ROD CLEMENTS Rendezvous Café
Batsville BATCD03
This album comprises 26 highly memorable songs written or co-written by Clements, the founding pillar of folk-rock legends Lindisfarne, each one recorded acoustically as originally conceived. Some tracks like Meet Me On The Corner were later developed into Top Ten hits whilst others such as Train In G Major retain their traditional blues style as he pleads to his special woman, “You can leave me when you want to if you just let me know what for.”
Rod has never lost touch with his earliest influences, Woody Guthrie and Leadbelly, and despite the versatility of material and variety of playing styles over the years, he is as passionate as ever about the blues. Rod’s mellifluous vocals, tasteful slide guitar and stunning mandolin playing, accompanied by the superb Ian Thomson on double bass, contribute to the authentic, “back to the roots” musical experience. Clements is a magnificent wordsmith, often poetic, exemplified by the splendidly crafted lyrics on Road To Kingdom Come, One Day, Sundown Station and Can’t Do Right For Doing Wrong. On Why Can’t I Be Satisfied, Rod is at his most anguished as he reflects on the boredom of wealth, stardom and life in London which “could only keep me happy for a while.” His concern for industrial decline is evident in Any Way The Wind Blows whilst Freedom Square and Refugees highlight the plight of the most oppressed members of society.
Although he found fame as bassist with one of England’s most successful bands, it is Rod’s solo albums, these songs which he wrote for Lindisfarne and others, and his acoustic performances since the turn of the millennium which will prove to be his greatest legacy. Fortunately, Rod Clements has no intention of retiring: “Like old blues musicians I will carry on until I drop. True musicians and true artists of whatever their stamp will continue doing it.” Rendezvous Café is so much more than an album; it is a lifetime achievement.
THE BISHOP
