Knocked Out Loaded

 

Down the road down the road... What's your fave version of the immortal Junco/Junko Partner? From the '51 original by James Waynes onward, here's only a tip of the iceberg.

James Waynes - Junco Partner (Worthless Man)
James Booker - Junco Partner
Nobody's Children - Junco Partner
Dr. John - Junko Partner
The Clash - Junco Partner
Chris Bailey - Junko Partner

Soweto Clash

Let's chill out some to a surprising African reggae track by Nigerian afrofunk, highlife and reggae musician Sonny Okosun. Don't let the rather strange synth sounds at the start put you off, things will get irie soon... I'm busy reading Marcus Gray's Route 19 Revisited at the moment, an extensive and inspiring book on the Clash and the making of their magnum opus London Calling. Happens that Okosun's hit was a personal fave of messrs Strummer, Jones, Simonon and Headon at the time. So much so they even demoed a song that was clearly inspired by Fire In Soweto during their '79 Vanilla Sessions. Check!

Sonny Okosun - Fire In Soweto MP3

The Clash - Where You Gonna Go (Soweto) MP3

The Good Doctor

"Like the doctor who was born for a purpose, rudie can´t fail..." Strummer, Jones and Simonon definitely had taste, brew for breakfast notwithstanding.

Dr. Alimantado - Born For A Purpose/Reason For Living MP3

The Clash - Rudie Can´t Fail MP3

From London To Jamaica

Read somewhere that it´s former Clash bassist Paul Simonon´s birthday today (many happy returns...), which made me think of the bass-heavy reggae tunes The Clash were so fond of playing amidst all the punk mayhem. The Clash were one of the first bands to incorporate the rebel music outta Jamaica in their sound, and I always loved them for it. Somehow their white man´s takes on reggae always seemed genuine. The real deal, no cheap rip-off. Their main influence was probably legendary dreadlocked dj Don Letts, who played a mix of punk and reggae at early punk gigs in London. Out of necessity really, as there weren´t that many punk records out at the time.

Here are some great live tracks from The Clash in reggae mode. The Guns of Brixton, the Willie Williams cover Armagideon Time and Bank Robber were all recorded at the Jamaica World Music Festival on 27 November ´82. Must have been a blast for Strummer, Jones and Simonon, playing their punky reggae to a Kingston crowd.

The Junior Murvin-penned Police And Thieves was recorded in Leicester on 2 July ´77. Strummer´s intro: "Now you can rest your sweaty armpits and move your knees... your knees!" An amazing version, with passionate vocals and lots of improvised lyrics. "I ain´t Diana Ross," Strummer proclaims all echoey near the end.

And last but not least, there´s White Man In Hammersmith Palais (probably my fave ever Clash song), stemming from a show at The Palladium, New York City on 21 September ´79. "White youth, black youth, better find another solution... why not phone up Robin Hood, and ask him for some wealth distribution..."

The Clash - The Guns Of Brixton (live ´82) MP3

The Clash - Armagideon Time (live ´82) MP3

The Clash - Bank Robber (live) MP3

The Clash - Police And Thieves (live ´77) MP3

The Clash - White Man In Hammersmith Palais (live ´79) MP3

Behind bars

Read an amazing news article yesterday. A recent study said that one in every 100 Americans are currently in jail. There are 230 million adults living in the Land of the Free, and 2.32 million of them are behind bars. For some groups this percentage is even higher: every one in 36 adults with a Hispanic background is doing time, and one in 15 black adults. Even worse: one in 9 black men between the ages of 20 and 34 are locked up as we speak. Staggering figures, right? Makes you think. But don´t worry, as a European I´m not going to judge. I´ll just play you some songs about life in prison...

Picking a Johnny Cash song wasn´t easy, as the man in black did quite a few jail songs in his time (and performed some legendary gigs in the slammer as well). I finally chose Doin´My Time, a Sun recording from the Walking The Line-box (Union Square). "They call me by a number not a name". Gregory Isaacs, the Jamaican nightingale, knows what it is to do time. Jailer Jailer Bring Me Water is from Extra Classic (´78). I have to do a post dedicated to The Mississippi Sheiks soon, as they never cease to amaze me. Jail Bird Love Song is to be found on the excellent Stop And Listen compilation (Yazoo). Choosing between Merle Haggard´s Mama Tried and Sing Me Back Home simply proved too hard. So you´ll get both; find them on The Lonesome Fugitive Anthology (Razor & Tie). I Fought The Law was made famous by the Bobby Fuller Four, but The Clash made it their own in ´78 on their The Cost Of Living ep. It was also added to the U.S. version of their classic debut album. The Blue Sky Boys are one of those classic country brother teams you often find me raving about in these pages. "I will scrub all your floors, I will wash all your clothes, if that will get my baby out of jail..." Hunt down the out of print Are You From Dixie? Great Country Brother Teams Of The 1930´s (RCA) for this gem.

Johnny Cash - Doin´ My Time MP3

Gregory Isaacs - Jailer Jailer Bring Me Water MP3

Mississippi Sheiks - Jail Bird Love Song MP3

Merle Haggard - Sing Me Back Home MP3

Merle Haggard - Mama Tried MP3

The Clash - I Fought The Law MP3

Blue Sky Boys - I´m Just Here To Get My Baby Out Of Jail MP3