When it was reported last week that Clarence Clemons had suffered a massive stroke, it didn't sound good. Though reports had him improving, Bruce Springsteen's "Big Man" had suffered from poor health for years. When it was reported that he passed this Saturday night, June 18^th, at the age of 69, it wasn't what you'd call unexpected, but it hurt all the same.

You don't have to like Bruce Springsteen's music to like Clarence Clemons. He was a larger than life presence in the music world who often won "Best Jazz Musician" and "Best Saxophonist" in rock magazine readers' polls. While casual Springsteen fans might have trouble coming up with the names Garry Tallent or Roy Bittan, they all know Clarence by name.

Let's give him ten.

For the record, he also played on Aretha Franklin's hit "Freeway of Love" and on Lady Gaga's "The Edge of Glory," released eight albums under his own name and had a hit with Jackson Browne with "You're A Friend Of Mine." He published his autobiography Big Man:

1976 was not considered a great year for music when it happened. It was considered an improvement over 1975, but all these years of research have led me to the conclusion that no part of the 1970s was bad as people said. Fact: people like to complain. It's a natural thing. What fun is there is saying everything's great all the time?

While it can be sensibly argued that the 21^st Century has been noticeably worse in terms of music, it's been gangbusters for people wanting to access older music, and for people who like computers, air conditioning, TV dramas and pain-free dentistry.

There is a Part Two to this that is every bit as essential. Stay tuned.

25) Andrew Gold - What's Wrong With This Picture?: Features the track "Lonely Boy" that most people know him by. He died this month and everyone discovered his mother was singer Marni Nixon.

24) Jackson Browne - The Pretender: Andrew Gold performed with Jackson Browne. Not here, apparently. But the great David Lindley is here, along

As part of my new "fairness doctrine," I'm going to celebrate the career of Bun E. Carlos, despite the fact that he only turns 60 on Sunday, June 12. This makes him the youngest person to be given a tribute here at List of the Day, since we accidentally paid tribute to that youth-group The Ramones a few months back.

I don't want to get in the habit of promoting musicians who haven't yet paid their dues. But once in awhile I like to stick my neck out and let the new kids get a shot at the column. Have you heard this Elvis Costello fellow? A little gimmicky, but I think he might be with us for a while!

Bun E. Carlos came to my attention when I was working on that amazing, insightful, life-changing list of Supergroups earlier this week. Turns out there's a lot (something) to know about Bun E. Carlos. Let's discover him together!

10) He Played On That Song "Surrender": You know the song, "Your mommy's alright, your daddy's alright, they just seem a little bit weird." It was in movies

Breaking News: There are reports of Supergroup sightings in the music arena. Yes, musicians from competing bands are becoming friendlier and working together in an effort to make you pay attention. Either that or bands don't get along very well and are insistent on trading away their members to other projects just so they can get some peace. While only a few of the 'Supergroups' listed are really super (you ever hear of padding?), on the level of the Million Dollar Quartet, Blind Faith, Plastic Ono Band or Tigers of Instantaneous Death, they all feature guys from other bands! Sometimes women!

Be sure to list your favorite modern-day Supergroups in the space so generously supplied by Y! Music. "Modern Day" should mean bands that released something in the 2000s. In case you're wondering why Temple of the Dog, Damn Yankees and Asia aren't here.

25) Works Progress Administration (W.P.A.): With a band name like that you know something awesome is going on. My dream has been to name my

Everyone but me is getting older and those immortal rock 'n' rollers are staring down some pretty heady numbers. Charles Robert "Charlie" Watts turns 70 on June 2, 2011, just a day after his bandmate Ronald David Wood turned 64. Watts is best known as the drummer for the Rolling Stones. As one of rock 'n' roll's greatest drummers, he prefers jazz.

This list could be 100 tracks long and it wouldn't come close to mentioning all the great work Charlie Watts has done. I listed fifteen tracks that, when played, are clear evidence of Mr. Watts' taste and ability. You likely have your own favorites. By all means, list them below.

Considering that much rock music is built on the idea that more and louder are better, Watts is nearly an anomaly. He never overplays. He never pounds. He lays behind the beat. He would be the worst drummer imaginable for Black Sabbath or Iron Maiden, but he is the only drummer for the Rolling Stones. He has tenure.

Most importantly, he looks so out of place in a

As part of my new super-punctuated feature: "Profiles In Rock: The Cheat Sheet," I am forgoing my plan of profiling every single artist in alphabetical order in order to pay tribute to the "formidable forefather of rap and hip-hop." (That's Christopher Morris in Variety.) Gil Scott-Heron died Friday in New York, age 62. Well-known among musicians, GSH gave the world the classic "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised." As it turns out, "the revolution wasn't televised. Internets." (That's Brian Donahue on my FB wall.)

Yes, GSH is receiving quite a bit of attention on the internets. Likely because he never carried a mass audience for very long (likely, his pull-no-punches style prevented him from becoming a true crossover artist), but he was still hugely influential and enjoyed by people who collect too many records. And they are my friends.

GSH struggled with his many demons and spent time in jail since the law insists drug addicts are criminals and not people with addiction problems.

This May 24, Bob Dylan turns 70 years old.

Rather than repeat what everyone else is saying and giving you the list of the 270 Best Dylan Songs, I've decided to mine different territory, in tribute to the man's consistency throughout the years.

Now Bob Dylan made some lousy albums. But even on the worst of those albums, there is something to recommend.

The rules here were nothing could come from any album before John Wesley Harding, since those albums are generally acknowledged as being Dylan in his prime. Nothing from Blood On the Tracks, Desire, Oh Mercy! (which when first released was given very good reviews and to me is still one of his best), Time Out of Mind, Love and Theft or his most recent albums, since he's getting pretty solid reviews. The Xmas album is up to you.

He doesn't have to have written the song, as long as the performance is dynamite.

And, keep in mind, I had to keep it to ten, with no album allowed two cuts.

Note: "Knockin' On Heaven's Door" is a classic from a

Bob Dylan is one of the most heavily bootlegged artists of all-time. So much so that his record label began a Bootleg Series in 1991. However, there is always more and maybe in time all these recordings will have an official release.

For now, I am unaware that any of these tracks are available commercially. As I am unaware of many things.

10) "Folsom Prison Blues": Out there in the world are collections of the "Basement Tapes" that include a lot more than what made it to the 1975 album. Back in 1967, Bob Dylan and the Band tried just about any song they could vaguely remember. This cover of Johnny Cash's "Folsom Prison Blues" is so enjoyably loose that you either wish Bob had tried another twenty from Cash's catalog or kept doing this one taking another shot after each take.

9) "Spuriously Seventeen Windows (The Painting By Van Gogh)": This unnamed song Bob worked on in a Denver hotel room in March 1966 allows bootleggers the chance to give it its own title. Considering what Dylan