Early life

Clement grew up and was educated in Memphis, Tennessee,^[1] Clement was performing at an early age, playing guitar and dobro. Before embarking on a career in music, he served in the United States Marines.^[3] In 1953, he made his first record for Sheraton Records in Boston, but he did not immediately pursue a full-time career in music, instead choosing to study at Memphis State University from 1953 to 1955. Nicknamed "Cowboy" Jack Clement, during his student days, he played steel guitar with a local band. In 1956, Clement was part of one of the seminal events in rock-and-roll history, when he was hired as a producer and engineer for Sam Phillips at Sun Records.^[1] Clement then worked with future stars such as Roy Orbison, Carl Perkins, and Johnny Cash.^[1] Most notably, he discovered and recorded Jerry Lee Lewis while Phillips was on a trip to Florida.^[1] One of those recordings, "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On",^[1] was selected in 2005 for permanent preservation in the National Recording Registry at the Library of Congress.

Career

In 1957, Clement wrote the song "Ballad of a Teenage Queen", which became a crossover hit for Johnny Cash.^[1] Other Cash hits written by Clement include "Guess Things Happen That Way",^[1] which was No. 1 on the country chart and No. 11 on the pop chart in 1958, and the comedic "The One on the Right Is on the Left",^[1] which was a No. 2 country and No. 46 pop hit in 1966. Clement also produced (and composed the horn intro) Cash's No. 1 hit, "Ring of Fire," in 1963.^[3] Clement performed "Guess Things Happen That Way" on the Johnny Cash Memorial Tribute on CMT (Country Music Television) in November 2003.

In 1958, Clement released the single "Ten Years",^[4] which was covered by Johnny Western (1959), Rex Allen (1962), and Roger Mews.

In 1959, Clement accepted an offer to work as a producer at RCA Victor in Nashville,^[1] then the most important label in the record industry. In 1961, he moved to Beaumont, Texas, joining the producer and publisher Bill Hall; they started the Gulf Coast Recording Studio and the Hall-Clement publishing company.^[3] Clement returned to Nashville permanently in 1965, becoming a significant figure in the country music business, establishing a publishing business and founding a recording studio. They made records for stars including Charley Pride and Ray Stevens.^[1] In 1971 he co-founded JMI Records,^[5] which can be credited with launching the career of Don Williams.^[6] Bill Hall took control of Hall-Clement in 1973 and sold it to the Welk Music Group in 1975.^[7]

Clement wrote a number of successful songs that have been recorded by singing stars such as Johnny Cash, Dolly Parton, Ray Charles, Carl Perkins, Bobby Bare, Elvis Presley, Jim Reeves, Jerry Lee Lewis, Cliff Richard ("It'll Be Me"), Charley Pride, Tom Jones, Dickey Lee, Moon Mullican and Hank Snow.^[1] He was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame^[3] in 1973. He also produced albums by Townes Van Zandt and Waylon Jennings.^[1]

Clement was involved in a few film projects as a singer or songwriter of soundtracks. He produced and part-financed the 1975 horror film, Dear Dead Delilah, a financial disaster and the last film performance by the actress Agnes Moorehead.^[1]

Later life

In 1987, Clement was approached by U2 to record at Sun Studio in Memphis. He was oblivious to U2's catalog, but nonetheless agreed to arrange the session upon the urging of someone who worked in his office. The result was a portion of the U2 album, Rattle and Hum, ("When Love Comes to Town", with B.B. King; "Angel of Harlem", a tribute to Billie Holiday; and "Love Rescue Me", with backing vocals by Bob Dylan)^[1] as well as the Woody Guthrie song "Jesus Christ". Jesus Christ was included on the 1988 album, Folkways: A Vision Shared — A Tribute to Woody Guthrie & Leadbelly. Portions of the two sessions also appear in the film Rattle and Hum.

In 2005, a documentary about Clement, Shakespeare Was a Big George Jones Fan, was created by Robert Gordon and Morgan Neville. It was pieced together from Clement's home videos and interviews with peers, including Jerry Lee Lewis and Bono.

Clement hosted a weekly program on Sirius XM Satellite Radio.

He was inducted into the Rockabilly Hall of Fame, the Memphis Music Hall of Fame, and the Music City Walk of Fame. On June 25, 2011, a fire destroyed his home and studio on Belmont Boulevard in Nashville.^[8] Clement was unhurt, but many priceless recordings and memorabilia were lost. On April 10, 2013, it was announced he would be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.^[3]

Clement died at his home in Nashville on August 8, 2013. He had suffered from liver cancer.^[9] He had two children, a daughter, Alison, also a singer and writer and a son, Niles, an engineer and photographer.