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

Colosseum The Colosseum ( ; it, Colosseo ) is an oval amphitheatre in the centre of the city of Rome, Italy, just east of the Roman Forum. It is the largest ancient amphitheatre ever built, and is still the largest standing amphitheatre in the world ...

and

Humble Pie Humble Pie are an English rock band formed by guitarist and singer Steve Marriott in Moreton, Essex, in 1969. They are known as one of the first supergroups of the late 1960s and found success in the early 1970s with songs such as " Black Co ...

Career

Clempson began his career in the late 1960s with the

power trio A power trio is a rock and roll band format having a lineup of electric guitar, bass guitar and drum kit (drums and cymbals), leaving out a second rhythm guitar or keyboard instrument that are often used in other rock music bands that are quart ...

Bakerloo The Bakerloo line () is a London Underground line that goes from in suburban north-west London to in south London, via the West End. Printed in brown on the Tube map, it serves 25 stations, 15 of which are underground, over . It runs partly ...

(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 Alfred Gregory Ridley (23 October 1941 – 19 November 2003) was an English bassist who was the bassist and a founding member of the rock band Humble Pie and Spooky Tooth. Career Ridley was born in Carlisle, Cumberland, England. Early in his ...

joined drummer

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

to form Strange Brew. During this period, Clempson auditioned for Deep Purple but lost to

Tommy Bolin Thomas Richard Bolin (August 1, 1951 – December 4, 1976) was an American guitarist and songwriter who played with Zephyr (from 1969 to 1971), The James Gang (from 1973 to 1974), and Deep Purple (from 1975 to 1976), in addition to maintaining a ...

. 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 Uriah Heep may refer to: * Uriah Heep (character), a character in the Charles Dickens novel ''David Copperfield'' *Uriah Heep (band), a British rock band active since 1969 *''Uriah Heep Live ''Uriah Heep Live'' is a double live album by Britis ...

singer

David Byron David Garrick (29 January 1947 – 28 February 1985), better known by his stage name David Byron, was a British singer, who was best known in the early 1970s as the lead vocalist with the rock band Uriah Heep. Byron possessed a powerful opera ...

. 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 John Symon Asher Bruce (14 May 1943 – 25 October 2014) was a Scottish bassist, singer-songwriter, musician and composer. He gained popularity as the primary lead vocalist and ‍bassist ‍of British rock band Cream. After the group disban ...

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 ''Moder ...

and Dave Sancious,

Roger Waters George Roger Waters (born 6 September 1943) is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. In 1965, he co-founded the progressive rock band Pink Floyd. Waters initially served as the bassist, but following the departure of singer-so ...

Manfred Mann's Earth Band Manfred Mann's Earth Band are an English rock band formed by South African musician Manfred Mann. Their hits include covers of Bruce Springsteen's " For You", "Blinded by the Light" and "Spirit in the Night". After forming in 1971 and with a ...

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

, Chris de Burgh,

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

and

Karl Jenkins Sir Karl William Pamp Jenkins (born 17 February 1944) is a Welsh multi-instrumentalist and composer. His best known works include the song "Adiemus" and the ''Adiemus'' album series; ''Palladio''; ''The Armed Man''; and his ''Requiem''. Jen ...

(on ''

Kiri Sings Karl ''Kiri Sings Karl: Songs of Mystery & Enchantment'' is a 2006 classical album by New Zealand opera singer Kiri Te Kanawa, with the London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Karl Jenkins. The pieces were composed by Karl Jenkins, or arranged by him ...

'', 2006) and

Jon Anderson John Roy Anderson (born 25 October 1944) is an English singer, songwriter and musician, best known as the lead singer of the progressive rock band Yes, which he formed in 1968 with bassist Chris Squire. He was a member of the band across thre ...

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

Lawn Dogs A lawn is an area of soil-covered land planted with grasses and other durable plants such as clover which are maintained at a short height with a lawnmower (or sometimes grazing animals) and used for aesthetic and recreational purposes. L ...

'', and '' Tomorrow Never Dies''. Clempson was also called upon by the

Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People * Oscar (given name), an Irish- and English-language name also used in other languages; the article includes the names Oskar, Oskari, Oszkár, Óscar, and other forms. * Oscar (Irish mythology), ...

-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 cosmopolitan and multicultural neighbourhood, hosting the annual Notting Hill Carnival and Portobello Roa ...

''. 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, blues and soul singer. He is best known for his hit single " Out of Time" written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, which rose to No. 1 in the UK Singles Chart in 1 ...

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 Mark Clarke (born 25 July 1950 in Liverpool) is an English musician, bass player and singer, best known for his work with Colosseum and Mountain, as well as brief stints with Uriah Heep and Rainbow. Career After seeing the Beatles and ma ...

. 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

, 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 People from Tamworth, Staffordshire English rock guitarists Humble Pie (band) members Colosseum (band) members