Roderick Parry Clements (born 17 November 1947 in

North Shields North Shields () is a town in the Borough of North Tyneside in Tyne and Wear, England. It is north-east of Newcastle upon Tyne and borders nearby Wallsend and Tynemouth. Since 1974, it has been in the North Tyneside borough of Tyne and Wea ...

, Northumberland) is a British guitarist, singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. He formed the folk-rock band Lindisfarne with

Alan Hull James Alan Hull (20 February 1945 – 17 November 1995) was an English singer-songwriter and founding member of the Tyneside folk rock band Lindisfarne. Career Hull was born at 68 Sutton's Dwellings, Adelaide Terrace, Benwell, Newcastle upon ...

in 1970, and wrote "Meet Me on the Corner", a UK Top 5 hit in March 1972, which won Clements an

Ivor Novello Award The Ivor Novello Awards, named after the entertainer Ivor Novello, are awards for songwriting and composing. They have been presented annually in London by the Ivors Academy (formerly the BASCA) since 1956, and over 1,000 statuettes have been ...

. Lindisfarne broke up in 1973 and Clements became a founding member of

Jack the Lad Jack the Lad were a British folk rock group from North East England formed in 1973 by three former members of the most successful band of the period from the region, Lindisfarne. They moved from the progressive folk rock of Lindisfarne into m ...

, also working with

Ralph McTell Ralph McTell (born Ralph May, 3 December 1944) is an English singer-songwriter and acoustic guitar player who has been an influential figure on the UK folk music scene since the 1960s. McTell is best known for his song " Streets of London" (19 ...

and

Bert Jansch Herbert Jansch (3 November 1943 – 5 October 2011) was a Scottish folk musician and founding member of the band Pentangle. He was born in Glasgow and came to prominence in London in the 1960s as an acoustic guitarist and singer-songwriter ...

. Lindisfarne reformed in 1977 and Clements continued to be part of the line-up until 2003. Rod rejoined Lindisfarne in 2015 and is currently touring and performing with the band.

Career

Clements was an only child, and grew up in a household in which neither parent was especially active musically, though his mother did play the piano. His father was a lover of classical music and he encouraged his son to attend concerts. Clements attended

The King's School, Tynemouth Kings Priory School is a mixed all-through school and sixth form located in Tynemouth, Tyne and Wear, England. The current principal is Mr Philip Sanderson. The school has a Christian foundation as the largest member of the Woodard Corporation, ...

after which, at the age of 12, he was sent to

Durham School Durham School is an independent boarding and day school in the English public school tradition located in Durham, North East England and was an all-boys institution until 1985, when girls were admitted to the sixth form. The school takes pupils ...

. He subsequently attended Durham University ( St. Cuthbert's Society), graduating with a BA in

ancient history Ancient history is a time period from the beginning of writing and recorded human history to as far as late antiquity. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, beginning with the Sumerian cuneiform script. Ancient history cove ...

and

anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including past human species. Social anthropology studies patterns of be ...

. From an early age he had been able to pick up a tune and play it and his first inspiration to play the guitar came from hearing the hits of

Duane Eddy Duane Eddy (born April 26, 1938) is an American rock and roll guitarist. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, he had a string of hit records produced by Lee Hazlewood, which were noted for their characteristically "twangy" sound, including " Rebel ...

The Shadows The Shadows (originally known as the Drifters) were an English instrumental rock group, who dominated the British popular music charts in the late 1950s and early 1960s, in the pre- Beatles era. They served as the backing band for Cliff Richard ...

and

The Ventures The Ventures are an American instrumental rock band formed in Tacoma, Washington, in 1958, by Don Wilson and Bob Bogle. The band, which was a quartet for most of its existence, helped to popularize the electric guitar across the world during the ...

. By 1965 he had formed an R&B group called Downtown Faction.History of Lindisfarne
''lindisfarne.co.uk'' As a bass guitarist, Clements teamed up with local musicians in

to form a blues band (also called the Downtown Faction). The band was later renamed Brethren, and became regular performers at folk clubs in the North East. Clements befriended a

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

singer/songwriter called

, and formed the folk-rock band Lindisfarne with him and several members of Brethren in 1970. Although Hull was Lindisfarne's main songwriter, Clements provided the band with its first hit in "Meet Me on the Corner", a UK Top 5 hit in March 1972. Clements won a Certificate of Honour at the

Ivor Novello Awards The Ivor Novello Awards, named after the entertainer Ivor Novello, are awards for songwriting and composing. They have been presented annually in London by the Ivors Academy (formerly the BASCA) since 1956, and over 1,000 statuettes have been a ...

for the song. Lindisfarne broke up in 1973 and Clements became a founding member of

, which also included two other former Lindisfarne members, on whose debut album ''It's Jack The Lad'' he played a significant role as multi-instrumentalist and songwriter. In 1974 he played bass on

's " Streets of London", which topped the UK charts at Christmas that year. Clements went on to tour and record several albums with McTell. He also worked with

, touring Britain and Europe and working as Producer on Bert's comeback album ''

A Rare Conundrum ''A Rare Conundrum'' is the 11th album by Scottish folk musician Bert Jansch, released in 1977 in the UK. The album was first released by Ex Libris in Denmark in late 1976 as ''Poormouth'' with an alternative cover and a slightly different tr ...

''. Clements and Jansch also recorded a

Woody Guthrie Woodrow Wilson Guthrie (; July 14, 1912 – October 3, 1967) was an American singer-songwriter, one of the most significant figures in American folk music. His work focused on themes of American socialism and anti-fascism. He has inspired ...

tribute album, ''Woody Lives!'', and the jointly credited '' Leather Launderette''. Lindisfarne reformed in 1977 and Clements continued to be part of the line-up, contributing many songs to albums such as '' Back and Fourth'', ''The News'', ''Sleepless Nights'' and ''Dance Your Life Away''. Following Alan Hull's death in 1995 Rod became the band's main songwriter who, in partnership with producer and co-writer Nigel Stonier, provided the bulk of material for Lindisfarne's two last albums, ''Here Comes The Neighbourhood'' (1998) and ''Promenade'' (2002). The band finally broke up following a concert in Newcastle Opera House in November 2003. Clements' main role in Lindisfarne was that of bassist until 1990, when he moved to slide guitar and mandolin; his former role was filled thereafter by Steve Cunningham and latterly Ian Thomson. Clements also played violin from time to time, most notably in the instrumental break of "Fog on the Tyne", both on stage and on disc. Clements has also toured and recorded with

Rab Noakes Robert Ogilvie Noakes (13 May 1947 – 11 November 2022) was a Scottish singer-songwriter. Noakes was at the forefront of Scottish folk music for over 50 years and recorded over 19 studio albums. He toured folk clubs and often performed at the G ...

and Michael Chapman and performed on albums by

Peter Hammill Peter Joseph Andrew Hammill (born 5 November 1948) is an English musician and recording artist. He was a founder member of the progressive rock band Van der Graaf Generator. Best known as a singer/songwriter, he also plays guitar and piano and ...

Wizz Jones Raymond Ronald Jones (born 25 April 1939), better-known as Wizz Jones, is an English acoustic guitarist, singer and songwriter. He was born in Thornton Heath, Surrey, England and has been performing since the late 1950s and recording from 19 ...

and

Kathryn Tickell Kathryn Tickell, OBE, DL (born 8 June 1967) is an English musician, noted for playing the Northumbrian smallpipes and fiddle. Music career Early life Kathryn Tickell was born in Walsall, then in Staffordshire, to parents who originated fro ...

amongst others. He has also supplied bass, dobro, and guitar parts to albums by singer/songwriter Thea Gilmore, who has herself appeared on Rod's solo albums. Clements released the album ''One Track Mind'' in 1994, and followed this with ''Stamping Ground'' in 2000, having written or co-written each of the tracks. Another album, ''Odd Man Out'' was released in 2006. It was produced by Nigel Stonier. Spring 2008 saw the reissue with bonus tracks of ''One Track Mind''. He continues to tour regularly, performing a mixture of Lindisfarne songs and his solo efforts. Songs written by Clements have been covered by artists including

Melanie Safka Melanie Anne Safka-Schekeryk (born February 3, 1947), professionally known as Melanie or Melanie Safka, is an American singer-songwriter. She is best known for the 1971–72 global hit "Brand New Key", her cover of " Ruby Tuesday", her compositi ...

and Joe Brown; and a Clements/Stonier composition, "Can't Do Right For Doing Wrong", was a British Top 30 hit for Erin Rocha at Christmas 2003. Clements re-joined Lindisfarne in 2015, replacing co-founder Ray Jackson retired from the band, with the band he now performs vocals, slide guitar, mandolin, violin.

Discography

;Solo albums * ''One Track Mind'' (1994) * ''Stamping Ground'' (2000) * ''Live Ghosts'' (2004) * ''Odd Man Out'' (2006) * ''One Track Mind 2008'' (2008) – with bonus tracks ;Lindisfarne albums with Clements * ''

Nicely Out of Tune ''Nicely Out of Tune'' is the debut album by Lindisfarne, released in late 1970. It charted more than a year after release, thanks to the huge success of their second album ''Fog on the Tyne'', which topped the charts early in 1972. " Lady Ele ...

'' (1970) * '' Fog on the Tyne'' (1971) * '' Dingly Dell'' (1972) * '' Back And Fourth'' (1978) * ''The News'' (1979) * ''Sleepless Nights'' (1982) * ''Dance Your Life Away'' (1986) * ''Amigos'' (1989) * ''Elvis Lives on the Moon'' (1993) * ''Blues from the Bothy'' (EP) (1997) * ''Here Comes the Neighbourhood'' (1998) * ''Promenade'' (2002) ;Jack the Lad * ''It's Jack the Lad'' (1973) ; with Bert Jansch * "In the Bleak Midwinter" (single) (1974) * ''A Rare Conundrum'' (1976) ; Bert Jansch & Rod Clements * ''Leather Launderette'' (1988) ; with Ralph McTell * "Streets of London" (single) (1974) * ''Streets'' (album) (1975) * ''Right Side Up'' (1976) * ''Songs from Alphabet Zoo'' (1983) ; with Prelude * ''Owl Creek Incident'' (1975) ; with Dando Shaft * ''Kingdom'' (1977) ; with Michael Chapman * ''The Man Who Hated Mornings'' (1977) * ''Looking for Eleven'' (1980) * ''Plaindealer'' (2005) ; with Jim Rafferty * ''Don't Talk Back'' (1978) ; with Rab Noakes * ''Rab Noakes'' (1980) * ''Under the Rain'' (1983) * ''Throwing Shapes'' (Rab Noakes & The Varaflames) (2000) ; with Thea Gilmore * ''The Lipstick Conspiracies'' (2000) * ''Songs from the Gutter'' (2002) ; with Nigel Stonier * ''Golden Coins'' (1993) * ''Brimstone & Blue'' (2002) ; with Peter Hammill * ''Fool's Mate'' (1971) ; with Wizz Jones * ''Happiness Was Free'' (1976) ; with Kathryn Tickell * ''Borderlands'' (1986) ; with Pentangle * ''So Early in the Spring'' (1989) ; with Mark Knopfler * ''Newport Mount Rag'' (recorded 1974) ;Various artists * ''Woody Lives!'' (Woody Guthrie tribute album) (1987) * ''People on the Highway'' (Bert Jansch tribute album) (2000)

References

External links

*
Discography

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clements, Rod 1947 births Living people English folk musicians British folk rock musicians English folk guitarists English male guitarists English blues musicians English blues guitarists Slide guitarists English bass guitarists Male bass guitarists English multi-instrumentalists Folk fiddlers British mandolinists English male singers English songwriters People from North Shields Musicians from Tyne and Wear People educated at The King's School, Tynemouth Alumni of St Cuthbert's Society, Durham Pentangle (band) members Lindisfarne (band) members 21st-century violinists 21st-century British male musicians British male songwriters