GOODBYE MR. DYNAMITERemembering Jerry Clemons, Sr.
by Tom Lounges / Publisher & Editor
I am sad to report the death of Northwest Indiana music icon – Jerry Allen Clemons, Sr. – who passed away peacefully at home the morning of November 19.
A father figure to many musicians in the Northwest Indiana area, Clemons was a well-respected man who spent his life immersed in music.
From childhood days spent watching his daddy pick guitar, through decades of gigging in his own band, to finally realizing his dream of owning his own music store, Jerry lived a full life tangled in music’s web.
The Central City, Kentucky native moved to Chicago in 1959 and settled in Hammond, Indiana in 1972.
Clemons, whose nickname was “Mr. Dynamite” learned to play and sing while a youngster sitting at the feet of his preacher/musician father.
He became well known on the Chicagoland bar circuit during the 1960s and early ‘70s, playing rockabilly music six nights a week while fronting Jerry Clemons & The Sinstars.
The family trio featured Jerry on guitar and vocals, with his brothers Reuben and Joe on bass and drums, respectively.
During the band’s latter years, Jerry took to playing piano, and guitarist Mark Rongers joined their ranks.
A barroom fight put an end to Clemons’ Sinstar career. “The day I stopped six bullets after a bar fight broke out put an end to my playing the honky-tonk circuit,” he recalled.
Those six bullets didn’t change Jerry’s love of music.
“I have seen my biggest dream come true,” Clemons told this writer shortly after he opened the doors of downtown Griffith’s Dynamite Music in 1994. “I have my own music store. And I couldn’t have done it without my son, Jerry (Clemons II).”
Jerry Sr. hosted Sunday afternoons at the jam sessions held at Dynamite Music and would smile ear to ear whenever young Dynamite music students and teenage garage rockers would stop by to sit in with him.
Jerry loved to light a spark in young lives and share the passion he felt for music with kids.
“Once a kid is old enough to get into trouble, music can be a good outlet for them,” he said. “I love all types of music, so I can identify with just about anybody. I try to advise kids not to get stuck in a rut where they like only one type of music. I encourage them to enjoy a little of it all, whether it’s bluegrass, jazz, rock or blues.”
RIP ~ Mr. Dynamite!
Tom Lounges spins Region Rock on his Night Rock radio Show every Sunday evening from 6-9pm on X-ROCK 103.9 |
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