The 10 best covers by The Clash frontman Joe Strummer
Joe Strummer and The Clash were feisty, fiery and original, but they didn’t have to necessarily write in that manner to be so. The band’s back catalogue includes jaunts into jazz, rock, pop, dub and early splashes of reggae. That said, they were also happy to turn the clock back and record some of their formative numbers.
As it happens, many of the band’s best work revolved around their covers, and they made sure to put their own stamp on the work as it appealed to them. Indeed, one might be forgiven for mistaking one of their covers as a Clash original, precisely because it sounded so original.
Strummer continued to write and record covers in his post Clash trajectory, including a deeply moving rendition of Bob Marley favourite ‘Redemption Song’, which stands among the best vocal performances of his career. And so it continued, refining his voice to capture the more essential components of a striking vocal.
In this list, we uncover five covers he recorded with The Clash, and five he did by himself. As a solo artist, he had fewer musicians to bounce off of, but his commitment to his work and craft never wavered.
The 10 best covers by The Clash frontman Joe Strummer:
10. ‘Poice & Thieves’
The band’s rendition of this reggae opus featured on the band’s first album boasts one of Paul Simonon’s bounciest bass lines. Strummer sounds animated, singing over the jagged backdrop to create a piercing vocal that indicted the rise of racial tensions in his beloved England.
As it happens, the live recordings were superior to the recorded version, and what audio we have shows that both Simonon and Strummer felt less inhibited by their environment, creating a soundscape that was dense and dynamic in resolve.
9. ‘Silver and Gold’
This recording of a Fats Domino track was done in close collaboration with Strummer’s solo backing band, The Mescaleros. The backing group inflect their quirky contributions onto the track, modernising the tune to create a soundscape that sounded impressively contemporary for a singer who was as much 50 as he was singing about the 1950s.
Strummer sounds lively, eager to showcase to audiences that there was gravitas left to the singer trendy journalists were happy to write off as a relic of the 1970s. He showed that there is much to teach an old dog and that the dog had much to teach them.
8. ‘Brand New Cadillac’
This blinding rendition of a Vince Taylor track was purportedly recorded as a warmer before The Clash got down to recording the album version. As it happens, the tune was energetic enough to be considered for the album, and Strummer sounds energised by the adrenaline, rushing towards that crescendoing shriek that closes out the tune.
Bolstered by Mick Jones’ galloping guitar part, the tune pummels along, only taking the briefest of respites to let Strummer catch his breath before he continues hurling on, drenched in reverb, rebellion and sweat.
7. ‘A Message to You Rudy’
The Specials rank alongside the most vibrant of British punk, and they were arguably best known for their harmonica laden rendition of ‘Rudy a Message To You’. What many people don’t know is that the song is unto itself a cover, but The Specials definitely put their own spin on the record.
Strummer pays The Specials the ultimate tribute by stripping back the trappings of the original for his own variation on the song, punching the song up with a feisty, fiery vocal performance, punctuated by a scintillating saxophone line. Strummer sounds engaged and speaks to individual members of the audience at various times during the concert.
6. ‘The Man in Me’
No, Strummer doesn’t sing the rendition that featured on The Big Lebowski, as that is actually the sound of Bob Dylan himself being heard over the montage of pins pummelling under the weight of a bowling ball. Why this cover of the tune remained unreleased for so long is a mystery to me, but Strummer acquits himself quite nicely to the tune.
Typically, The Clash tear away through the track to perform it as a reggae-style track, punching the piece up with a collection of sparky, punchy guitar licks. Drummer Topper Headon keeps busy, bustling in the background, but never at the expense of the performers in the front.
5. ‘The Harder They Come’
Originally recorded in the 1970s by Jimmy Cliff, Strummer returned to the song as a solo artist, bringing his own truth and idiosyncratic style over the track. In what proved an unusually drum-heavy arrangement, the song demonstrated virility, vivacity and courage from Strummer, particularly at a time when he was singing from the gut rather than the head.
The Clash was considering reforming around the time Strummer recorded his version of this track, and there’s no doubt that the band could have made it into something singular and special. Picture it: Simonon playing the bass, Jones singing the falsetto, Strummed tackling the lead. Now, that’s what dreams are made of.
4. ‘Armagideon Time’
Sparsely produced, and embellished by a hypnotic organ line, this song ranks among the apogee of the band’s experimental outlet. The Clash was partial to flourishes of grandeur, and so it came to pass that the band’s spirited cover ranks among the best of their career.
Indeed, many of the band’s best work was their covers, especially the barrelling, braggadocious textures of ‘I Fought The Law’, which led many to believe that Strummer wrote it himself. The band bring much of their individual character and colour to ‘Armagideon Time’.
3. ‘Blitzkrieg Bop’
“If that Ramones records hadn’t existed,” Strummer declared, “I don’t know that we could have built a scene here because it filled a vital gap between the death of the old pub rocking scene and the advent of punk.” The sentiment may seem bullish, but Ramones were pivotal in their dismantling of subversive psychedelic trappings, creating an entirely new sound that was based on rhythm and rebellion alone.
Strummer’s song is thrilling in its own way, and mercifully, he avoids the temptation to affect a New York accent but focuses on his “Landan” drawl. It’s more than enough, and the band plunge into the material, all weapons a-blazing.
2. ‘Wrong ‘Em Boyo’
Let’s go out and say this: ‘Wrong ‘Em Boyo’ is the best cover song The Clash ever issued. Driven by Topper Headon’s furious drums and Mick Jones’ jaunty harmony line, the song is almost entirely focused on the rhythm that pads out the song with complexity, character and chiming chords.
An organ line races through the track, decorating the soundscape with a pulsating backdrop that encompasses the rush and rebellion of a live gig. The song storms along, the drums coming to the front of the mix with a combination that is equal parts excitement as it is acumen.
1. ‘Redemption Song’
Widely considered to be Bob Marley’s masterpiece, ‘Redemption Song’ is also known for its sparsely performed guitar that centres the song, capturing the essence of the moment in its entirety. And it takes a brave man to try and match the integrity of the original recording, but Strummer does so, singing over the pastoral acoustic song, backed by only the faintest of keyboard backing.
The song features one of Strummer’s most committed vocals, keenly aware that the project demands a strong vocal in the hope that it will be counted as a recording by any definition of the term. And it is very, very good indeed.
