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VOICES FROM THE CHOIR: THE CLASH

February 17, 2010 – 4:13 am

One of the great pleasures of editing Live! Music Review was reading the letters it generated from readers every month. Many offered reviews of their favorite artists - often releases we hadn’t covered. While some of these reviews fell into the trappings of “fandom” - where every performance was “spectacular” and even the most cloudy audience recording was sugarcoated as “quite listenable” - a great majority offered a more objective view and an exemplary knowledge of the subject. Eventually, a section of L!MR was created called Voices From the Choir to feature the best of such reviews. - Bill Glahn

Voices From the Choir: Where the readers take over

Black Market Clash
by Todd Philip Moskowitz

The Clash - The only band that matters! Or so my Clash T-shirt proclaims. Let’s look at the band’s career over six “very live” CDs. I’m not a self-proclaimed expert and very little is available to collectors as for definitive information compared to Led Zeppelin, Beatles, Hendrix, or Dylan. I hope this does shed some light on a great band whose legacy seems to fall through he cracks of rock history. I do not believe I’m alone in craving more quality CDs from this band.

The Clash “Live in Cardiff 1977” (Super Golden Radio Shows SGRS 028, 34:32)
Venue: states Cardiff 1977 [editor’s note: actually Leicester Polytechnic, May 13, 1977]
Sound Quality: compressed radio broadcast
Cover: Color picture of Mick Jones on cover, not from the right era.
Tracklist: I’m So Bored With the USA (fade-up into the song)/ Hate and War/ 48 Hours/ Deny/ Police & Thieves/ Cheat/ Capitol Radio One/ What’s My Name/ Protex Blue/ Remote Control/ Garageland/ 1977
Comments: Early days for the Clash, six songs from the first album plus six that would later be used on “Super Black Market Clash” (CD). Joe Strummer is in great vocal form and Mick Jones is strong on his lead vocals. The band is firing on all cylinders. The energy is mach 10! 12 songs in 34:32! I don’t know if it’s a complete show because of the fade-up at the beginning and quick fade at the conclusion of “1977.” A fantastic document of the beginning of a great songwriting duo of Strummer and Jones and the start of an era. “1977… No Beatles, Elvis, or Rolling Stones.”

The Clash “U.S.A. 1979” (Live Storm LSCD 51208, 64:29)
Venue: ?? [editor’s note: London Lyceum  December 29, 1978. Live Storm was notorious for listing limited and inaccurate venue info - in this case they get the continent and the year wrong in the title.]
Cover: Strummer in a black & white head shot. Back has the song list correct, but no venue listed anywhere on it.
Tracklist: Safe European Home/ I Fought the Law/ Jail Guitar Doors/ Drug Stabbing Time/ Cheapskates/ City of the Dead/ Clash City Rockers/ Tommy Gun/ White Man in the Hammersmith Palais/ English Civil War/ Stay Free Guns on the Roof/ Police & Thieves/ Julie’s Been Working for the Drug Squad/ Capitol Radio/ Janie Jones/ Garageland/ Complete Control
Comments: I believe this recording is possibly from the 1978 tour or early 1979. No London Calling material is present yet. It features 10 songs from the first record and eight from Give ‘Em Enough Rope (1978), their second release. Tracks like “Guns on the Roof,” “Cheapskates,” and “Drug Stabbing Time” which will be dropped in future tours are given vital readings. The band sound like they are trying hard to please. “City of the Dead” is an excellent rarity and receive an outstanding performance. Strummer leads us through the evening’s festivities in a jovial mood. Jonesy is outstanding on “Stay Fee” and has a strong performance in the harmony department, singing every chorus with fervor. The band plays very energetically.

The Clash “The Guns of Brixton” (Great Dane GDR 9001, 77:37)
Venue: The Palladium, New York City, NY 9/21/79
Sound Quality: Excellent radio broadcast although the mix does float around. Too much gating Topper Headon’s high-hat.
Cover: Cool color cover! Excellent backstage picture inside booklet. Set lists are correct. Three cheers!
Tracklist: Safe European Home/ I’m So Bored with the U.S.A./ Complete Control/London Calling/ White Man in Hammersmith Palais/ Koka Kola/ I Fought the Law/ Jail Guitar Doors/ The Guns of Brixton/ English Civil War/ Clash City Rocker/ Police & Thieves/ Capital Radio One/ Tommy Gun/ Wrong ‘Em Boyo/ Janie Jones/ Garageland/ Armagideon Time/ Career Opportunities/ What’s My Name?/ White Riot
Comments: The London Calling Tour finds the lads playing on the radio - an FM broadcast for New York’s premier rock station at the time, WNEW 1027. A good mix of the first two records with some newer material (6 songs) mixed in, there’s a 23 song set list for this performance. The first thing you notice is Mick Jones’ guitar has changed - it now features a watery phaser sound that also packs a punch. He plays his ass off and displays guitar techniques not usually associated with Punk. It’s a sign of the band moving away from the minimalist roots and stretching out in its playing. Their quickly maturing song writing is evident in this performance.

More styles are showing with a new raggae and ska influence mixing in with a fifties early rock vibe. The band is joined by Mick Gallagher on Hammond organ for the latter part of the set and is very complementary in his approach. The Jamaican-influenced “Armagideon Time” is performed which would later show up on the Black Market Clash LP. It would remain a part of the set for many future tours. There’s a great introduction of “London Calling” with Strummer stressing the line “Finally all that phony Beatle-mania has bitten the dust!” “Koka Kola,” “Clampdown,” Wrong ‘Em Boyo,” and “The Guns of Brixton” give proof of the band’s increasing desire to stretch its musical boundaries.

Paul Simonon’s lead vocal on “The Guns of Brixton” will become his signature song. Other highlights include “Clash City Rockers,” “Police & Thieves,” “Capitol Radio One” (featuring a line about all the DJs smoking dope!) and “Stay Free” (always a personal favorite, a little sloppy tonight but Mick rips into te words). The crowd calls out for it and the boys bring own the house with “White Riot.” Very satisfying indeed!

Note: At the time of purchasing this disc in 1994, there was a disc called Bronx City Rockers. It contained the same show but its track listing looked out of order. L!MR only rated the sound 7-8. [Editor’s note: Bronx City Rockers is indeed an inferior copy of the same show.]

The Clash “Into the 80’s” (Kiss the Stone KTS017, 57:10)
Venue: Lochem Festival, Holland 5/20/82
Sound Quality: Excellent radio broadcast
Cover: Strummer on the front between the Clash logo. Back is a fantastic photo of the band on stage. It is a wonderful package all the way around. Track listing is correct as well.
Tracklist: London Calling/ Safe European Home/ The Guns of Brixton/ Train in Vain/ Clash City Rockers/ Know Your Rights/ Magnificent Seven/ Ghetto Defendant/ Should I Stay or Should I Go/ Police & Thieves/ Brand New Cadillac/ Bank Robber/ Complete Control/ Career Opportunities/  Clampdown
Comments: A festival show with a shortened set. No matter, they deliver more for a buck than most bands. Strummer is in constant dialogue with the security to go easy on the crowd. “There’s nothing to defend,” he yells. The set is a preview of the now approaching Combat Rock era. A great mix of their best songs is presented. A wonderfully fun version of “Guns” is played with a breakdown of drums and bass at the request of Mr. Simonen. A powerful “Train in Vain” is delivered by Mick Jones. “Ghetto Defendant” is Topper’s time to shine. “Should I Stay…” is another Jonesy lead composition and is played with vitality.

A chaotic beginning to “Police & Thieves” is transformed into the most experimental version I’ heard. It works! “Bank Robber” is played and the crowd sings every word as does the whole band. “Complete Control” leaves the crowd out of control! “Career Opportunities” clocks in at 1:39, the shortest version I’ve heard. Perhaps a time restraint? “Clampdown” bring the close of the set. Mick’s guitar does some cool harmonizer-like sound. Strummer indulges in some ad libs - the song sounds like it is about to end. But then a quick fade out! Is there more? A rather enjoyable performance all the way around. Excellent sounding show.

The Clash “Jamaican Affair” (Dr. Gig DGCD 033, 61:33)
Venue: Kingston, Jamaica 11/27/82
Sound Quality: Excellent stereo soundboard
Cover: Strummer with mohawk on front cover, the Clash on stage in full flight on back. (Combat Rock in full swing!) Tracklist is correct and timings are included. No exact date is given, only location and year.
Tracklist: London Caling/ Police on My Back/ The Guns of Brixton/ Magnificent Seven> Armagideon Time> Mgnificent Seven/ Junco Partner/ Spanish Bombs/ One More Time (edit)/ Train in Vain/ Bank Robber/ This is Radio Clash/ Clampdown/ Should I Stay or Should I Go?/ Rock the Casbah/ Straight to Hell/ I Fought the Law
Comments: When I spotted this little beauty I immediately went to check “Straight to Hell” to see if it was complete. My treasured tape of this show had a nasty cut at the end. The disc had it complete! I took it home and discovered to my dismay, a completely stupid edit of “One More Time.” It took a whole verse out, leaving it annoyingly ineffective. Complete on my tape source though. Why does this happen? You got my damn money! This should have been complete!

The disc gives us The Clash in Jamaica at the first ever “Jamaica World Music Festival.” They closed the show. The disc goes as far as giving us the introduction of he band (before “London Calling”) and amusing closing announcements for people traveling back to the USA.

The set features a mix of the best they have to offer. “Police on My Back” is gven a strong showing by Jonesy. The raggae vibe is strong and a fun “Guns” is performed. The first truly special moment comes in “Magnificent Seven> Armagideon Time,” a one-off merging of the songs with the boys slowing it down in the middle to a “Kingston Eight” feel to get into “Armagideon Time,” only to rev it back up into “Magnficent Seven.” “Spanish Bombs,” “Train in Vain,” “Bank Robber,” all are exceptional. “Straight to Hell” clocks in at 7 minutes, plus!

In fact, the whole show is fantastic and a definite joy to listen to. Great tight playing by the band tonight. Joe Strummer is in great spirits and talks to the crowd between most songs. He mentions having a great vacation. He even goes so far as threatening the audience with bringing on The Grateful Dead if they don’t shape up. I love this guy’s sense of humor. This is a “must have!” The closing moments mention a film crew. I would kill for a video of this performance! Anyone out there holding out on us?

The Clash “Clash Calling” (Home Records HR 6021-8, 69:12)
Venue: US Festival 5/29/83
Sound Quality: Taken from an excellent video soundboard but suffering from a case of hiss. It shouldn’t be this bad. Some eq filtering of 16K removes the annoyance. Not a good start.
Cover: Nice pictures but from totally the wrong eras. Numerous tracklist errors and renaming of songs and spelling mistakes.
Tracklist: London Calling(cut into Radio Clash - not listed)/ Somebody Got Murdered/ Rock the Casbah/ The Guns of Brixton/ Know Your Rights/ Koka Kola/ Hate & War/ Armagideon Time/ The Sound of Sinners/ Safe European Home/ Police on My Back/ Brand New Cadillac/ I Fought the Law/ I’m So Bored with the USA/ Train in Vain (slight cut)/ Magnificent Seven/ Straight to Hell/ Should I Say or Should I Go?/Clampdown
Comments: After being duped by a lame transfer from video nothing new is offered (“London Calling” splice into “Radio Clash” is identical to my copy of the video). The offering of “London Calling” is only about a minute - totally ineffective because of this. The vibe is terrible as Strummer constantly bemoans the audience and festival promoters. He is totally on fire! The band at this stage is on the verge of breaking up (this is the last show with Jones and Topper Headon is long gone.)

The playing is sloppy for most of this show. They do recover for the latter half and Strummer wins over the audience by the end. The highlights for me are Strummer’s rantings! The musical ones are “Sound of Sinners” (a rarity), and “Train in Vain,” although a slight cut in the breakdown section is unexplainable (yet again). “Straight to Hell” is amusing with adlibbed lyrics. A longer version of “Clampdown is performed and closes out the debacle. A sad way to go out for one truly great band.

[2010 updates] The Clash were voted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2002. Paul Simonen refused to participate in a planned reunion for the 2003 induction ceremony stating that the high-priced  ceremony was elitist and against everything the Clash stood for. A reunion (even a partial one) was ill-fated, however, as Joe Strummer died of sudden heart failure in December 2002.

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No MAFIAA needed: Download of the Week

William Elliott Whitmore: The Daytripper Sessions (free downloads)

http://www.daytrotter.com/dt/william-elliott-whitmore-religions-unto-themselves-when-heaven-and-hell-are-mutually-paired-into-blurriness-concert/20030044-110354.html

http://www.daytrotter.com/dt/william-elliott-whitmore-concert/20030573-110354.html

With his slim build, tattoos, and fiery approach, William Elliott Whitmore might come across as Joe Strummer’s country cousin. And that wouldn’t be very far off.

Whitmore’s songs, played in both country blues and gospel style with sparse guitar and banjo accompaniment, come from a different set of parameters and influences than Strummer’s music. Whitmore shares a kinship with the black dirt of midwest farm country - so much so as to invoke images of black mud flowing through his veins after he dies.  That being said, 2009’s Animals in the Dark might well have been called “Iowa Calling” - a rural call to arms with very defined targets. Check out “Old Devils” and “Who Stole the Soul.” And for that matter, “Johnny Law.” “And I couldn’t help but think/  Of the words of my dear departed pa/ He said, do the best you can/ Be a good man/ But don’t you never trust Johnny Law.”

Death plays big in Whitmore’s music, something that isn’t all that surprising considering he had lost both his parents by the age of 19 (father to cancer, mother to a motorcycle accident). One might view this as an obsession, but it’s not quite that. In an interview with Daytrotter, Whitmore expounds on the subject. “(Life and death are) equally powerful… I learned a lot about life and death growing up on the farm, where your horses die and things die. It’s not really a bad thing, it just is.”

On the death of his parents: “That kind of made me go crazy. It just kind of made me go off the deep-end. I just tried to really pull myself together. That’s when I really started playing music. If my folks hadn’t died, I’d probably be baling hay right now. Not that that would be a bad thing, but my life wouldn’t be the same. I think I appreciated that. I just wanted to bury myself. I just wanted to fuckin’ die, but I couldn’t. I realized that I could become the man I needed to be right now.”

Whitmore sings in an ancient voice, one that projects an atmosphere of wisdom, rather than a less-defined youthful rebellion. The result is a shared vision with Strummer, if not a shared musical style. And it’s a vision that doesn’t end with death. From Animals in the Dark’s “There’s Hope for You”: “The wayward weeping voices that you will hear/ Each with their own story to tell/ And you have the choice to bend your ear/ And treat your fellow humans well”. - Bill Glahn

Note: Bill Glahn wrote, edited and published Live! Music Review, a magazine devoted to bootleg recordings when bootlegs were not so common. And they are still not so common today.