Jack Clement House Fire / Rare Photos

If you haven’t heard by now, legendary musician, songwriter, producer, and country music Outlaw “Cowboy” Jack Clement‘s famous home/studio suffered major fire damage Saturday afternoon. Waylon Jennings, John Prine, Johnny Cash, and Charlie Pride among many others recorded and spent time in the Clement compound, famous for creating a relaxed recording environment, and some of the best music the world has ever heard.

Unfortunately many master tapes and other music mementos were lost in the fire. Though in no way a replacement, the occasion of Jack’s name in the news gives me an excuse to share some rare photos from the late 70’s of Jack that heretofore have never been released on the world wide innernets (at least to my knowledge).

Jack Clement is a national treasure. His whimsy and lightheartedness that is illustrated in these pictures is his key to easing the stress of the recording process, and creating albums such as Waylon’s Dreaming My Dreams, or Prine’s Pink Cadillac. If you want more insight into the madness and beauty that is Jack Clement, I suggest you watch the documentary Shakespeare Was a Big George Jones Fan (it’s free to watch!)

These photos and many more from the Outlaw era can be found in The Outlaws, Revolution in Country Music by Michael Bane. Photos attributed to Alan Whitman.

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