Joe Strummer
Joe Strummer 001

How beautiful is it to enter a record store on September 29, 2018, and spot the young Joe Strummer staring at you from the new releases shelf?

The day before, «Joe Strummer 001» was released, a double CD collection centered on Joe's solo career, before and after the Clash, thirty-two tracks for a dive into the past about 2h20' long.

The first CD is a selection of already published material: the beginnings with the 101ers, the visceral passion for rhythm & blues, the lesson of the Rolling Stones steeped in blues and beat memorized, and the example of Dr. Feelgood before his eyes, the first, small classic «Keys to Your Heart» that ignites enthusiasm and ambitions; the profound disorientation that followed the end of the Clash and the first disappointing attempts to reclaim the scene through cinema, composing soundtracks (with all the love I have for Joe, but «Love Kills» from the «Sid and Nancy» soundtrack is of a shocking ugliness, like the film, incidentally) and playing small parts in independent films, meaning films no one has ever seen; Joe who doesn't give up and begins to painstakingly climb back up (definitely better «Tennesee Rain» from the «Walker» soundtrack), up to the solo debut «Earthquake Weather», which however goes unnoticed and closes Joe's '80s.

«This decade broke me. It was all a waste of time, except for my daughters. Music is shit, Thatcher is God, 90% of newspapers are right-wing and ass-kissing.»

The premises for facing the '90s are not exhilarating, but Joe is Joe and certainly doesn't give up. And one might feel like thanking God, for those who believe in him.

More soundtracks, more than convincing performances, particularly the one for «I Hired a Contract Killer»; meeting Lucinda, his partner until the end of his days; the adventure with the Mescaleros, «Rock Art & the X Ray Style», «Global A Go Go» and especially the posthumous «Streetcore»; excellent collaborations, such as those with Johnny Cash and Jimmy Cliff.

If the first CD is beautiful, the second is simply splendid, made only of previously unreleased tracks, and the fact that Joe allowed himself not to release them only demonstrates his greatness as an artist: there is everything, testifying a boundless curiosity, from blues to country, from combat folk to jazz.

Above all, there are three tracks that alone are worth the price of the CD – and I think it's significant that the double CD is sold at a price just over 10 euros, but those three tracks would have been worth the price even if it had been ten times higher.

«Where Is England» is the first version of «This Is England», the last great Clash track: «Where Is England» is just Joe's voice and his guitar, Paul Simonon's bass, and Pete Howard's drums, no artificial or contrived sound, a dub that would not have looked out of place in one of the singles around «Sandinista».

«Pouring Rain» is even better and is presented in the original version – rock ballad masterfully led always by Joe, Paul, and Pete – and then in the folk version, where the closeness with the Pogues and Danny Thompson strongly emerges – a version that then, a few years later and with some adjustments, will compose a new soundtrack.

Just a note: both tracks date back to the Clash 2.0 period and confirm my idea that «Cut the Crap» tragically lacks form – because Bernie Rhodes is not Mick Jones at all – but the substance is there and if it had contained tracks like «Pouring Rain», «Sex Mad Roar» and «Do It Now» today, we would be talking about an album almost comparable to «Combat Rock»).

The third and last track is «Rose of Erin», truly splendid, an ideal extract from the rock side of «Sandinista», only arriving 13 years late and then even more surprising.

The feeling that remains at the end of the journey, at least for someone like me whose acquaintance with Joe's solo career was until a month ago a deep black hole, is that I've missed out on more than a few things, but I can catch up.

After all, it seems that Joe's private archive contains over 20,000 items and it's hoped that the "001" in the title heralds "002," "003," "004," at least up to "999."

Excellent start.