flash-hammer's Full Review: The Clash [U.S. Version] [Remaster] by The Clash
When the Clash’s self titled debut album was an unexpected success in its native United Kingdom, CBS naturally started taking step towards releasing it stateside. While the US branch wanted to get a Clash record out in the US, they weren’t happy with the original recording. They felt the more sophisticated US music fans wouldn’t be able to handle The Clash as it was, so the release was stalled. And stalled. And stalled again, it was only until AFTER Give ‘em Enough Rope was released in the US that the states got it’s own version of the debut. Ironically, in the year it took them to bring it out, the UK version had become the biggest selling import record ever.
The US version is really just like a collection of the 㥕-㥖 singles, with some album tracks added to fill in spaces.
First of all, I'll look at the 'new' material, or in other words, the singles/B-Sides that weren't on the original version of the record.
Probably the best place to begin is with one of the finest rock songs ever.
Complete Control is absolute genius. Songs like this are the reason Mick Jones is a legend and you and me are not. While most Clash songs went by the formula ‘Mick writes music, Joe Lyrics’ this was a total Jones work, and is one of the best songs you will hear, full stop. The lyrics tackle a number of issues, including the release of remote control, to the band’s manager Bernie Rhodes wanting Malcolm Mclaren levels of control over the band. This to the tune of pure punk guitar brilliance. Worth the admission price alone. Worth it, just for Mick's 'guitar hero' solo if nothing else.
Also added to the record is Clash City Rockers a fast-paced shouty track that is really just a sort of song about the Clash being great and such. It's fun, if nothing amazing, and I do feel it was a poor choice to start the album with, Janie Jones was the perfect opener to an album, and while this is a good track, it isn't really opener quality.
What is of paramount quality that has been added to the US version of the record is (White Man) in Hammersmith Palais. This was to Joe, what Complete Control was to Mick. This was pretty much 100% Joe’s song, and is the band’s first self written Reggae track( they had already covered Police and Thieves). The song is about a true life incident where Joe (along with Don Letts, who would later be a bandmate of Mick in Big Audio Dynamite) went to an all night reggae show and Joe thought it was crap. However, like all good Clash tracks, it wanders off across various topics, including the brilliant lines "the new groups/are not concerned/with what there is to be learned/they got Burton suits/an they think it’s funny/turning rebellion into money" while this is a general attack on all the fake punk bands, it is also quite clearly aimed at the Jam (the Burton suits line). The best reggae song ever written by a white man.
Even when The Clash didn't write the songs they played, they could still make a cover their own, as I Fought the Law showcases. This was actually recorded during the Give ‘em Enough Rope sessions, and is a sublime cover of the Sonny Curtis classic. First heard in the film Rude Boy, and released on The Cost of Living EP. Worth it for the cheesy but awesome guitar. The definitive cover version. If all covers were this good, no one would groan at the announcement of a new one.
Possibly the most bizarre inclusion is Jail Guitar Doors, a rather obscure B-Side. The tune of this song started out life as a 101ers (the band Joe was in pre-Clash) track, with the lyrics changed to be about Mick’s guitar heroes. Its alright, but if you were to choose a B-Side, surely it would have been 1977?
While it technically isn't a new track, the album includes an alternate version of White Riot that was actually the version that was released as a single, and is played at a much slower pace. It’s lyrics are also far more decipherable, and it features sound effects like sirens and feet stomping, but this actually detracts from what is meant to be a raw punk roar. Funnily enough it is still more savage than most ‘punk’ songs released today, it just lacks the sheer ferocity of the UK album version.
As for the rest of the tracks, they are just as good as they were before.
I’m So Bored with the USA is a brilliant attack on the Americanisation of the UK. I suspect had this not been such a great track, it would have been one of the tracks that got cut for the US release, Remote Control, the infamous track that the band didn’t want to release because they didn’t want to release any songs from the actual album. And possibly because it is slow and a bit 'dull' for a punk band. The song packs punch, just not in the White Riot way, preferring to use it's well thought lyrics to do the talking.
London’s Burning,another classic, written about the view from Mick Jones’ Nan’s apartment, it has the raw punk guitars and the well thought out lyrics, Janie Jones, another Mick masterpiece, although it doesn’t work quite as well as on the UK version, due to track placement, it’s still hard to fault such a perfectly built up song, Career Opportunities, blindingly brilliant tale of a visit to the brew works superbly no matter what track number it is, the incredible What’s My Name?, Keith Levine’s sole contribution and still a good song about a man unhappy with his life. The opening riff is sublime
Hate & War - more great lyrics,a twist on the old hippy 'Love and Peace' slogan, the tune is slightly slower, but still packs a punch, the epic cover, Police and Thieves, which created Punk-Reggae, and thankfully, Garageland retains it's spot at the close of the record, the perfect, somewhat sad yet optimistic end to an aggressive roar of a record.
One thing that bothers me is that upon release, CBS still didn’t think the record would sell in the US, so a bonus EP with Gates of the West and Groovy Times was given away with the LP, so why not the CD? or at least, not with the CD in Western releases. I have picked up a wonderful Japanese import dubbed Pearl Harbour '79(which was the name of the band's US tour), which not only recreates the album as if it were vinyl, complete with cardboard sleeve and correct artwork, but also offers the EP on a Mini-CD(to reflect the 7" vinyl it came upon) why isn't this available in all markets?
One interesting note, is that it is the only album that both Terry Chimes and Topper Headon both played on. While Chimes drummed on all of the UK album tracks and most of the B-Sides, Topper played on the later ones; such as I fought the Law.
CBS also chose to use the same picture of only Strummer/Jones/Simonon for the front cover, which I felt was a bit unfair.
However, at the end of the day, the US version of The Clash is the cheapest way to get some of the great non-album tracks on one record. It may not have the ‘album’ feel of the UK version and be more like a compilation, but there isn’t a bad track on it.
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