Daily News du lieu suivant : New York, New York • 143

ENTERTAINMENT CTSSSSSSSSSSZTST: I ii iiiii EXTRA Clarence Clemons finds his voice and takes a Starr turn 1 lift IlilplBlltl 'mm has a musical obsession. "He writes songs," says Clemons. "He plays piano, guitar and saxophone. And drums. We tell him if he eats his vegetables, someday his legs will be long enough to reach the foot pedal.

I've taught him some basics, and he starts real lessons in the fall. "He's amazing. When we were rehearsing writh Bruce, like four, five hours, he'd sit the whole time, watching. He'd be mad when we took a break. But he got what he wanted.

In Madrid on the Amnesty tour, Bruce let him come on stage in front of 45,000 people with the little saxophone. The only hard part was getting him off. "I figure he's going to be a performer, and by that time I'll be ready to retire and be his manager. My two oldest sons are studying law and finance, so we've got it all covered. It's the Big Man's master plan." EANWHILE, though, the Big Man is taking it as it comes.

"When the tours are done, I'm going home to Marin County for a while. I figure that'll be just about the time the guys I hired to do my landscaping are finished." Then he can tell his neighbors about touring with Ringo. "I mentioned it before and they said, 'Hey, you're gonna be a black And I said, yeah, but I'm not the first That was Billy Preston." But no hard feelings. On the tour, Billy and Clarence sing a duet on "You're a Friend of Mine." taped "Matlock" in his hometown. permanent home and use it as a work base.

"Andy America loves him," Peters said. "He's got this tremendous following. He's one of those stars who have endured and endeared." "Yeah, I'm looking forward to that, too. That's another level. That's one person's ideas.

This tour is a whole gamut of ideas. That's why, for me, it's wonderful. Mac Rebennack, a.k.a. Dr. John told me he was doing 'Candy' and asked if I'd do a part.

So I've got 32 INTERVIEW bars, and every night it's a little different. "When you play the same thing every night, you lose your chops. This gets you back into it." So does his record, which combines the of his first solo album with the more danceable tunes of his second. For Gary (U.S.) Bonds' "Quarter to Three," he gives the intro a new beat and a quasi-rap introduction, which he credits to producer Narada Michael Walden. He also remakes Sam Cooke's "Twistin' the Night Away" and Junior Walker's "Shotgun," with his own touch.

"You can't do 'Shotgun' the way Junior Walker did," says Clemons. "That would be like trying to re-do Picasso. But it's a great song and I thought kids today should have a chance to hear it. So I put it in a more palatable form for them. It's still danceable; it's just a different dance now." Clemons knows something about today's kids; he has three of them.

Two are in college just got their tuition bills that's one of the reasons I'm out there playing so and the third, age 4, SMALL-TOWNER: Andy Griffith But he said Ben Matlock and Andy Taylor don't have that much in common, except that "both come out of my innards." Griffith, who expects "Matlock" to end after its fifth season, plans to make Mantep his 'fir's- By DAVID HINCKLEY Daily News Staff Writer PATCHING CLAR- ence Clemons lean into the microphone to help croon the chorus while Ringo Starr sings "Boys" may not be the most amazing sight on the Ringo band's current tour, but it's right up there. It's also a real good time. On both sides of the mike. "This is the most fun I've had in years," says Clemons. "Everybody gets a chance to do their own thing and then gets off on everyone else's thing.

When I hear Levon Helm break into 'The whew! I'm just glad I'm there. It brings back a time when music was more fun. Things were easier. Life was good." He grins. Life isn't bad right now, either.

He spent last year with what he bemus-edly calls "my other group," Bruce Springsteen's Street Band, on the "Tunnel of Love" and Amnesty International tours. Before and after that, he was cutting his third solo album, "A Night With Mr. which is just now being released. On off-nights, he may drop in on a local show; he's played several times recently with the Grateful Dead. Meanwhile, he hopes the Ringo tour goes past next month having too much fun to and then he'd like to do a tour of his own.

And one more with Bruce? "Bruce?" he replies with a puzzled look, as if he's trying to recall the name. He laughs. ous from the courthouse. Basnight and a handful of her relatives, who play themselves, descend on Matlock for photos as part of the scene. "Daddy also went barefoot around town and so did Andy," recalled Saint Clair Basnight who has a few lines in the show.

"Two or three times a year you see him Griffith in town, in the hardware store. To him, I think this is home. He's never lost touch." RIFFITH MADE SURE a lot of the local flavor shows through in the episode. Beach scenes were shot in Nags Head, while other segments were shot at the Lost Colony Theater and along the Roanoke Sound waterfront Griffith said playing Ben Matlock has been the highlight of his career, which has included characters from the bumbling Will Stockwell in the film "No Time For Sergeants" to Sheriff Andy Taylor in "The Andy Griffith Show." "It's the best role I ever played," Griffith said. "Andy Taylor was a wonderful character, the best experience of my professional life" Mi mmmm tPl 11111 is currently touring with Ringo Starr.

so much he brought it home," said supervising producer Jeff Peters. "Andy puts himself totally into this, especially in this episode. These are his people and his friends." The two-hour NBC show, which will air Sept" 19, was filmed entirely on and around Roanoke Island, where the first English colonists landed and where Griffith has had a home for more than 30 years. The episode has Ben Matlock called to defend a man accused of killing a member of his brother's hunting group. Matlock discovers a hostile environment that may hinder a fair trial.

About 20 local residents were hired for the crew and dozens as extras in the cast "This is a valentine" from Andy to the whole community," said Delia Basnight, whose family has been friends with Griffith since he played Sir Walter Raleigh in the outdoor musical drama "The Lost Colony." During the taping, art sometimes imitated life. In the closing scene, the crowd cheered as Matlock, a big-city lawyer from Atlanta, emerged victori i to 1 JS: I'ffi v. HAVING FUN: Clarence Clemons Takin By ROBIN P. TEATER Pf ANTEO, N.C.-ANDY Griffith is a man who likes to bring his work home, but this is the first chance he's had to do that in more than 40 years. This historic village on the North Carolina coast where Griffith's acting career began is the backdrop for the season opener for his television series "Matlock." "I always wanted to bring a show here," Griffith said recently during a break.

"I thought it would be good for the town." A native of Mount Airy and graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Griffith put fic-tional Mayberry, N.C., on the map in his popular TV series "The Andy Griffith Show." Yet, he said, the producers of that show saw no point in taping in -the state because people already believed it was done here. When Griffith suggested filming an episode of "Matlock" in North Carolina, he had no trouble persuading the producers. "He loved the show vR8at.