10 Years After The Death Of Joe Strummer

It’s been ten years since the death of Joe Strummer today, so I couldn’t help but think about him.

A few days ago, I revisited Westway To The World and I’d encourage you to do the same. If not in remembrance of Joe, at least for the fine work that director Don Letts has achieved with this documentary. It was first released in 2000, but it remains as the definitive Clash film, complete with candid interviews and telling soundbites, while conveniently overlooking the heartless Cut The Crap release.

I always seem to focus on Joe’s work with the Clash, so today I’ve decided to consider one of my favorite Strummer solo tracks, this one from his debut release Earthquake Weather.

The Clash - Live At Shea Stadium

Back in 1984, the Who released one of those “cleverly” titled Who albums called Who’s Last. It was a posthumous attempt by MCA records to cash in on The Who after the announcement that the band would call it quits. The album was a lackluster affair that later turned out to be a bit premature with the entire farewell connotation.
The idea of The Clash playing at Shea Stadium is a bit misleading too as they were on the bill after David Johansen’s set and just before, you guessed it, The Who. The entire “passing the torch” motif looked good on paper, but the unfortunate reality was that The Clash themselves were also reaching the end of their career. It’s also important to note that, despite initial reports that The Clash’s fans rivaled The Who’s in actual numbers, most people in attendance remember a pretty hostile Who crowd, booing the opening act in the hopes that they would get off the stage.
The reality then must come from the content, and when you compare the audio evidence, you hear immediately that the band with the tightest set was the band that still had something to prove.
While far from being the best Clash show ever (and, no, it does not rival such live landmarks as Live At The Apollo or Live At Leeds like the press release states), it does provide a glimpse of The Clash’s live prowess even when internal strife may have been pulling the band apart behind the scenes.
The London Calling material sounds tight and well rehearsed and the older material is a careful selection of crowd-pleasers (“I Fought The Law,” “English Civil War,” “Tommy Gun”). The surprise is the two Combat Rock selections (the hits, of course) which feature rough arrangements when compared to their studio counterparts.
There is very little experimentation and nothing that hints at The Clash’s reggae influence is present. “The Magnificent Seven” is the extent of the band’s early rap direction, probably included on the Shea set because it actually receive some radio support around the N.Y.C. area when Sandinista! was released.
The song selection, the pacing, the energy, it’s all fairly representative of a band given forty-five minutes as an opener for a huge headliner. The Clash sound like they’re trying to utilize every minute of opportunity and, for the most part, they succeed. Did they win over many Who fans? Probably not, but it’s pretty indicative of the band’s willingness to walk into a hostile situation and prove it where it matters the most.
I’m sure there’s a lot of people in attendance for this performance that now count themselves as Clash fans, but they got their on their own terms. This performance is merely one step to get to that point, a satisfying piece of audio evidence for the faithful and a late catalog curio for those starting out. In other words, you already know what Clash albums you need to start with, but at least now you’ve got a chance hear where the band ended up.

Still Missing Joe

Has it really been five years?
In some ways, I’m glad that Joe Strummer isn’t around to see how ridiculous things have gotten. But then I realize that we probably need him around more than ever, since no one has managed to step up their game to the level of Joe.
And it’s practically unforgettable to think about how low fellow Clash cohort, Mick Jones, has gotten since that time.
But what a class act Strummer was. Even the lean years (Cut The Crap) seem strangely forgiveable because, well because even Joe himself would acknowledge that they were crap.
On the other end of it, he seemed completely humble about the years that everyone reveres. The ones that produced some of the most landmark albums known to rock music.
The ones that you bring out on a regular basis.
The ones that make you miss Joe Strummer even more when you’re done listening to them.

Happy Birthday, Joe Strummer

Joe Strummer would have turned 55 today.

Anger Could Be Power

There are days when I feel really bummed out about the death of Joe Strummer. Admittedly, I don’t dwell on it a lot, but when I do, I get bummed. Is it wrong of me to admit that I’ve been more bummed about his death during the past year than my own Grandfather’s passing? Probably not; Gramps ‘bout haddit while Joe was still young enough to whip together a bitchin’ Clash reunion one of these years. This is the way I roll.
There are days when I think The Clash were the best fucking band in the world and, during their prime, this was probably the case. “The only band that matters” was one of their slogans and while it didn’t ring true to me back in the day, it certainly makes sense now. Give me a break: I would have rated “Candy-O” higher than “London Calling” in 1979 and stumbled onto The Clash’s masterpiece only because Epic Records decided to put a “offensive warning” sticker on the cover of it.
So I bought “London Calling” again for the third time thanks to a Best Buy gift card given to yours truly for taking some of Motorola’s wonderful on-line training. I’d like to think that the real reason I got it was because I complained that my login to Motorola’s website wasn’t working and that not being able to take their on-line courses was “making me very sad.” I got at least a dozen email responses from actual Motorola workers immediately afterwards apologizing for the inconvenience. I love it when sarcasm isn’t translated into the typed word.
With the Best Buy gift card, I walked right into their gay bathhouse of merchandise and bought the only disc that mattered: “London Calling (The 25th Anniversary Legacy Edition).” Let me state that I’m with you: I’m tired of all these labels re-mastering, re-packaging, re-marketing all of their shit for the sixth time only to have you buy it once again. God bless the girl who admitted to me that this deluxe edition was the first time she’s purchased it since it came out on vinyl. I have the shitty original cd issue and can attest to its weak-ass mastering.

The new one sounds fucking incredible. Go get it, particularly if you don’t have the Clash dvd documentary “Westway To The World.” The re-issue includes a dvd on “London Calling,” but it replicates a lot of footage from the “Westway” release, which makes me an even bigger sap. Just watching Joe’s eloquent everyman interview makes me want to flick off the Lord and ask “Why the fuck do you always take the good ones? You can have Don Dokken instead!” Just watching the documentary also makes me consider: “If I were gay, I would totally let Paul Simonon have his way with me.” I can’t say that about George Lynch.
The bonus dvd also has some great footage of the actual “London Calling” recording sessions, in retrorific black & white. It’s complete with producer Guy Stevens throwing chairs, twirling ladders, and jumping around like a crazy dude. Whatever he did worked and the footage is incredible.
Another selling point was the inclusion of the infamous demo recordings called “The Vanilla Tapes.” The tapes themselves don’t reveal much other than the demos of a band learning the songs that would comprise the bulk of the album. Sure, it’s fun for those of us that get a kick out of hearing shitty sounding versions of the songs we love, but it’s nothing to recommend to someone who only knows The Clash as the band they play whenever we bomb Iraq. For the rest of yous, the regular remastered edition is plenty enough, cuz they were the only band that mattered anyway.