Jack Clement

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Jack Henderson Clement (born April 5, 1931 in Memphis , Tennessee , † August 8, 2013 in Nashville ) was an American sound engineer , record producer , musician and composer . In Memphis and Nashville, he is considered a central figure in the development of rockabilly , rock & roll and country music .

Life

"Cowboy" Jack Clement was the son of a choir director. Between 1948 and 1952 he played in the US Marine Corps in the country band Tennessee Troopers . He bought his first guitar, a Gibson J200 , in 1951 while serving in the army. Immediately after his service as a soldier, he founded the duo Buzz & Jack or Bayou Boys in 1953 with the mandolin player Buzz Busby (Dick Grant) . In 1954 he returned to Memphis and played steel guitar for country band leader Slim Wallace. In December 1956 he founded the independent label Fernwood Records with Slim Wallace . Their recording studio was set up in a garage, so that Clement handed over the recordings made here to Sun Records for final mixing . When Sam Phillips became aware of the Trouble Bound (composed by Riley / Wallace / Clement) / Rock With me Baby by Billy Lee Riley recorded in the garage , he took over Clement on June 15, 1956 as a sound engineer and music producer at Sun Records . The recordings finally appeared as Sun Records 245 on September 1, 1956 after Sam Phillips acquired the rights to it.

Work at Sun Records

Clement first got Phillips to invest in better recording equipment and began putting together a studio band. This consisted of Billy Lee Riley (guitar), Roland Janes (guitar), Jimmy Wilson (piano) and Jimmy Van Eaton (drums). Clement was better suited as a music producer than his boss Phillips because, unlike his boss , he could write or change scores , chord progressions or arrangements. Clement discovered Jerry Lee Lewis while Phillips was away on vacation. He asked Lewis about his guitar. "I play the piano like Chet Atkins plays the guitar." Clement's first session as a producer was for Lewis on November 14, 1956. Undaunted, Clement produced the first recording, End of the Road ; he produced Lewis continuously until May 28, 1959 for million- sellers such as Whole Lotta Shakin 'Goin' On or Great Balls of Fire .

From December 13, 1956, he produced Johnny Cash and occasionally played as a guitarist in the session band. When Cash moved to Columbia in July 1958, Clement played in the studio band until September 17, 1963. From April 8, 1958 he produced Charlie Rich to October 14, 1959, on September 4, 1958 he played bass in a session for Roy Orbison . Clement was one of the key figures in the "Sun Record Sound" and was involved in some of the trend-setting hits of rock & roll and rockabilly.

independence

At Sun Records he was rebellious at times and wanted to produce less courageously. "Looking back, Sam Phillips was right and I was wrong," said Clement about this time. Therefore he was fired from Sun Records in March 1959 for disobedience and founded Summer Records , which were liquidated shortly afterwards. He then began a collaboration with Chet Atkins at RCA and together with Bill Hall founded the music publisher Hall-Clement Music in Beaumont, Texas in 1961 . The first important composition represented by this music publisher was George Jones She Thinks I Still Care (January 1962). Also with Bill Hall, he set up the Gulf Coast Recording Studios in Beaumont in 1961 , where he recorded Adrian Roland from March 1962, Glenn Barber and Benny Barnes in September 1962. On March 7, 1962 he produced the pop million seller Patches (rank 6) in Nashville for Dickey Lee . Dickey Lee's I Saw Linda Yesterday (September 1962) was also made here. Upon request, he arranged the horn section in Johnny Cash's hit Ring of Fire (March 25, 1963).

From February 1965 he stayed in Nashville and gave up the time-consuming commuter routes to Memphis and Beaumont. He discovered Charley Pride and began producing his records on November 11, 1965, including his first number one hit All I Have to Offer You (Is Me) (April 15, 1969) and the millionaire Kiss An Angel Good Morning (July 28 1971). From 1968 he produced Townes Van Zandt , such as the LP First Album (April 3, 1968), and remained its producer until 1986. On December 10, 1969, he opened his own studios in Nashville with 16-track technology; here Ray Stevens recorded his million seller Everything Is Beautiful in February 1970 .

He began working with Don Williams in the Clement Studios in April 1972, but left the production to Allen Reynolds. Williams booked the studios until March 1978. He had sold the studio he set up in late 1969 in 1974 when there were around 150 recording studios in Nashville. He produced Waylon Jennings from September 2, 1974, first in foreign studios, and from January 1978 in his own Clement studio, which was located in his new home. U2 had him supervise three recordings for their LP Rattle and Hum (released October 1988) at Sun Studios (October 1987).

Jack Clement's house and recording studio in Nashville was destroyed in a fire on June 25, 2011.

statistics

Clement's successful work made him a linchpin in the studio scene. He was instrumental in the musical development of rockabilly and country music. According to the BMI , Clement wrote at least 170 songs, 8 of which received a BMI award. These included the hits Ballad of a Teenage Queen for Johnny Cash (November 12, 1957; ranked 1 for 10 weeks in the country charts), Guess Things Happen That Way (December 1957; ranked 1 for 8 weeks), Miller's Cave for Hank Snow (May 12, 1960; Rank 9) and I Know One for Jim Reeves (May 5, 1960) and Charley Pride (January 9, 1967). In 1973 he was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame , in 1978 he played his own album for the first time with the title All I Want To Do In Life .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Edward Morris: Jack Clement, a Nashville Music Legend, Dies at Age 82.
  2. ^ Ken Burke: Country Music Changed my Life. 2004, p. 78
  3. ↑ "this is the first rock & roll that someone has brought me"
  4. ↑ Nick Toshes: Hellfire. 1998, p. 103
  5. ^ Colin Escott, Martin Hawkins: Good Rockin 'Tonight: Sun Records and the Birth of Rock'n Roll. 2011, p. 167
  6. ^ Ken Burke: Country Music Changed my Life. 2004, p. 80
  7. ^ Joseph Murrells: Million Selling Records. 1985, p. 165
  8. ^ Joseph Murrells: Million Selling Records. 1985, p. 316
  9. ↑ Billboard Magazine, June 10, 1972, Jack Clement , p. 1064
  10. ^ Taste of Country January 26, 2011, Cowboy Jack Clement Loses Nashville Home and Recording Studio to Fire
personal data
SURNAME Clement, Jack
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Clement, Jack Henderson
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American country music producer
DATE OF BIRTH April 5, 1931
PLACE OF BIRTH Memphis , Tennessee
DATE OF DEATH August 8, 2013
Place of death Nashville , Tennessee