A SOLO CLEMONS FINDS A HIT ALBUM IN ‘HERO’

Clarence Clemons wasn’t expecting anyone. The 6-foot-3, 240-pound saxophonist opened his hotel room door wearing a bathrobe and looking half asleep.

The most famous member of Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band, Clemons has lately been on a promotional tour for his new Columbia album, “Hero.” After hours of interviews, this one--the last of the day--had slipped his mind. Although he wasn’t in the mood for it, he went through with it anyway. A steady stream of phone calls and visitors interrupted the session.

“I’m a mellow fellow,” he said, his rumbling laugh underscoring the cutesy rhyme. “Nothing much bothers me.”

After completing the 15-month “Born in the USA” tour with Springsteen, it seemed logical that Clemons wouldn’t want anything to do with music for a while. Yet, here he is out pushing his new album, which was recorded during breaks in the tour. “It makes sense to have the album out now while I’m still fresh in people’s minds,” he explained.

“Hero” is his second solo album. The first, 1983’s “Rescue,” was a nondescript collection that didn’t sell well. One problem was that it didn’t really have the Clemons stamp on it; for one thing, he wasn’t doing the vocals. But he does sing on the new one. The first single, “You’re a Friend of Mine”--a duet with Jackson Browne--is in the Top 40 and climbing on the Billboard pop chart.

Browne wasn’t Clemons’ first choice. “The song reflects my relationship with Bruce,” Clemons revealed. “It was written with Bruce in mind to sing it, but between the tour and his marriage, he didn’t have time. I had to find somebody else, so I thought of Jackson, who’s an old friend.”

Why is he recording solo albums? “I want something independent from Bruce,” he replied. “I’d like to have a success with something he didn’t have a hand in. That’s why it’s good that he didn’t sing the duet. It’s a hit without him, and that makes me feel good.”

The doorbell rang again. This time it was Narada Michael Walden, who co-wrote five of the new album’s songs and produced six. He also hired Clemons to play sax on Aretha Franklin’s hit single, “Freeway of Love.”

It was a social visit. They were making plans to meet later at the screening of a new movie. “This man is a lifesaver for me,” Clemons said after Walden left. “He helped get me on the right track.”

Clemons was referring to a spiritual boost. During the “Hero” sessions, Walden introduced Clemons to the teachings of Sri Chinmoy, an Indian guru. “It has helped change my life,” Clemons admitted. “I’ve cleaned up, gotten some discipline. I’m getting too old (he’ll be 44 in January) to be irresponsible.”

“I used to do a lot of drugs,” he revealed. “All kinds--heavy stuff too. No heroin, though, but just about everything else. I smoked pot for 20 years. Stopping that is harder than quitting cocaine. But I stopped it, all of it--cold turkey. I didn’t go to any clinic, either. I did it myself.

“It’s nice to wake up in the morning without a hangover. It used to take a day to get over the partying. But I don’t party anymore. I don’t miss it either.”

Born in Norfolk, Va., Clemons was a semipro football player before settling into a career as a tenor saxophonist. He was struggling when he first met Springsteen in 1971 in Asbury Park, N.J. On the advice of a friend, Clemons went to see him at a club and wound up sitting in on a jam session with him. “It was instant chemistry,” Clemons recalled. “I knew we had a future together.”

The ties between them extend far beyond music. “We’re good friends,” Clemons said. “We talk on the phone a lot. We live four miles from each other--I live on the beach and he lives inland. Even though we live so close together, we don’t really hang out together very much. We don’t have to. We have this spiritual bond. It’s gotten stronger through the years.”

It’s hard to imagine Springsteen on stage without Clemons looming nearby, playing those soulful sax lines. However, it’s unlikely that the E Street Band will have to function without him anytime soon.

“Working with Bruce is a party,” Clemons explained. “It’s not work. Sometimes I feel I should be paying him because I get so much pleasure out of working with him. As long as he’s working, we’ll be together.”