Sunday, June 4, 2023

Gnarly Guitarists: Clem Clempson

Stinky's back with a double-disc compilation, "The Best of Clem Clempson"!  This one stretches all the way back to Clem's early days as guitarist with the British blues band Bakerloo.  The compilation is hot and heavy on the Humble Pie (live and studio recordings). It also includes Clempson's work with Jack Bruce, Roger Daltrey, and Cozy Powell.

Included are several tracks from the B.B. King & Friends' 2005 album 80, where Clem accompanied B.B., Eric Clapton, Roger Daltrey, and Van Morrison.  Also included are Clem's appearances with the Hamburg Blues Band on Mad Dog Blues (2008). 

More recently, The Clem Clempson Band released In The Public Interest in 2013.  Clem has played on and off with Colosseum since 1970: the band released Restoration in 2022, and their current European tour runs through October 2023.

Stinky's compilation focuses on Clempson's work as a blues guitarist and vocalist. It skips the jazz-rock of Colosseum, its offshoot JCM, and Clem's soundtrack music, but does include several examples of Clem's extensive session work, which has ranged from Greenslade (1974) to contemporary work with Tanita TikaramShirley Basseyand British blues legends The Spice Girls. 

Enjoy The Best Of Clem Clempson, Another Stinky Production!  Photos: Clem with Steve Marriott (above), and with Chris Farlowe (right). Not pictured: Stinky le Pew.

10 comments:

  1. The Best Of Clem Clempson: https://tinyurl.com/stinkyclem

    Another Stinky Production

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  2. British blues legends The Spice Girls. Man, I read that & laughed so hard my drink squirted out of my nose.

    Thanks Stinky. I saw Humble Pie so many times in the early/mid 70s as I was sailing under the radar avoiding the Vietnam War (at least 3 times Winterland [72,73,75]. twice at Civic Aud. Pittsburgh [72,75], & elsewhere [Berkeley, San Jose, etc]). They were always a knock-out. Marriott & Clemson, Ridley & Shirley (never a fan of Frampton, however)..."30 Days in the Hole", "Can't Get No Doctor", always tore the roof off, but their version of "I Walk on Gilded Splinter" (often an encore mega-jam, if I recall) was like Heaven to me in those times.

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  3. Thanks, Jonder and Stinky!

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  4. Great informative post Jonder and Stinky and good info Nathin'. A real cool time...

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  5. Yes, thanks to Nathan for catching my error! I had the Spice Girls confused with Saffire (The Uppity Blues Women). The Spice Girls were apparently a one hit wonder, best known for the song "It's Raining Weathermen".

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  6. I thought you were just cracking wise. & what about De Facto?

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  7. No accounting for bad taste, I guess, but The Spice Girls first single hit #1 in 37 countries around the world. Theie debut album Spice is the best selling album of all time by a female group. Three #1 song from that release, "Say You'll be There", "2 Becomes 1", & "Who Do You Think You Are / Mama". Three #1 hits from there follow-up album, "Spice Up Your Life", "Too Much", & "Viva Forever". Their Spiceworls Tour is the highest grossing tour of all time by a female group. Follow-up #1 hits "GoodBye" & "Holler / Let Love Lead the Way" made nine #1 hits, the most UK #1 hits of all time by a girl group. Then the reunited Spice Girls are the top touring all-female group from 1998 - 2020. They've sold more than 100 million records world wide, making them the most successful Brit pop group since the Beatles.

    I just thought "British Blues legends" was hysterical. Just my sick sense of humor, I guess.

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    1. I thought it was funny when I wrote it, and I'm glad you enjoyed it. Don't know any of those #1 hit songs, and I suspect you made them all up. Everybody knows that the Spice Girls were part of the New Women of British Heavy Metal, and they did a split single with Deaf School under the name "Girlschool".

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    2. I'm jealous of Nathan for having seen Humble Pie so many times, and I Walk On Gilded Splinters was just too long to include!

      I got turned onto Steve Marriott first from The Small Faces, & then a cut-out copy of his MARRIOTT album which had a British side & an American side. It contained his amazing version of Freddie Scott's Are You Lonely For Me Baby? It could have been a hit if Marriott's career momentum hadn't stalled entirely from his running Humble Pie into the ground.

      Clem Clemson is definitely underrated. Who else could have filled the shoes of Peter Frampton (in Humble Pie) & Eric Clapton (in Jack Bruce's Band) as well--who wasn't a household name?

      Thanks for all the comments--you folks are the best!

      - El Stinkeroo

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  8. this mix was fantastic, though some of the songs are marked with "clem vocals" when he never sings.,.. however still an awesome listen

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