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Cowboy Jack Clement died today (August 8) in Nashville after a long battle with liver cancer. He was 82.

Clement had a long and varied career as a singer, songwriter, producer, and engineer, working with such legends as Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison, and Louis Armstrong.

Born Jack Henderson Clement in Memphis, Tennessee on April 5, 1931, he began playing the guitar as a teenager, before joining the Marines in 1948. After completing his military service, Clement joined the bluegrass group Buzz and Jack & the Bayou Boys, alongside Scotty Stoneman and Buzz Buzby.

In 1956, Clement was hired as a producer/engineer for Sun Records in Memphis. Elvis had moved on to pastures new with RCA, but Clement did work with some of the label’s biggest names, including Carl Perkins, Roy Orbison, Johnny Cash, Charlie Rich, and Jerry Lee Lewis. It was in fact Clement who auditioned Lewis and was in the booth for the recording of such classic recordings as “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On” and “Great Balls of Fire”. In December 1956, Elvis Presley visited Sun Studios and Clement would capture on tape the informal jam session between Elvis, Jerry Lee, Carl Perkins, and Johnny Cash that would become known as the Million Dollar Quartet (although Cash isn’t actually heard on the recording).

After leaving Sun in 1959, Clement spent a short time with RCA before moving to Beaumont, Texas and forming the Gulf Coast Recording Studio and the Hall-Clement publishing company with producer and publisher Bill Hall. He would renew his acquaintance with Johnny Cash in this period, suggesting the mariachi-style arrangement that helped make “Ring of Fire” such a successful recording. The pair would remain friends until Cash’s death.

Clement returned to Nashville in 1965 and become a permanent fixture in the home of country music, recording and producing the likes of Charley Pride, Ray Stevens, Don Williams and Waylon Jennings. He established JMI Records in 1972.

Clement was also a talented songwriter, penning hits such as Johnny Cash’s “Ballad of a Teenage Queen” and “Guess Things Happen That Way,” Waylon Jennings’ “Let’s All Help the Cowboy (Sing the Blues),” Bobby Bare’s “Miller’s Cave,” and “It’ll Be Me,” which was recorded by a number of artists, including Jerry Lee Lewis and Cliff Richard.

After years of helping other artists achieve their potential in the studio, Clement released his debut album “All I Want to Do” in 1978. It was a modest success, and also yielded three singles which scraped into Billboard’s country chart – “We Must Believe in Magic,” “When I Dream” and “All I Want to Do in Life”.

“When I Dream” – Jack Clement

Clement was back at Sun Records in 1987 to work with U2 on several tracks for their “Rattle and Hum” album. The group recorded “When Love Came To Town” with BB King, “Angel of Harlem,” and “Love Rescue Me”.

In 2004, 26 years after his debut album, Clement released his second album, “Guess Things Happen That Way”. The following year, his documentary “Cowboy Jack’s Home Movies” won the best documentary award at the Nashville Film Festival.

Earlier this year, a tribute concert to Jack Clement took place at Nashville’s War Memorial, with artists in attendance including Emmylou Harris, Kris Kristofferson, Buddy Miller, and Amos Lee. Former President Bill Clinton was among those who recorded a video message for the occasion.

Clement’s contribution to country music will be officially recognised on October 27 when he is inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.