Cowboy Jack Clement’s Final Album to Feature Dan Auerbach, John Prine

When Cowboy Jack Clement died at age 82 last August, the colorful artist/songwriter/producer had just completed what would be his final album. Nearly a year since his death from liver cancer, For Once and for All, only the third album Clement recorded as an artist in his outsized career, will be released on July 15.

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The first release on I.R.S. Records Nashville, For Once and for All features collaborations between Clement and a roster of his friends and fellow artists, including John Prine, Emmylou Harris, Bobby Bare, Vince Gill, Marty Stuart, Rodney Crowell, Dierks Bentley and the Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach.

A member of the Country Music Hall of Fame — Clement died three months prior to his induction ceremony — the Tennessee native famously got his start alongside Sam Phillips at Sun Records in Memphis, recording such artists as Jerry Lee Lewis, Roy Orbison and Johnny Cash. He went on to write songs for Cash and produced artists ranging from Waylon Jennings to U2.

In January of 2013, a few months before his death, Clement was honored at an emotional tribute concert in Nashville that featured many of the artists who appear on For Once and for All.