39 Facts About Jack Clement

Jack Henderson Clement was an American musician, songwriter, record producer, film producer and music executive.

Jack Clement was producer and engineer for Sam Phillips at Sun Records in its early days, discovering Jerry Lee Lewis and recording the "Million Dollar Quartet" session with Lewis, Carl Perkins, Elvis Presley, and Johnny Cash.

Jack Clement was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame, the Rockabilly Hall of Fame, the Memphis Music Hall of Fame and the Music City Walk of Fame.

Jack Clement was born on April 5,1931, in the Whitehaven neighborhood of Memphis, Tennessee.

Jack Clement grew up and went to school in Memphis, learned guitar and was performing at an early age, playing guitar and dobro.

Jack Clement's band recorded a demo in a home studio that Jack Clement had built in his garage, and he took the record to Sun Records to be mastered.

At Sun Records Jack Clement began working with acts like Billy Lee Riley before eventually working with Sun artists Roy Orbison, Carl Perkins and Johnny Cash.

Jack Clement discovered and recorded Jerry Lee Lewis while Phillips was on a trip to Florida, with one of those recordings, "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On", selected in 2005 for permanent preservation in the National Recording Registry at the Library of Congress.

Jack Clement was the recording engineer present at Sun Studio during the famous December 4,1956 "Million Dollar Quartet" session involving Cash, Lewis, Perkins and Elvis Presley.

Jack Clement made the decision to record the impromptu session.

In 1957, Jack Clement wrote Johnny Cash's crossover hit "Ballad of a Teenage Queen", and "Guess Things Happen That Way", which was No 1 on the country chart and No 11 on the pop chart for Cash the following year.

In 1958, Jack Clement released the single "Ten Years", which was later covered by Johnny Western, Rex Allen, and Roger Mews.

In 1961, producer and publisher Bill Hall persuaded Jack Clement to move to Beaumont, Texas.

Together, Hall and Jack Clement founded the Hall-Jack Clement publishing company and Gulf Coast Recording Studios, where Dickey Lee recorded the top 10 hit "Patches".

Jack Clement continued to work in Nashville, and contributed arranging, guitar playing, and production on Cash's No 1 hit, "Ring of Fire" in 1963.

In Beaumont, Jack Clement worked with artists including Moon Mullican and Joe Tex.

Jack Clement returned to Nashville in 1965 and became a significant figure in the country music business, and attracting enough music industry professionals to the area that he was called the "Pied Piper of Nashville".

Jack Clement wrote the comedic "The One on the Right Is on the Left", which was a No 2 country and No 46 pop hit for Johnny Cash in 1966.

Jack Clement was instrumental in launching the career of Charley Pride by producing a demo and playing it for RCA Records executive Chet Atkins, resulting in Pride's being offered a recording contract.

Jack Clement wrote and produced "Just Between You and Me" and "I Know One", which became Pride's first two major hits.

Jack Clement would produce 20 albums for Pride over a six-and-a-half-year stretch,.

Jack Clement founded a music publishing business and established multiple recording studios, including Jack's Tracks on Music Row, and the Jack Clement Recording Studio on Belmont Boulevard, where Ray Stevens recorded "Everything Is Beautiful", which became one of the most successful records of 1969.

Songs written by Jack Clement were 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, Charley Pride, Tom Jones, Dickey Lee, Moon Mullican and Hank Snow, Garth Brooks, John Prine, Foghat, Roy Orbison and many more.

Jack Clement was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1973.

In 1974, Clement sold the Jack Clement Recording Studios to producer Larry Butler and Al Mifflin, and established a recording studio in his home, which he named The Cowboy Arms Hotel and Recording Spa.

Jack Clement produced many key recordings by Waylon Jennings, Johnny Cash, John Hartford, Doc Watson, Sheb Wooley, Louis Armstrong, Frankie Yankovic, Eddy Arnold and many more.

Jack Clement was involved in a few film projects as a singer or songwriter of soundtracks.

Jack Clement produced and part-financed the 1975 horror film, Dear Dead Delilah, which was a financial disaster and the last film performance by the actress Agnes Moorehead.

In 1978, Jack Clement released a solo album, All I Want to Do in Life, which generated three charting country singles.

In 1987, Jack Clement was approached by Irish rock band U2 to record at Sun Studio in Memphis.

Jack Clement was not familiar with the band's music but agreed to arrange the session.

In November 2003, Jack Clement performed his song made famous by Johnny Cash, "Guess Things Happen That Way", on CMT's Johnny Cash Memorial Tribute concert TV special.

Jack Clement recorded a second solo album, Guess Things Happen That Way, in 2004.

In 2005, a documentary about Jack Clement, Shakespeare Was a Big George Jones Fan, was created by Robert Gordon and Morgan Neville.

Jack Clement hosted a weekly program on Sirius XM's Outlaw Country channel.

Jack Clement was inducted into the Rockabilly Hall of Fame, the Memphis Music Hall of Fame and the Music City Walk of Fame.

Jack Clement was unhurt, but many priceless recordings and memorabilia were lost.

Jack Clement died at his home in Nashville on August 8,2013.

Jack Clement had a daughter, Alison, a singer and writer; and a son, Niles, an engineer and photographer.