The Clash (album)

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The Clash
Image:The Clash UK.jpg
Studio album by The Clash
Released April 8, 1977 (1977-04-08)
Recorded National Film and Television School, Beaconsfield, CBS Studios London, January–February 1977
Genre Punk rock
Length 35:18
Label CBS
Producer Mickey Foote
Professional reviews
The Clash chronology
The Clash
(1977)		 Give 'Em Enough Rope
(1978)

The Clash is the first album-length recording released by the English punk band The Clash. It was released in two different versions, both of which are still in print: the original version in 1977 and the revised U.S. version in 1979 (with several post-1977 single sides added to the album).

Contents

[edit] Original 1977 release

Issued in the UK by CBS Records in 1977 and produced by Mickey Foote. This first album by the Clash was unusually musically varied for a punk band, with reggae and early rock and roll influences plainly evident.

Most of the album was conceived on the 18th floor of a council high rise on London's Harrow Rd, in a flat that was owned by Jones' grandmother, who frequently went to see their live concert.[1] The album was recorded over three weekend sessions at CBS Studio 3 in early February 1977. By the third of these sessions the album was recorded and mixed to completion, with the tapes being delivered to CBS at the start of March.

The album's front cover photo, shot by Kate Simon, was taken in the alleyway directly opposite the front door of the band's 'Rehearsal Rehearsals' building in Camden Market. Drummer Terry Chimes, though a full member of The Clash at the time, did not appear in the shot as he had already decided to leave the band. The picture of the charging police officers on the rear, shot by Rocco Macauly, was taken during the 1976 riot at the Notting Hill Carnival—the inspiration for the track "White Riot".

Lee Perry (credited with singer Junior Murvin with the composition of "Police and Thieves") heard the album whilst in London in 1976 and played it to Bob Marley, who in turn mentioned The Clash on his own track "Punky Reggae Party".

The album peaked at number 12 in the UK charts. It cost just £4000 to produce. In 2000 Q magazine placed The Clash at number 48 in its list of the 100 Greatest British Albums Ever. In 2003, the album was ranked number 77 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.[2]

[edit] Track listing

All tracks were written by Joe Strummer and Mick Jones, except where noted.

[edit] Side one

  1. "Janie Jones" – 2:08
  2. "Remote Control" – 3:03
  3. "I'm So Bored with the USA" – 2:24
  4. "White Riot" – 1:56
  5. "Hate and War" – 2:06
  6. "What's My Name?" (Jones, Levene, Strummer) – 1:41
  7. "Deny" – 3:06
  8. "London's Burning" – 2:12

[edit] Side two

  1. "Career Opportunities" – 1:54
  2. "Cheat" – 2:06
  3. "Protex Blue" – 1:47
  4. "Police and Thieves" (Junior Murvin, Lee Perry) – 6:03
  5. "48 Hours" – 1:36
  6. "Garageland" – 3:12

Tracks 1, 3–4, 6–10 and 12–14 are sung by Joe Strummer. Track 11 is sung by Mick Jones. Tracks 2 and 5 are sung by Joe Strummer and Mick Jones.

[edit] Personnel

[edit] Miscellanea

  • "I'm So Bored with the U.S.A." was developed from a Mick Jones song, entitled "I'm So Bored With You".[3] The intro is borrowed from "Pretty Vacant" by the Sex Pistols.[citation needed]
  • "Protex Blue", sung by Mick Jones, is about a 1970s brand of condom. The song ends with the shouted phrase "Johnny Johnny!", "johnny" being a British slang term for a condom.
  • The version of "White Riot" featured here was not recorded for the album. Instead they used the original demo version, recorded at Beaconsfield Studios before the band signed to CBS.
  • "Police And Thieves" was added to the album when the band realised just how short the tracklist was. Another cover the band toyed with at these sessions was Bob Marley's "Dancing Shoes".
  • "Garageland" was written in response to Charles Shaar Murray's damning review of the band's early appearance at the Sex Pistols Screen on the Green concert - "The Clash are the kind of garage band who should be returned to the garage immediately, preferably with the engine running".[4] It was the final track recorded for the album.

[edit] 1979 U.S. version

The Clash
Image:The Clash.jpg
Studio album by The Clash
Released July 1979 (1979-07)
Recorded 1976–1979
Genre Punk rock
Length 43:20
Label Epic
Producer Mickey Foote, Lee Perry, The Clash, Bill Price
Professional reviews
The Clash U.S. chronology
Give 'Em Enough Rope
(1978)		 The Clash
(1979)		 London Calling
(1979)

In the U.S. the Clash's debut album was released one year after Give Em Enough Rope, so it was their second U.S. LP. CBS in America had decided that the album was 'not radio friendly', so it was initially only available in the States during 1977/1978 as an import, and as such became the biggest selling import of the year, shifting over 100,000 copies.

In July 1979, Epic released a modified version of the album for the United States market. This version replaced four songs from the original version with five non-album singles and B-sides, some of which were recorded and released after The Clash's second album, Give 'Em Enough Rope. It also used the re-recorded single version of "White Riot", rather than the original take featured on the UK album. Initial copies of this American album came with a bonus 7" single which featured "Groovy Times" and "Gates of the West".

This was another moderately successful American album for The Clash, even though the sales were likely diluted by the longstanding popularity of the UK version on the import market. The Clash peaked at #126 on the Billboard charts, setting the stage for the commercial breakthrough of London Calling later that year.

Since the Clash's first U.K. album had already been released in Canada by CBS Records, when CBS Canada released the U.S. version they changed the cover art so as to not confuse the record buying public. The CBS Canada version of the LP has a dark blue border instead of the green. Initial copies also contained the bonus "Groovy Times" 45.

[edit] Track listing

All tracks were written by Joe Strummer and Mick Jones, except where noted.

[edit] Side one

  1. "Clash City Rockers" – 3:55
  2. "I'm So Bored with the USA" – 2:24
  3. "Remote Control" – 3:00
  4. "Complete Control" – 3:14
  5. "White Riot" – 1:58
  6. "(White Man) In Hammersmith Palais" – 3:58
  7. "London's Burning" – 2:10
  8. "I Fought the Law" (Sonny Curtis) – 2:40

[edit] Side two

  1. "Janie Jones" – 2:00
  2. "Career Opportunities" – 1:58
  3. "What's My Name?" (Jones, Levene, Strummer) – 1:40
  4. "Hate and War" – 2:05
  5. "Police and Thieves" (Junior Murvin, Lee Perry) – 5:58
  6. "Jail Guitar Doors" – 3:05
  7. "Garageland" – 3:12

[edit] Personnel

[edit] References

  1. ^ (March 16, 1991) "The Uncut Crap - Over 56 Things You Never Knew About The Clash". NME 3. London: IPC Magazines. ISSN 0028-6362. OCLC 4213418. Retrieved on 2007-12-11. “Most of the debut LP The Clash was written on the 18th floor of a council high rise on London's Harrow Rd. The flat was owned by Mick's grandmother, who regularly turned up at Clash gigs.”
    Related news articles:
  2. ^ 77) The Clash: Rolling Stone. The RS 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. Rolling Stone (2003-11-01). Retrieved on 2007-12-02. “"I haven't got any illusions about anything," Joe Strummer said. "Having said that, I still want to try to change things." That youthful ambition bursts through the Clash's debut, a machine-gun blast of songs about unemployment ("Career Opportunities"), race ("White Riot") and the Clash themselves ("Clash City Rockers"). Most of the guitar was played by Mick Jones, because Strummer considered studio technique insufficiently punk. The American release was delayed two years and replaced some of the U.K. tracks with recent singles, including "Complete Control" -- a complaint about exactly that sort of record-company shenanigans.”
  3. ^ Caws, Matthew (12 1995). "Mick Jones". Guitar World 12. New York: Harris Publications. ISSN 1045-6295. OCLC 7982091. Retrieved on 2007-12-06. “Actually, "I'm So Bored With The U.S.A." was "I'm So Bored With You" until Joe added the "S" and the "A."”
    Related news articles:
  4. ^ Needs, Kris (11 2004). HOW I MET THE CLASH. trakMARX.com. Retrieved on 2007-11-21. “The consummate glory of 'Garageland' showed new subtleties creeping into the Clash attack. Joe was inspired to write the words by Charles Shaar Murray's damning review of their second gig, where he'd written that The Clash were 'the kind of garage band who should be speedily returned to the garage, preferably with the motor running.' The slag-off inspired the defiant chorus, while the verses deal with punk bands being signed to record companies.”

[edit] External links

v • d • e
The Clash
Joe Strummer · Mick Jones · Paul Simonon · Topper Headon
Nick Sheppard · Keith Levene · Pete Howard · Terry Chimes · Vince White · Rob Harper
Studio albumsThe Clash · Give 'Em Enough Rope · London Calling · Sandinista! · Combat Rock · Cut the Crap
Compilations and livesBlack Market Clash · The Story of the Clash, Volume 1 · Clash on Broadway · The Singles · Super Black Market Clash · From Here to Eternity: Live · The Essential Clash · Singles Box · The Singles
Related articlesDiscography · Punk rock · The 101ers · London SS · Public Image Ltd. · Big Audio Dynamite · Havana 3am · The Latino Rockabilly War · The Pogues · The Mescaleros · The Libertines · Carbon/Silicon · The Good, the Bad and the Queen
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