Videos by American Songwriter
LABEL: TREMOLO PRODUCTIONS/SHOUT! FACTORY
RATING: 3.5 STARS
“Cowboy” Jack Clement has been an ace engineer, producer, songwriter, performer, talent scout, dance instructor and Marine…This outstanding new DVD spotlights Clement’s expertise as an amateur filmmaker. During those years when he was producing Jerry Lee Lewis, Elvis Presley and U2, and convincing industry figures Charlie Pride and Townes Van Zandt truly had talent; he was also utilizing his film cameras. Besides Clement’s uncensored, candid and often quite wry and humorous commentary, there are also some unbelievable shots of everything from George Jones coming to dinner to his early recording dates with Porter Wagoner and Dolly Parton, and the site of Bono acting like anything but a rock star. Producer/directors Robert Gordon and Morgan Neville have crafted a portrait that’s loving and charming, but doesn’t sanitize Clement or tone down all the qualities that have made him a legend (his brash, outspoken nature being foremost among those). It’s a scrapbook on a fascinating period, when decisions were made more for musical and gut reasons than demographic and advertising ones, and when real characters were the rule rather than media-generated ones.
