Rod Clements
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Rod Clements (born Roderick Perry Clements, 17 November 1947, North Shields, Tyne and Wear) is an English bassist, songwriter and singer.
[edit] Career
His mother was a classical music fan and encouraged him to attend many concerts. While singing hymns he discovered he had a natural ability to create harmonies for tunes. His first inspiration to play the guitar was hearing the hits of Duane Eddy and The Shadows. While at university he joined a band called 'Downtown Faction'. Other members included Ray Laidlaw, Ray Jackson and Simon Cowe. Having mastered the bass guitar he then took up the fiddle, partly inspired by hearing Fairport Convention's album, Liege and Lief. The group joined up with Alan Hull to become Lindisfarne. Hull and Clements were the main songwriters. Clements' most famous composition was "Meet Me on the Corner", a hit single.
[edit] Session work
Although Lindisfarne was only at the start of their career, Clements early on worked as a session bass-player, starting with the album Fool's Mate (1971) by Peter Hammill. This was partly because Hammill was on the same record label as Lindisfarne, Charisma Records. Following an unhappy U.S. tour in 1972, Clements left Lindisfarne to join Jack The Lad, another folk-rock group. He contributed four songs to their first album. After gaining a strong reputation as a bass player, he rejoined Lindisfarne in 1978, and played on their hit "Run For Home", which was a Top 10 hit.
In 1977 he played for one of his idols, Bert Jansch on A Rare Conundrum. There then followed a stream of session work on several albums. Finally in 1994 he recorded a solo album One Track Mind (2001). It has songs by Bob Dylan, traditional songs, and his own compositions, plus hits from the Lindisfarne days. This album has multi-tracking, as Clements accompanies himself on lead guitar, bass guitar, harmonica, keyboards and drums. Ray Laidlaw plays drums on the album. In 2000 he recorded another album, Stamping Ground, with Sid Griffin.
[edit] Discography
[edit] Solo albums
- One Track Mind (1994) – (Lindisfarne standards)
- Stamping Ground (2000)
- Live Ghosts (2004)
- Odd Man Out (2006)
[edit] Lindisfarne albums with Clements
- Nicely Out Of Tune (1970)
- Fog On The Tyne (1971)
- Dingly Dell (1972)
- Back And Fourth (1978)
- The News (1979)
- Sleepless Nights (1982)
- Dance Your Life Away (1986)
- Amigos (1989)
- Elvis Lives On The Moon (1993)
- Blues From The Bothy (ep) (1997)
- Here Comes The Neighbourhood (1998)
- Promenade Park (2002)
[edit] with Jack the Lad
- It's Jack The Lad (1974)
[edit] with Bert Jansch
- "In The Bleak Midwinter" (single) (1974)
- A Rare Conundrum (1976)
[edit] Bert Jansch & Rod Clements
- Leather Launderette (1988)
[edit] with Ralph McTell
- "Streets of London" (single) (1974)
- Streets (album) (1975)
- Right Side Up (1976)
- Songs from Alphabet Zoo (1983)
[edit] with Prelude
- Owl Creek Incident (1975)
[edit] with Dando Shaft
- Kingdom (1977)
[edit] with Michael Chapman
- The Man Who Hated Mornings (1977)
- Looking For Eleven (1980)
- Plaindealer (2005)
[edit] with Jim Rafferty
- Don't Talk Back (1978)
[edit] with Rab Noakes
- Rab Noakes (1980)
- Under The Rain (1983)
- Throwing Shapes (Rab Noakes & The Varaflames) (2000)
[edit] with Thea Gilmore
- The Lipstick Conspiracies (2000)
- Songs From The Gutter (2002)
[edit] with Nigel Stonier
- Golden Coins (1993)
- Brimstone & Blue (2002)
[edit] with Peter Hammil
- Fool's Mate (1971)
[edit] with Wizz Jones
- Happiness Was Free (1976)
[edit] with Kathryn Tickell
- Borderlands (1986)
[edit] with Pentangle
- So Early In The Spring (1989)
[edit] with Mark Knopfler
- Newport Mountain Rag (recorded 1974)
[edit] Various artists
- Woody Lives! (Woody Guthrie tribute album) (1987)
- People On The Highway (Bert Jansch tribute album) (2000)
