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Post by jsm on Jun 2, 2020 23:09:49 GMT
English Civil War/Pressure Drop Another A-side from Give Em Enough Rope. The song is based on the traditional song 'When Johnny Comes Marching Home' and is said to be about the threat posed to England by the rise of right-wing groups like the National Front, while the sleeve is a still from the animated film Animal Farm. Sort of related, I suppose. 'English Civil War' is interesting as a novelty version of the older song, but like 'Tommy Gun' and most of the other tracks on GEER, suffers (to my ears) from the Sandy Pearlman heavy-rock production. Having said that, The Clash must be brought to account as well, as Mick Jones' exuberant solo playing suggests this was just the sort of thing he wanted to be doing. The song did quite well in the charts and was apparently a crowd favourite. The B-side is a different thing altogether. 'Pressure Drop', written by Frederick 'Toots' Hibbert and recorded by his band The Maytals in 1969, became popular after featuring in the 1972 film The Harder They Come. That was where I probably first heard it (a few years after the film's original release), but I also had it on the 1975 version of the Toots & The Maytals LP Funky Kingston. The Clash had pioneered reworking reggae classics for a punk audience with ‘Police and Thieves’ and deliver the goods again here. The band’s pop sensibility, obvious love of reggae, and outstanding vocal harmonies help turn this punky take on the original into an absolute winner.
English Civil War
Pressure Drop
The original
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Post by Lord Emsworth on Jun 3, 2020 6:06:48 GMT
I absolutely love The Clash's version of Pressure Drop
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Post by personunknown on Jun 3, 2020 6:23:27 GMT
They really did know how to rework a reggae tune. Pressure Drop gallops along, love the drop out section with Strummer almost whispering then the band keep crashing in. A side? Just another good Clash song.
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Post by jsm on Jun 3, 2020 22:45:52 GMT
^^ & ^
My 'quite enjoyable' summation of 'Pressure Drop' was an understatement. I hit 'Post' too quick on that one, so I have done an edit and replaced the last sentence.
Meanwhile, I didn't realise until recently that the title is actually a reference to barometric pressure. When the pressure drops you know a big storm is coming, or you could say, something bad is going to happen
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Post by Lord Emsworth on Jun 4, 2020 7:13:32 GMT
Meanwhile, I didn't realise until recently that the title is actually a reference to barometric pressure. When the pressure drops you know a big storm is coming, or you could say, something bad is going to happen
And we can all relax
I was surprised by how dismissive you appeared to be. Each to their own, of course, but it is undeniably another triumphant Clash reggae cover, as any fule kno  |
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Post by Deleted on Jun 4, 2020 16:56:09 GMT
There's some interesting covers of Clash songs here in Reggae, Ska, Dub and Rocksteady styleeees...
Available as a "name your price" download album.
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Post by Lord Emsworth on Jun 4, 2020 20:26:33 GMT
I've hed that album for some time dm999 - it's a goodie
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Post by Lord Emsworth on Jun 4, 2020 20:31:31 GMT
Though nothing to match this Clash cover....
Rachid Taha - Rock El Casbah
Then again THIS is on it and it's pretty blimmin great..
The Lions - The Magnificent Dance
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Post by jsm on Jun 4, 2020 23:58:21 GMT
Cost Of Living EP. I Fought The Law/Groovy Times/Gates Of The West/Capital Radio The heavy rock of GEER came as a shock after the first album. When I first heard this EP I was confused all over again. What’s this? It’s not punk or heavy rock or reggae. It took me a while to get it and then I really liked it. Basically, it was a sign of things to come, with the band ready to acknowledge their American rock ‘n’ roll influences. The EP kicks off with ‘I Fought The Law’, a song by Sonny Curtis of The Crickets made famous by The Bobby Fuller Four, which slotted well into the growing catalogue of The Clash As A Gang songs. Despite the title, ‘Groovy Times’ is about alienation and violence with references to fenced-in football terraces (photos of which appear in the inner sleeve) and other unsavoury facts about life in modern England. The song has acoustic guitars and harmonica, apparently played by Mick Jones, credited as Bob Jones on the sleeve, a nod to Bob Dylan. ‘Gates Of The West’ recounts some of the band’s recent experiences in the USA, which they clearly really liked, while ‘Capital Radio’ is a re-recording of a song from an earlier limited-release EP. This song was initially the one I could relate to the best, probably because it had a more ‘punk’ feel to it. I like Strummer’s line when he leads the band back into the music, saying ‘On the count of four … four!’ The EP ends with a reprise of ‘I Fought The Law’ with Strummer talking over the top, doing a mock advertisement for the EP in a fake Jamaican accent. Strummer addresses the audience as ‘Jack and Jill’; who’d he steal that from? And refers to himself as Eraserhead, which was the title of a popular alternative movie of the day (and the avatar of our esteemed moderator)
Original version of ‘Capital Radio’
Original version of ‘I Fought The Law’ by The Crickets |
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Post by Lord Emsworth on Jun 5, 2020 5:44:34 GMT
A great EP - still got my copy
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Post by personunknown on Jun 5, 2020 8:42:38 GMT
Great appraisal JSM. The final verse of Groovy Times references Bill Grundy and the 'dog suit' wearer is Elvis Costello, which I don't quite get.
Aside, Bobby Fuller died in mysterious circumstances. Suicide by drinking gasoline! Nothing do with him bonking a Mafia Man's moll.
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Post by jsm on Jun 10, 2020 3:02:00 GMT
London Calling/Armagideon Time The A-side of this late 1979 single is another song expressing Joe Strummer’s concerns about the state of the world, ranging from ‘nuclear errors’ to the possible flooding of the Thames River. The single is a big production number, but it didn’t cause me the same sense of alienation I felt with the GEER singles. Both the A-side, and the double album of the same name from which it was taken, showed The Clash ready to clearly renounce some of the narrowness of the punk genre. In the song ‘1977’ Joe Strummer had declared ‘no more Elvis, Beatles or the Rolling Stones’, but the sleeve for this single shows a pair of late 1950s-early 1960s teenagers sitting around an old-fashioned record player with some of their favourite discs strewn on the floor: Elvis, Beatles, the Rolling Stones and, for good measure, Bob Dylan. These young teens are also evidently fans of the first Clash album and Never Mind The Bollocks. Nice. The B-side shows The Clash once more displaying their reggae-playing ability. Originally a song by Willie Williams, the lyrics portray an Armageddon-style society of hunger and injustice. The Clash version is heavier and bleaker than the original and has the curious addition of the voice of Clash staffer Kosmo Vinyl calling out ‘Okay boys. Times up. Let’s get you out of there’ at about the 3 minute mark, apparently the time the band had agreed to limit the song. Both Vinyl’s interruption and Strummer’s reply ‘Okay, okay. Don’t push us when we’re hot’ were left on the tape. This is the last of The Clash singles I bought on release. I do also have ‘Bankrobber’, which I rate highly, and ‘Know Your Rights', which I do not, but I’ll leave it to somebody else to critique the rest of the band’s output, if they want to Original Armagideon Time by Willie Williams
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Post by personunknown on Jun 10, 2020 8:35:47 GMT
Another great write up JSM. Didn't know that about Kosmo on Armigideon, I always thought it was a scripted piece about the police calling for someone to exit a building and said person might come out with all guns blazing.
There is a seven minute dub version on the 10 inch Black Market Clash LP going under the title Justice Tonight/Kick It Over. Apparently there's an even longer version on a 12 inch single.
After Should I Stay, Should I Go, London Calling is the default record for your average local radio station. Doesn't detract from it being magnificent though.
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Post by Lord Emsworth on Jun 10, 2020 9:44:34 GMT
 The battle is getting harder... The Black Market Clash "Justice Tonight/Kick It Over" version is magnificent...
The Clash - "Justice Tonight/Kick It Over"
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Post by Lord Emsworth on Jun 11, 2020 8:41:37 GMT
I’ll leave it to somebody else to critique the rest of the band’s output, if they want to I'm not going to critique the rest of the group's output but, having enjoyed jsm's musings so much, I'll post the occasional Clash tune that I rate highly starting with... Magnificent SevenHow wonderful is it when bands absorb new influences? In this instance the NYC street culture of the early 80s Released in 1981, it was the third single from Sandinista It reached number 34 on the UK Singles Chart You lot! What? What's not to love about this beaut? Infectious groove, danceable, aligned to sharp and funny lyrics Top triv - that ain't Paul Simenon's bassline, it's Norman Watt-Roy of the Blockheads AND Joe wrote the lyrics on the spot Magnificent Seven |
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