David "Clem" Clempson (born 5 September 1949) is an English rock guitarist who has played in a number of bands, including

Colosseum The Colosseum ( ; , ultimately from Ancient Greek word "kolossos" meaning a large statue or giant) is an Ellipse, elliptical amphitheatre in the centre of the city of Rome, Italy, just east of the Roman Forum. It is the largest ancient amphi ...

and

Humble Pie Humble Pie are an English Rock music, rock band formed by Steve Marriott and Peter Frampton in Moreton, Essex, in 1969. They are known as one of the first Supergroup (music), supergroups of the late 1960s and enjoyed success in the early 1970s ...

Career

Clempson began his career in the late 1960s with the

power trio A power trio is a rock band format having a lineup of electric guitar, bass guitar and drum kit, leaving out a dedicated vocalist or an additional rhythm guitar or keyboard instrument that are often used in other rock music bands that are quart ...

, Bakerloo (originally The Bakerloo Blues Line), playing blues-rock. In 1969, he joined

, until they disbanded in 1971. After Colosseum's split he went on to join

in 1971, replacing Peter Frampton. When the band split in 1975 he and Greg Ridley joined drummer

Cozy Powell Cozy Powell (born Colin Trevor Flooks; 29 December 1947 – 5 April 1998) was an English drummer who made his name with major rock bands and artists such as The Jeff Beck Group, Rainbow, Michael Schenker Group, Gary Moore, Graham Bonnet, B ...

to form Strange Brew. During this period, Clempson auditioned for

Deep Purple Deep Purple are an English rock band formed in London in 1968. They are considered to be among the pioneers of heavy metal music, heavy metal and modern hard rock, although their musical style has varied throughout their career. Originally for ...

but lost to Tommy Bolin. Although he played in Marriott's All Stars, he opted in 1980 not to join the reformed Humble Pie, choosing instead Jack Bruce & Friends. In 1977, Clempson formed the short lived band Rough Diamond with former Uriah Heep singer David Byron. In 1994, Clempson re-joined Colosseum reunion version of the band, and he continued performing with the band until their farewell concert at SBE in London on 28 February 2015. Clempson has appeared as a guest musician with Jack Bruce,

Billy Cobham William Emanuel Cobham Jr. (born May 16, 1944) is a Panamanian–American jazz drummer who came to prominence in the late 1960s and early 1970s with trumpeter Miles Davis and then with the Mahavishnu Orchestra. He was inducted into the '' Mode ...

and Dave Sancious,

Roger Waters George Roger Waters (born 6 September 1943) is an English musician and singer-songwriter. In 1965, he co-founded the rock band Pink Floyd as the bassist. Following the departure of the group's main songwriter Syd Barrett in 1968, Waters became ...

Manfred Mann's Earth Band Manfred Mann's Earth Band are an English rock band formed by South African musician Manfred Mann (musician), Manfred Mann. Their hits include covers of Bruce Springsteen's "For You (Bruce Springsteen song), For You", "Blinded by the Light" an ...

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan; born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Described as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture over his nearly 70-year ...

, Chris de Burgh,

Roger Daltrey Sir Roger Harry Daltrey (born 1 March 1944) is an English singer, musician and actor. He is the co-founder and lead vocalist of the Rock music, rock band the Who, known for his powerful voice and charismatic stage presence. His stage persona ear ...

Kiri te Kanawa Dame Kiri Jeanette Claire Te Kanawa (; born Claire Mary Teresa Rawstron, 6 March 1944) is a New Zealand opera singer. She had a full lyric soprano voice, which has been described as "mellow yet vibrant, warm, ample and unforced". On 1 December ...

and

Karl Jenkins Sir Karl William Pamp Jenkins, , Honorary Fellow of the Learned Society of Wales, HonFLSW (born 17 February 1944) is a Welsh multi-instrumentalist and composer. His best known works include the song "Adiemus (song), Adiemus" (1995, from the Adi ...

(on '' Kiri Sings Karl'', 2006), Greenslade and

Jon Anderson Jon Anderson (born John Roy Anderson, 25 October 1944) is a British, and latterly American, singer, songwriter and musician, best known as the former lead singer of the progressive rock band Yes (band), Yes, which he formed in 1968 with bassis ...

. Credits extend into scores for many films, most notably '' Evita'', '' G.I. Jane'', '' Lawn Dogs'', and ''

Tomorrow Never Dies ''Tomorrow Never Dies'' is a 1997 spy film, the eighteenth in the ''James Bond'' series produced by Eon Productions and the second to star Pierce Brosnan as fictional MI6 agent James Bond. Directed by Roger Spottiswoode from a screenplay ...

''. Clempson was also called upon by the

Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People and fictional and mythical characters * Oscar (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters named Oscar, Óscar or Oskar * Oscar (footballer, born 1954), Brazilian footballer ...

-winning composer Trevor Jones for arrangements for the 1999 romantic comedy film ''

Notting Hill Notting Hill is a district of West London, England, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Notting Hill is known for being a wikt:cosmopolitan, cosmopolitan and multiculturalism, multicultural neighbourhood, hosting the annual Notting ...

''. From 2008 to summer 2012, he played as a member of Hamburg Blues Band. After HBB he formed his own band, The Clem Clempson Band, which started touring at the end of February 2013 in Braunschweig, Germany. Among others the band includes Adrian Askew from Hamburg Blues Band and the band also features

Chris Farlowe Chris Farlowe (born John Henry Deighton, 13 October 1940) is an English rock music, rock, blues and blue-eyed soul singer. He is best known for his hit single "Out of Time (Rolling Stones song), Out of Time" written by Mick Jagger and Keith Ric ...

on vocals occasionally. In 2017, Clempson became a member of a new trio band called JCM. Other members of the band were drummer Jon Hiseman and bass player Mark Clarke. The band recorded an album ''Heroes'' in late 2017 and it was released in April 2018. JCM began touring Europe on 7 April 2018 but the tour ended after the show on 22 April, in Bonn, due to Jon Hiseman's illness. The rest of the tour dates were cancelled. In 2020 he was part of the reformed Colosseum alongside Mark Clarke,

, Malcolm Mortimore, Adrian Askew and Kim Nishikawara.

References

External links

* * *
Exclusive Interview with Clem ClempsonThe Clem Clempson BandJCM
{{DEFAULTSORT:Clempson, Clem 1949 births Living people Musicians from Staffordshire People from Tamworth, Staffordshire English rock guitarists Humble Pie (band) members Colosseum (band) members Lead guitarists