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<\/a>Post-Clash Strummer was a prolific writer still and whilst he might not have always got it right or reached the heights of his former band he was still the icon and when he needed to could turn in a tune or two and when he was playing live he was still the captivating legend he always was… Its taken a few years for someone to go through his post Clash catalogue and by the look and sounds of it Ignition has done a fine job in preserving this material and uncovering some pretty decent finds as well along the way not just to satisfy the completists but to maybe open Strummers work up to a new audience who have no clue what he did after The Clash ended.\nWith several formats available from the super duper everything fanboy edition to the digital download the one thing you do get no matter what edition you invest in is new songs that have been lovingly preserved here.<\/p>\n
The collection begins way back in \u201975 and takes us right up to his untimely passing in 2002 (has it really been 16 years?) Everything you\u2019ll hear has been remastered by Grammy award-winning producer Peter J Moore in Toronto Canada and in notes he said that Strummer had hidden tracks on cassettes sometimes twenty minutes after the original recordings had ended. With the deluxe set, you get Vinyl, CD Cassette and a hardback book, 7\u201d single bells and whistles which is a must own for the serious Clash \/ Strummer fanboy.<\/p>\n
Let’s get down to some of the nitty-gritty. On the CD the quality of the recordings is what you\u2019ll first notice \u2013 whilst its effectively demoed on primitive equipment back in the mid 70\u2019s the restoration work is exceptional and \u2018Letsagetabitarockin\u2019 is a 101Ers stomper and has the classic Strummer sneer as he spits out the lyrics.<\/p>\n
You also get \u2018Love Kills\u2019 from the Sid and Nancy soundtrack with its 80\u2019s drumming. Also, you have another soundtrack tune in the shape of \u2018Tennessee Rain\u2019 again from an Alex Cox flick \u2018Walker\u2019 which features a plethora of musicians as Joe kicks back for some folk driven campfire blues.
\n\u2018Trash City\u2019 is the third film soundtrack song by Joe and was featured in 1988\u2019s \u2018Permanent Record\u2019 and features Joe with The Latino Rockers. This one is lifted for the 7\u201d version that most people won\u2019t have heard and then we start to venture into fanboy territory with 7\u201d single B sides like \u201815th Brigade\u2019. There are twenty tracks on the CD disc one most are culled from obscure film soundtracks and singles. \u2018Ride Your Donkey\u2019 is selected from the difficult to find \u2018Earthquake Weather\u2019.<\/p>\n
I\u2019d forgotten Strummer featured with Isaac Hayes on a track for Chef Aid a South Park Movie that came out in 98 but \u2018It\u2019s A Rockin World\u2019 is the sound of a track that someone like Strummer could write in his sleep.
\nA favourite and high point from his solo career was the excellent \u2018Rock Art And The X-Ray Style\u2019 and the albums finest song is \u2018Yalla Yalla\u2019 one that always stood out live for me and the Richard Norris E Bow always takes me back.<\/p>\n
With a couple of Mescaleros numbers firstly \u2018Johnny Appleseed\u2019 from \u2018Global A Go-Go\u2019 and then \u2018Black Hawk Downs\u2019 \u2018Minstrel Boy\u2019 tickled me with the sleeve notes that Scott Shields just sat there staring into space which is a good place to be as any I would have thought? Then its a few star-studded duets firstly the Johnny Cash take on \u2018Redemption Song\u2019 which was easily one of the highlights of the Cash series of releases on Def Jam but I love the feel of the Jimmy Cliff track \u2018Over The Border\u2019 that has a pair of exceptional vocal performances so full of passion and it seems right to finish the first disc with the rockin\u2019 \u2018Coma Girl\u2019 from \u2018Streetcore\u2019 and \u2018Silver & Gold\/Before I Grow Too Old\u2019 from the same recording.<\/p>\n
Disc two is pretty much more of the same and it also begins with the same two songs as disc one but with vital differences that are what these recordings are all about. With the first being an acoustic demo with just Strummer on guitar and vocals and then \u2018Czechoslovak Song\/ Where Is England?\u2019 which is rescued from \u00bd inch tape and has Simonon on bass and is exceptional yet haunting with the reverb echoing throughout the track spine-tingling for sure. Presumably from the same recordings, there is the previously unreleased \u2018Pouring Rain\u2019 that is the same line up of Strummer, Simonon and Pete Howard.
\nTo continue the uncovering of lost treasures \u2018Blues On The River\u2019 is a solo offering of vocal and guitar that is seeing the light of day for the first time and as we get into the meat of disc two I think disc one was softening up the fanboys for the plethora of unreleased material on disc two as the mid 80’s turned up some exceptional songs that could and would have been lost forever. One that will have Clash fans purring is the bluesy jam of \u2018Crying On 23rd that features a certain Mick Jones on guitar and one time Johnny Thunders drummer Chris Musto its followed by another \u00bc inch tape find featuring Jones, Musto Pearl Harbour, and B.J. Cole as well on \u20182 Bullets\u2019 that was from the Alex Cox film \u2018Sid & Nancy but \u2018When Pigs Fly\u2019 is another unreleased until now recording taken from Rockfield in South Wales that saw Strummer turn his hand to producing and it also sees the sets only real double up when \u2018Pouring Rain\u2019 gets the Rockfield treatment and with Accordion certainly has that authentic Celtic feel and the same must be said for \u2018Rose Of Erin\u2019 also used in the film \u2018When Pigs Fly\u2019.
\nAs we head reluctantly into the final throws of disc two \u2018The Cool Impossible\u2019 has Strummer turning his hand to some Jazzy notes \u2013 with a shuffle on the brushes and the familiar Strummer strains it seems strange to think that these have only now surfaced. Penultimately 2002 sees Strummer record the previously unreleased \u2018London Is Burning\u2019 with the Mescaleros and with a sneer and more than a bark its classic Strummer. Which only leaves \u2018U.S North\u2019 to close off this solo career compilation and it seems fitting that this Mick Jones produced track put the full stop on an incredible career from someone taken way to early when he had so much to give and someone that has been sorely missed especially in some tough times when a spokesman \u2013 poet-activist \u2013 songwriter was needed Rest In Peace Joe, we love you, man, whilst his body turned to dust his soul and spirit will live forever.<\/p>\n
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