Redemption Song: The Ballad of Joe Strummer

25 May 2007

Part 5: On the Other Hand… [1988–1989]

By Chris Salewicz

"Music's got shit, Thatcher became God, ninety percent of the papers are right-wing and brown-nosing." -- Joe Strummer to Carol Clerk in Melody Maker interview.

24 May 2007

Part 4: Anger Was Cooler [1982-1984]

By Chris Salewicz

"(Joe) seemed this sad, lonely figure, confused with life, Hank Williams playing on his ghetto blaster in the background. I felt sorry for him." -- Mark Cooper, Record Mirror

23 May 2007

Part 3: Red Hand of Fate [1979]

By Chris Salewicz

Johnny Greene and a roadie... found a rehearsal room... (it) was at the rear of a garage, the kind of premises you might see in American gangster films as heists are planned... Here, hunkered together with no visible means of financial support, the Clash would rigorously write and rehearse the new songs that would emerge as London Calling, which time would judge one of the finest rock 'n' roll albums ever made...

22 May 2007

Part 2: Under Heavy Manners [1976-1977]

By Chris Salewicz

"... people like Joe Strummer... were like the punk intelligentsia, they were the thinkers... (Joe) knew all the cultural and literary references, all the revolutionary references, and he put it all into context... there's a lot more ideas (sic) in one of Joe's rhyming couplets than there are in some people's entire albums..." -- Don Williams

21 May 2007

Part 1: Straight to Heaven [2002]

By Chris Salewicz

"...I learned that fame is an illusion and everything about it is just a joke. I'm far more dangerous now, because I don't care at all." -- Joe Strummer

All this week PopMatters is offering exclusive excerpts from the new Chris Salewicz biography of Joe Strummer, published this week in the U.S. by Faber & Faber.

Monday [5/21]: In the first installment, beginning with news of Strummer’s death, Salewicz remembers Joe’s drive, humor, and constant internal conflict.  [read | listen]

Tuesday [5/22]: Hop aboard the Anarchy tour bus for an exclusive ride with everyman’s thinking man and his smart band: the Clash’s first tour, first single, and their first album. [read | listen]

Wednesday [5/23]: Strummer hangs with Warhol; Thatcher comes to power, and after a lot of sweaty work in a shadowy space in the back of a garage, London Calling is unveiled like a gleaming, bad-ass drag racer. [read | listen]

Thursday [5/24]: Megavitamins and beer, egos and conflict, Combat Rock goes on tour and Mick Jones gets the (combat) boot.  [read | listen]

Friday [5/25]: Earthquake Weather sets Strummer wandering solo through his “wilderness years” in the not so barren climate of Southern California.  [read | listen]

Redemption Song: The Ballad of Joe Strummer
by Chris Salewicz
Faber and Faber
May 2007, 640 pages, $30.00

Excerpts from REDEMPTION SONG: The Ballad of Joe Strummer by Chris Salewicz, published this week by Faber and Faber, Inc., an affiliate of Farrar, Straus and Giroux.  Copyright © 2006 by Chris Salewicz.  All rights reserved.