Clem Clempson of Humble Pie and Colosseum INTERVIEW

Clem Clempson is a English blues/rock/jazz guitarist best known for playing in Humble Pie and Colosseum. He is a brilliant blues and rock guitarist with a career spanning over four decades. He is a true unsung hero of rock n roll!

Photo by Carl Dunn

 Clem started off his professional career in 1968, forming the band Bakerloo Blues Line along with Terry Poole and Keith Baker. They opened for Led Zeppelins debut at the famous Marquee Club in October of '68. They put out a single in 1969 with two great songs, "Driving Bachwards" and "Once Upon A Time", and released their first album, self titled "Bakerloo" later that year. It was and still is a great album that does not get enough attention. Shortly after lineup changes occurred and the band fell apart.

 In mid to late 1969 he joined Colosseum a Jazz/Blues/Rock band. He debuted on the album "The Grass is Greener" in mid 1970. He then played on "Daughter of Time" and "Colosseum Live"  and the band split up in 1971.

 After the split up of Colosseum, Clem joined Humble Pie, replacing Peter Frampton. When Clem joined the band, he brought in fresh energy and really helped the band grow to a better live band. He fit right in with the bluesy soul vocals of Steve Marriot, thunderous drumming of Jerry Shirley and the melodic Greg Ridley on bass. In studio he was nothing short of perfect playing on "Smokin'), "Eat It", "Thunderbox" and "Street Rats ", composing/contributing to 10 killer songs. You can catch him playing on "Extended Versions" and "In Concert: Humble Pie Live", two killer live recordings that show not only his extreme talent, but a rock n roll band that was giving it 110% and proving why they were one of the top dogs. In 1975 the band had split up. He auditioned to replace Ritchie Blackmore in Deep Purple, but Tommy Bolin was given the gig instead.

Steve Marriot LEFT, Clem RIGHT

 Clem has gone on to play with Bob Dylan, Steve Marriots All Stars, Jack Bruce, Manfred Mann and The Hamburg Blues Band and many others. He has score credits in the movies "GI Jane", "Tomorrow Never Dies" and "Evita".He has his own band called "The Clem Clempson Band", and they play mostly in Germany and the UK. In 1994 he rejoined Colosseum and they continue to tour and put on a amazing live show, and are working on a new studio album "Anno Domini" and should be done this year hopefully.

INTERVIEW

TATE: How are you doing, Clem?

CLEM: I’m very well thanks.

TATE: What band or musician influenced you as a kid to get into music, and more specifically guitar?

CLEM: I was inspired by just about everything I heard on the radio growing up in the 50s, music generally aroused some kind of emotion; the early Rock’n’Roll of people like Bill Haley was very powerful of course, but I was also inspired by the classical music I was studying on piano.

TATE: What was your first guitar and amp?

CLEM: My first electric was a Futurama 3, but before long I managed to get my hands on my first “serious” guitar, a Gibson SG Junior. My first amp was a radio!! But the first proper guitar amp I had was a Selmer Treble’N’Bass 50 Reverb.

TATE: You have used numerous guitars over the years, but I mostly see you always use Gibson for the most part. What is your favorite Gibson you have owned or own? I personally loved that 50's Black Les Paul Custom you used in Humble Pie.

CLEM: My favorite is the 1958 Les Paul Goldtop that I’ve played in more or less every band I’ve been in since I bought it in 1968.

TATE: When you formed Bakerloo, you opened for Led Zeppelin. How was it? What do you think about Jimmy Page?

CLEM: That was a fun evening, especially as I’d already enjoyed quite a few jam sessions with Robert Plant and John Bonham in various Birmingham clubs. The Marquee gig was particularly memorable for John Bonham seeming to be a little worried afterwards that he may have made a mistake in leaving Tim Rose to join Zeppelin!! Jimmy is a very accomplished guitarist, and one of the great rock composers.

TATE: How did you feel when you joined Colosseum? Were you a fan of theirs before you joined?

CLEM: Yes, I’d seen them a couple of times and was blown away, so it was fantastic to be asked to join one of the best bands I’d ever heard.

TATE: When you joined Humble Pie, the band took on a whole new vibe. You and the boys were known for putting on a great live show. Smokin, Thunderbox, Eat It, and Street Rats are some serious killer albums. Are you proud of those records? Do you feel they still hold up to this day?

CLEM: I’m very proud of the records I made with the Pie, although I’ve never made a record that I didn’t have at least a few reservations about! The songs and performances still sound as good as ever to me, but sound-wise the quality of the recordings is variable.

TATE: What did you love most about Humble Pie?

CLEM: Steve’s writing ability. He wrote many wonderful songs for the band, but a lot of our album tracks also came from jams we’d have in rehearsal or the studio - my favorite track, Hot ’n’ Nasty was one of those. We managed to capture a great jam on tape, but it was Steve’s talent for coming up with a brilliant vocal line that turned it into a great song and made it one of our most successful tracks.

TATE: You've been in a bunch of great bands, and put out some amazing albums but if you had to choose one album you've played on as your favorite, what would it be?

CLEM: I’ve Always Wanted To Do This, by Jack Bruce and Friends. That’s the album I most enjoy hearing.

TATE: You've been playing professionally for over four decades now, what keeps you going? Do you still enjoy playing live as much as you did when you started out in the late 60’s?

CLEM: I still enjoy playing live, but when I started out that was the only thing I really wanted to do - the Bakerloo album was just the band playing live, but in a recording studio! These days I enjoy writing and the creativity of the recording process just as much as the gigs.

TATE: You have your own band The Clem Clempson Band, and have played with Hamburg Blues Band. Mostly playing in UK and Germany. Any plans for shows in the USA?

CLEM: There’s been some talk of a playing the Iridium in New York, but nothing definite as yet. I’d love to play there with my band or Colosseum of course!

TATE: What are your future plans, either in music or personal life?

CLEM: At the moment I’m busy recording a new Colosseum CD in preparation for a European tour in the fall, and some UK dates early in 2015.

TATE: What are some hobbies of yours that fans might not know of?

CLEM: Tennis, Badminton - playing football was my favorite until I broke my wrist - I kind of went off the idea after that!!

TATE: What do you think of the music world these days? 

CLEM: I love the huge variety of music I hear these days, there’s a lot of creativity out there. But I feel very lucky to have started when I did - in those days it was much easier to make a living playing music than it is today.

TATE: Last but not least. What do you consider your greatest accomplishment in music or personal life?

CLEM: To have managed to earn a living whilst having a lot of fun making music for almost 50 years!

Thank you Clem for the interview! For detailed biography, tour dates and lots of photographs pertaining to the interview can be seen at www.clemclempson.com . 

47th Anniversary of Monterey Pop Festival

 
 This week marks the 47th Anniversary of the Monterey International Pop Festival. It was held June 16th - 18th, at the Monterey County Fairgrounds, in Monterey California in 1967. It was the "summer of love" in America. It was all about drugs, sex, peace, individualism, civil rights, equality,  rebellion and great music. Vietnam was gaining disapproval by the country, mostly the youth. Protests and riots were common on school campuses and in front of governmental buildings. With all this chaos going on, there was one thing that was common among this generation, it was the music.

 200,000 people attended the Monterey Pop Festival over it's three day run. That was the most people at a music festival at the time. They played the fairgrounds, concession stands all around. Many big name musicians who didn't play the festival were in attendance also. The bands that played were The Association, The Paupers, Lou Rawls, Beverly, Johnny Rivers, Eric Burdon and The Animals, Simon and Garfunkel, Canned Heat, Big Brother and The Holding Company, Country Joe and The Fish, Al Kooper, Butterfield Blues Band, Electric Flag, Quicksilver Messenger Service, Steve Miller Band, Moby Grape, Hugh Masekela, The Byrds, Laura Nyro, Jefferson Airplane, Booker T and The MG's, Mar-Keys, Otis Reding, Ravi Shankar, Blues Project, Group With No Name, Buffalo Springfield (with David Crosby), The Who, Grateful Dead, Jimi Hendrix Experience, Scott McKenzie and The Mamas and The Papas. Talk about a stacked bill! These bands were the chart toppers, the best of the best. There was no moshing around, no fighting, no violence, period. People sat or stood holding hands, cheering, singing along, and showing the world that large groups of people can get together and enjoy something without any violence or prejudices.

The two performances that stick out to most people, are The Who and Jimi Hendrix. The Who and Jimi both wanted to end their set with a bang. This was The Who's first big US show, and it put them on the map. In Who like fashion, Pete Townshend at the end of "My Generation" smashed his Fender Stratocaster and Super Beetle Amps to smithereens while Keith Moon kicked his drum set all over the place. Jimi Hendrix ended his set with "Wild Thing", and ended up setting his guitar on fire, and hovering over it like a medieval sacrifice. 

 I am 23 years old, and I feel robbed. I feel robbed because my generation has never had anything close to a Monterey Pop Festival or a Woodstock. I know there is plenty of others that feel the same way, and I think because young generations such as myself feel this way, Monterey will always be relevant and celebrated and viewed as a important document of rock n roll history and will never not hear about the festival. Many of those who played the festival have long since passed away, but will never be forgotten. - Tate Thompson

Joey Pinter of The Knots and The Waldos INTERVIEW! June 2014

New York City, mid to late 70's. The music scene was exploding with great Punk or New Wave bands as some call it. You had The Ramones, Johnny Thunders and The Heartbreakers, Corpsegrinders, Richard Hell and The Voidoids, Jayne County and The Electric Chairs, The Dead Boys, Talking Heads, and Television to name just a few, but there was one band that should of been HUGE, but weren't. The Knots. They played all the sleazy famous clubs like CBGB's and Max's Kansas City and shared the bill with other great bands of the time.

They put out a single in 1980 with "Heartbreaker" and "Action", still printed to this day. You can buy the single here http://www.almostreadyrecords.com/llr.htm . Two of  the greatest songs to come out of the whole first wave of Punk. Joey played guitar and bass, Tommy Bell on Vocals, Jim Ryan on drums.  Joey Pinter for me personally is the best guitarist to come out of the whole 70's NYC Scene.  His sound, playing style and musicianship were unmatched and he was sadly overlooked by others who weren't even in the same ballpark as him. Tony Coiro, Tommy Bell, Jerry Ryan and Eliot Michael and others were in and out of the band, and after a couple years The Knots crashed and burned. Recently, a lost track "Glad To Be Alive" was discovered from The Knots. You can listen for free here https://soundcloud.com/joey-pinter/joey-pinter-glad-to-be-alive . Joey moved on to work with Walter Steding and formed Pleasure Pirates and numerous other endeavors. In the early 90's Joey was drafted into The Waldos, Walter Lure of Johnny Thunders and The Heartbreakers band. Tony Coiro of The Knots was on bass for The Waldos. They played all the clubs. If you watch live footage on youtube, you will see they were/are a very exciting band. Often you would see Joey stand in spot with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth, busting out a solo, oozing rock n roll in every note. They put out one of the finest sounding and produced records of all time "Rent Party". It's been reissued on CD from Jungle. Buy it here http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/THE-WALDOS-Rent-Party-bonus-tracks-CD-Walter-Lure-Heartbreakers-new-sealed-/321191858049?refid=store .

That lineup fell apart in the mid 90's, but Joey in recent years has reunited with Walter Lure for several gigs as The Waldos with various lineups, in Los Angeles, NYC and New Orleans. He still owns the stage every time! Now that's he's moved to Chicago, you'll probably see a few Waldos shows in the windy city. Joey has also gone on to play in Johnny Thunders place in The Heartbreakers with Walter Lure, Jerry Nolan,Tony Coiro and Jamey Heath at The Johnny Thunders Memorial Show in 1991 following Johns passing. He's gone on to play with Billy Rath and The Street Pirates (BR of JT and The Heartbreakers), The Mau Maus, New York Junk, Frank Infante, The Testors, The Neurotics, Dirty Eyes...to name a few. He's written and recorded solo songs, and is planning a solo album in the near future! My first interview, and what a huge honor it is!

INTERVIEW:

Tate: So Joey, when did you first get into music and more specifically the guitar? Who was your #1 influence and why?

Joey: I can't say there was a moment when I said I want to do this, it's something that was always with me, kind of like biting my nails, I can't remember a time when I didn't. The influence thing was a progression that is still going on. The first album I bought was Johnny Cash live at San Quentin however way before that my parents had a record by Henry Mancini, one side was music he wrote for TV the other side was music from movies. When I was 10 I played the shit out of it.  

Tate: What was your first guitar and amp?

Joey: First "good" guitar was a brand new Fender Strat I bought in 1972. First amp was a Ampeg Rocket Reverb. In those days there wasn't many "help-me box's" but there was something called a LBP-1 you plugged it into the amp input then plug in the guitar, it worked by a switch like a light, total overdrive, the amp sounded fucking big. 

Tate: Growing up in NYC in the 60's and 70's, you must of saw some great bands. What bands did you see live?

Joey: Not many "big" bands, I hate crowds. I'd rather go to clubs.  

Tate: When was your first band and what was the name? Did you write originals starting off?

Joey: Again, it's a progression thing, I can't remember a first band, it seems like it was something I always did like breathing. The first "real" band which means, rehearsal, girls, booze was something called Brooklyn Trash.

Tate: When Fuse/Knots started playing clubs, did you feel you guys got the same respect or were equal to the other bands playing, such as The Heartbreakers or Jayne County etc?

Joey: Of course, if we weren't on the same level of those people they would have killed us. 

Tate: If there is one show that sticks out to you the most during Fuse/Knots, when and why?

Joey: Christmas '78 or '79 we had some English singer for a while and after he wished the audience a happy Christmas I said "fuck Christmas, let's play" it seems I stepped over some line of decent behavior. Fuck 'em. 

Tate: When you recorded the single with "Heartbreaker" and "Action", did you feel at the time it was "great", and would be influential to this day?

Joey: Fuck no, I didn't like it then and I still don't like it.

Tate: Do you remember what you used for gear during the recording of the single?

Joey: Gibson Les Paul Custom and a Twin Reverb.

Tate: Recently "Glad To Be Alive" was rediscovered, do you remember what others, if any other songs were recorded?

Joey: I have no idea, I would imagine we played everything we knew at the time.

Tate: When The Knots split up in 1980, did you panic or contemplate to continue in the music business?

Joey: We split up?? I've been wondering why no one returns my calls.

Tate: I know you did carpentry for living during the time also, did you enjoy it?

Joey: Yes I did, what I liked most was eating every day and living in doors.

Tate: How did you end up playing on the Walter Steding record? Did you like doing the record?

Joey: My manager at the time was Brooks Parsons he had a much wider view of things than I, he asked me, no, he told me "we're going to see someone" and said I have to stay to the end because he liked this cat. Needless to say when I saw some little cat with goggles and lights and a violin I said you better get me good and drunk. So I sat through the set and I have to admit that I found it interesting, of course booze helps ones outlook on such things. Any who, after Walter played we went back to the loft we used as command central and I found that he was an interesting guy. A few weeks go by and I get a call and told to show up at some studio to record, which I did. Then I found out it was a project that Chris Stein was doing. I asked Chris "what do you want me to play?", he said "play anything I like", while Walter was doing his thing. I still feel that stuff was way ahead of everyone. I'm glad I did it.  

Tate: You formed The Pleasure Pirates in '88, why was the band so short lived? From the sound of the song "Trapped", the band seemed to have a lot of potential.

Joey: That was a doomed lost cause, the other guitar player was an old friend who was a great guitar player, we did a lot of mischief. However, at that time I wasn't using hard drugs and drinking any more but he still was, so we were never able to catch the energy we had. As a side note, that cat played in the Knots for a while. Any who, I recently got to hear that EP and the first thing I heard was his "help-me box's" lots of that chorus effect, I hated it then and hate it still. After the first few notes the first thing that came to mind was the '80's and Bon Jovi. And where's my hair spray?   

Tate: How did you end up joining The Waldos, and what were feeling? Did you see them live before you joined at all?

Joey: After P.P. I needed to get out of NYC, I was disgusted, there were no bands around that I liked, I had a brand new Mesa Boogie that broke down all the time and no one could figure out why, I took it as a sign that it's time to go. After a year or so I get a call from tony c. telling me he's been playing with Walter and Charley Sox, no one was fucking around with needles any more and would I be interested in playing? He told me they were auditioning people but my name kept coming up. some of the cats that they auditioned said to find me. I saw them once before I officially joined. I thought they were great.    

Tate: The Waldos released "Rent Party", a fine album. One of the best sounding and produced albums of all time. Have any good stories on the recording of it? Are you proud of the record and did you feel it should of been bigger?

Joey: Thank you for your kind words. one thing happened that was cool. One day while we were working on it someone came in with a TV, it was the slow chase of OJ while he was driving on the 405. Everything stopped which is a big deal when you're paying by the hour. I know if we toured that record, it would have been huge. Tony and Walter refused to tour, we got offers all the time. It really pissed me off. It still does. 

Tate: How do you feel about people who compare The Waldos "Rent Party" album and lineup  to Johnny Thunders and The Heartbreakers?

Joey: I think it's wonderful, I mean to be in the same sentence with LAMF is humbling. I make no excuses about the way I play, I shamelessly rip off Johnny all the time. If people don't like it they can fuck off.

Tate: I've heard some of the new solo songs from you, they sound great! Any ballpark estimate on when fans can expect a release? Do plan on releasing it on CD or Digital Download?

Joey: Good fucking question, there are things I'm struggling with, one is the vocals. I bought all kinds of vocal processors, but all I can make them do is have 4 or 5 tracks of me singing out of key. I'm going to talk to some new people I met in Chicago and maybe get them to sing a bit. Other than that all I need to do is master. I have a CD in front of me now that's being sent to someone in NJ to master. I gave him one song to see what he can do.  

Tate: What do you think of the music world today? Do you see any "hope" for Rock n Roll?

Joey: There will always be Rock and Roll.

Tate: What do you consider your greatest accomplishments so far in life and or in music?

Joey: Staying vertical.

Tate: What keeps you going, to keep playing shows and writing songs?

Joey: I don't know what else to do. The male modeling thing never took off. 

21. Last but not least! What was your favorite guitar and amp you've ever owned? 

Joey: The rig I have now is very nice, I have that '94 Les Paul Special that I did a load of work on. I have a very cool '84 Strat that is better than any Strat I ever had, and there is Doris, the '88 Tele. As far as amps go I wish I could get the sound I have on the record live. I'm using something called an amp modeler and it's fucking amazing.

   Thanks Joey for the interview! You can "LIKE" Joey on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/JoeyPinterRockandRoll . You can also listen to some of his work at http://www.reverbnation.com/joeypinter .

 June 13th 2014.