In high school, Clarence loved football and was good enough to try out for the Cleveland Browns and the Dallas Cowboys. The night before his Cowboy try-out, a car accident crushed his legs and any hope he had of a career in football. He did menial jobs and played his sax until September of 1971 when he walked to a club called The Student Prince.
“A rainy, windy night it was, and when I opened the door the whole thing flew off its hinges and blew away down the street. The band were on-stage, but staring at me framed in the doorway. I just said, “I want to play with your band,” and Bruce said, “Sure, you do anything you want.” The first song we did was an early version of “Spirit in the Night”. Bruce and I looked at each other and didn’t say anything, we just knew. We knew we were the missing links in each other’s lives. He was what I’d been searching for… he was a visionary.”