RIP Jim Clench
May 1, 1949 – November 2, 2010
Very sad to hear of the passing of Jim Clench, who had been Bassist / Vocalist with both Canadian top rock acts April Wine and Bachman Turner Overdrive over the years.
He joined April Wine back in 1971 and played on three studio albums 'On Record' (1972), 'Electric Jewels' (1973), 'Stand Back' (1975) as well as the band's early live release simply titled, 'Live' in 1974.
In late 1977, Jim Clench was asked to step into some big shoes, after Randy Bachman quit Bachman Turner Overdrive, although he was in fact taking on Fred Turners role as bass player / backing vocalist, as Turner took on rhythm guitar and main lead vocalist in the band.
His first album with BTO was 1978's 'Street Action' and his second and last album with the band was, 'Rock and Roll Nights' (1979). Later that year, BTO split up until reforming in 1984, but Clench was not a part of that line up.
Then after a number of years between bands, he rejoined April Wine in 1992 when ironically they reformed after splitting up in 1986.
The reformed line up's first new studio release was 1993 well received 'Attitude' and Jim Clench went on to record another three studio albums with the band in, 'Frigate' (1994), 'Back To The Mansion' (2001) and final studio release, 'Roughly Speaking' in 2006.
There was also an excellent double live release 'Greatest Hits Live 2003' as well, where the band were also joined by former Coney Hatch vocalist / lead guitarist, Carl Dixon.
That was really it for Jim Clench who then seemed to call it quits on music professionally.
The actual cause of death has not been officially revealed at this time, although there's been one report that claimed it was lung cancer.
RIP Jim Clench, you made many rock and roll fans very happy with your contribution to music.
Rik Emmett update with his Newsletter
Former Triumph man - Well, they aren't giving us much hope on new material or live dates, are they?! - Rik Emmett, has just shared his latest newsletter with fans and I must say, it does always make for an interesting read. Take it away Rik!
NOVEMBER 2010
Ah, November – one of the ‘cruel’ transition months. The weather in Canada, where I live, is already turning edgy and frosty, and as I write this, tiny little creatures in strange costumes have started showing up, scaring the candy out of good folks in the neighborhood. Brrrrrrrr.
Predictions for October turned out pretty good. Jeannette and I had a wonderful weekend up in Mount Pleasant Michigan as our son was presented with an award at his university. And the HoB gig in Chicago on Oct. 28 with my old friend Jim Peterik and his World Stage group was great fun, hanging out with Jack Blades of Night Ranger, Bun E. Carlos of Cheap Trick, Mike Reno of Loverboy, Don Barnes of .38 Special, Dave Bickell of Survivor, and Lisa McClowry. We raised some dough for San Miguel Schools, http://www.sanmiguelrocks.org/ and the World Stage band, as usual, was smokin’. One of the things that made the gig special for me was that I got to use my new Gibson CS-356 electric guitar [I call her “Ruby”], which arrived only a few weeks ago. Lovely, classy little lady. My wife maintains that she’s not jealous of The Lady In Red.
Dave Dunlop and I have the last 3 Troubs gigs in the U.S. this year coming up really soon – and as I hyped you last month, Cambridge, Philly and New York are going to be truly "can't miss" events. [Boston: http://www.passimcenter.org/ , Philly: http://www.tinangel.com/ , New York: http://www.citywinery.com/ ] You folks might be interested in checking these gigs out, for the crowd participation stuff that happens – some lucky folks get to come up and belt out "Lay It On The Line" backgrounds with us: plus Dave and I indulge in a crazy improve stunt song that’s all about getting the crowd into the act. Oh – and both Dave and I will be using our new Godin guitars – ACS-SA nylon string acoustic-electric models that have the coolest, most modern all-round vibe.
I also want to remind you all once again that I will also be closing out the 2010 ‘Trifecta’ tour season for the PRO Trio as well. That happens November 18 through 20: Oscar Lopez, Pavlo and I will be in –
Parry Sound Ontario Nov. 18, www.stockeycentre.com/,
Alliston Ontario 19th [ www.gibsoncentre.com/ ] and the grand finale is
Nov. 20 at Koerner Hall in Toronto [ http://performance.rcmusic.ca/venues/koernerhall ].
I don’t know how many of you newsletter folks manage to visit http://www.rikemmett.com/ regularly, but those that do might have noticed in our News section that I actually got voted in at # 44 for the top 50 acoustic guitarists of all time on the http://www.gibson.com/ site, which is quite an unexpected honor. I’m sure I don’t deserve it - but, as the sports guys often say, I’ll take it!
There are a few other under-the-radar gigs happening in November: Dave and I are doing an intimate private duo gig out west of Toronto in late November, and before Oscar flies back out west, after our Koerner Hall date, the PRO trio will be involved in taping a Christmas special out in Whitby Ontario on Nov. 23.
Many of our newsletter subscribers are Americans, so I want to wish our U.S. people a Happy Thanksgiving. Our Canadian celebration (our harvests come a bit earlier north of the 49th parallel) was outstanding, with far too many blessings to count, and the only regret is the amount of jail time I must do on the sunken treadmill in our basement [Yes – sunken. Someday, if nudged, I’ll relate the story … ] to try and burn off the calories from overindulging.
By the next time I write again, I will be rehearsing intensely for my early December orchestra gig down St. Catharine’s way, [Dec. 3] where I will play the hit-laden “Guitar Heroes” set list --- yes, Sultans of Swing, yes, Stairway! … yes, Clapton and Hendrix and Santana. Yes – sore, burning fingers!
Pekoe The Goldenest of Doodles is in perfect health – her sister, Bella the tiny tuxedo cat, managed to get her right rear leg dislocated and badly mangled, (can’t say for sure how it happened, but there were no bite marks, or other trauma, so it must have got caught and twisted somehow) so she’s in a splint / cast for – vet says – 8 weeks. Ha. That ought to be a challenge, keeping the likes of her calm and caged.
Recommended, outstanding, weirdly great movie rentals: Dean Spanley [an AMAZING ensemble cast, with truly great work by Sam Neill and Peter O’Toole]. Also – Please Give - again, an acting kind of small NY film, but a terrific cast, with some interesting perspectives on humanity, and how we treat each other, written and directed very well indeed by Nicole Holofcener.
As I sign off, once again, I want to thank you folks for the growth we’ve been experiencing at http://www.rikemmett.com/ – more visitors, more traffic, and more sales.
I am forever in your debt. And the adventure continues, onwards and upwards. Let’s chat again in a month, shall we?
Peace & Love & Cheers,
Rik
Carl Palmer says, no more ELP for me!
Original Emerson, Lake and Palmer - Not forgetting Asia! - drummer, Carl Palmer, has poured serious cold water on the possibility of further dates with a reunited E.L.P.
He says that the High Voltage show in the summer, in London was his last gig with the band.
Dave Ling, one of the better scribes at Classic Rock interviewed the man and in this brief summary, I think it says enough!
Dave Ling asked, 'After 12 years away, was it difficult to reactivate the beast?'
Palmer replied, “Well, for reasons I won’t go into it’s always hard to rev it up. We rehearsed for it for a month, which almost killed me. Not the physical side of it, just keeping interested. Me personally, I didn’t need a month. But that’s what we did, and when it came to the gig what you saw was what you got. That’s as good as it will ever be (again). Everyone seemed pretty happy with it, and I think that gig will be far as the three of us can take things.”
Enough said I think?!
To read more on this and it is interesting to hear his take, a little more, go to:
