Fire chars Cowboy Jack Clement's homeWritten by Jenny Upchurch | The Tennessean 
Famed musician and producer Cowboy Jack Clement’s home of 40 years, and the priceless music
memorabilia and memories it held, burned Saturday afternoon.
Clement, girlfriend Aleene Jackson and others escaped the house off Belmont Boulevard unharmed.
Clement also safely secured their three cats and his vintage guitars.
“I got my baby,” he said, referring to a Gibson J200 guitar he bought in 1951 while still in the Marines.
The guitar was scratched by Elvis Presley’s belt buckle.
Clement has been the hand behind the music on legendary productions such as at Sun Records for Jerry
Lee Lewis’ “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On” as well as recording sessions with Roy Orbison, Carl Perkins,
Johnny Cash and Charlie Rich.
He developed the careers of Charley Pride and George Jones. Outside of country music, Clement
produced three tracks for U2’s “Rattle and Hum” sessions in Memphis and also produced an album for
blues trumpet great Louis Armstrong.
The Cowboy Arms
The brick and stucco Tudor-style home at 3405 Belmont Blvd. has been at the center of his music legend making.
Clement referred to the place as The Cowboy Arms Hotel and Recording Spa, and Johnny Cash, Waylon
Jennings, Eddy Arnold and John Prine were among the many who spent time there.
In the studio, built more than 30 years ago, Clement stored reel-to-reel master tapes of recordings —
many unreleased — by Cash, Prine, Armstrong and dozens of others.
“I’m sure we’ve lost some other memorabilia,” said Clement as he sat in his backyard on a picnic table
bench wearing Elvis-print pajamas.
He had been out in the yard chatting with a neighbor before a cookout when he heard someone inside
yelling there was a fire.
“I wasn’t that worried at first,” he said.
Priceless mementos
The fire began in the attic space, and heavy smoke was boiling out the two dormers when the first fire
trucks arrived at 2:03 p.m., said Nashville Fire Department Capt. Steve Holt.
“It was a hot fire, heavy smoke, all in the attic,” Holt said.
The soundproofed studio on the third floor made it difficult for crews to break through and combat the
blaze, he said. And 90-degree temperatures kept firefighters from working more than 15 minutes before
needing to be relieved.
More than 18 trucks and 40 firefighters worked for an hour before the fire was beaten down, leaving a
choking stench of charred, wet wood in the Green Hills neighborhood.
A fire marshal had yet to determine the cause by Saturday.
Clement, 80, bought the house in 1970. It is valued at $621,000 by the Davidson County property assessor.
The home was featured prominently in the documentary Shakespeare Was a Big George Jones Fan:
Cowboy Jack Clement’s Home Movies.
Downstairs, Clement kept priceless mementos such as photos taken by and autographed by best friend
Cash, files on music productions and movie scripts.
Music writer Peter Cooper contributed to this report.
Contact Jenny Upchurch at 615-726-5970 or jupchurch@tennessean.com.
Source : HERE
(L-R): Johnny Cash, Roy Acuff, and Clement in 1988. Photo: Alan Mayor
Sujet: Fire chars Cowboy Jack Clement's home 
