the main reason he was there was to remind Steven that they had to leave in five minutes to catch a plane. That prompted Chuck to ask the question of the night: When would the book be out? Tyler replied that he didn’t know because HE HADN’T WRITTEN THE DANG BOOK YET! With that, the show was over and he worked the crowd as they exited the stage.

Jerome and I feared that this was an omen for BEA: a keynote featuring an author who hasn’t yet written a book! Turns out, yep, it was!

For more, see this New York magazine piece and this LA Times article.

And yes, this counts as one of my firsts: It’s the first time I attended a Book Expo keynote, the first time I’ve seen Steven Tyler (not to mention a Hudson Brother), and the first for even the Big Man, that wonderful “Jungleland” sax solo!

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Back at It

Okay, I’ve been away from this here blog long enough. I haven’t come up with a clever post, so let’s try to ease back in. I’m still sad about losing ThunderDog, but Patsy Clementine is in fine form.

Right now, I’m getting ready to head to New York for Book Expo, right after the Writers’ League benefit with Roy Blount Jr. And I’m trying to get my hands on a copy of the June issue of Austin Monthlyit’s all about the Austin literary scene, and I’m IN IT! Now, there’s another first!

Oh yeah, and I need to write about the trip to Wimberley (what I can write for public consumption), Flight of the Conchords, James Otto, Carol’s visit, and the Big Man (as in Clarence Clemons)!

To be continued…


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