Obit: Cowboy Jack Clement (1931-2013)

Subject: Obit: Cowboy Jack Clement
From: Dave Hanson
Date: 09 Aug 13 - 02:43 AM

Legendary record producer/singer songwriter Cowboy Jack Clement passed away yesterday after o battle with liver cancer.

Dave H

Subject: RE: Obit: Cowboy Jack Clement (1931-2013)
From: GUEST,BigDaddy
Date: 09 Aug 13 - 05:04 AM

RIP Cowboy Jack. Thanks for your contributions to American music.

Subject: RE: Obit: Cowboy Jack Clement (1931-2013)
From: Uncle Phil
Date: 09 Aug 13 - 12:11 PM

Happy Trails, Jack.

Subject: RE: Obit: Cowboy Jack Clement (1931-2013)
From: Larry The Radio Guy
Date: 09 Aug 13 - 12:30 PM

He wrote some great country songs! One of my favourites and in my own repertoire is "Let's All Help The Cowboy Sing the Blues". Then there's "I KNow One"....recorded by both Charley Pride and Jim Reeves. And the country standard of "Guess Things Happen That Way". Johnny Cash's early hit of "The Ballad of the Teenage Queen".

And lots of songs for Bobby Bare.

I also remember hearing a 'minor hit' by him in the early 60's. (I have the 45)....a novelty tune called "My voice keeps changing on Me". And the "b" side was "Time after Time after Time".....and those were the only words to the song.

Subject: RE: Obit: Cowboy Jack Clement (1931-2013)
From: Dave Hanson
Date: 09 Aug 13 - 04:15 PM

' Gone Girl ' it's on youtube, great song.

Dave H

Subject: RE: Obit: Cowboy Jack Clement (1931-2013)
From: GUEST,bankley
Date: 09 Aug 13 - 04:49 PM

His house burned down a couple of years back. We had a mutual friend in Tom Ghent. He helped Tom out when he was setting up his demo studio in Nashville in the early 70's. Gave him some 2nd hand tape. out-takes from different sessions, like the Johnny Cash stuff . Tom just stored most of them away.I bugged him for a copy, but he was guarded about that. One can always dream.

Subject: RE: Obit: Cowboy Jack Clement (1931-2013)
From: Ron Davies
Date: 10 Aug 13 - 10:31 AM

This guy was just amazing--country music's version of Woody's "Biggest Thing That Man Has Ever Done".

Engineered the Million Dollar Quartet.

Wrote some great songs, including "Guess Things Happen That Way" and one of my all-time favorites, "Just Someone I Used To Know"--(we thought such a great song needed another verse so my duet partner and I wrote one.)   

Convinced Kris Kristofferson to move to Nashville.

A Marine who saluted Princess Elizabeth in 1951 during her visit to the Capitol in DC--there's a picture of that.

Good friend of Johnny Cash, wrote several songs for him including above "Guess Things Happen"---and arranged the mariachi horns for "Ring of Fire". And played rhythm guitar on it.   

Formed a bluegrass group with Buzz Buzby (while in the Marines).

Pushed for Charley Pride to make it big in Nashville, wrote some songs for him --and paid for the first session. That indeed is one of the biggest things.

And on and on.

And on top of all this, what a perfect whimsical sense of humor:   started a record label called "Summer";    summer hits, summer not.    In an interview he said he was the polka king of Nashville.   Evidence:   he liked polkas, started calling himself the polka king of Nashville, nobody argued with him. "So it must be true."

What a delightful guy. We're lucky to have had him on the planet.


.

Subject: RE: Obit: Cowboy Jack Clement (1931-2013)
From: GUEST,Tunesmith
Date: 10 Aug 13 - 02:14 PM

I'd have loved to have spent some time with Jack!
I was watching him the other day on a re-run of the Sun Records tv documentary.