THE CLASH/LONDON CALLING CBS CLASH 3 (-79) UK

Is this the perfect rock'n'roll album? It was a meeting between a UK punk rock combo looking for new turf and the classic American rock scene. After touring US with acts as The Cramps, Bo Diddley, Sam & Dave and Screaming Jay Hawkins the band was inspired to embrace a wider approach to the genre and set off home to record a new LP. They weren't the first British band meddling with American music roots making it part of the domestic scene, but one of few that really nailed it. As I see it producer Guy Stevens (1943-81) was a big part of that. Already a big name in English music after running Island's Sue label, promoting tours by US rock artists, working as DJ and handeling acts as Procol Harum, Free, Spooky Tooth and Mott The Hoople. He was known as a trouble maker with unconventional methods and by this time deep down in alcohol and drug abuse, so CBS wasn't too happy when the band brought him in. During the seventies the recording studios had become more advanced, going from four to sometimes fifty channels allowing an excessive amount of re-takes and overdubs, making the studio engineers as important for the sound as the artists themselves. Stevens was against that development. He wanted the result to be as close to live as possible and preferred energetic first trials with flaws and mistakes over later adjusted ones. So most cuts on here are first or second takes with relatively few overdubs which also makes the audio top notch - loud, clear and natural. It's a very good collection of songs and many of them stick. The numbers covers about every genre played by a rock band - punk, rockabilly, raggae, soul, funk and classic. Lyrics are mostly political, dealing with economic and social injustice, adding to the overall honest and rebellious feeling. It is the perfect rock'n'roll album! Early US on Epic (E2 36328) had a black sticker warning for offensive lyric content. First UK issues had white labels, two lyric/picture sheets and single cover in plastic wrapping. The matrix etchings differs a lot, but the late additional song "Train In Vain" which doesn't appear on cover or label, is etched in the dead wax on side four as "TRACK 5 IS TRAIN IN VAIN" on all early ones. As I understand the only way to distinguish a UK very first is it has a green price tag on the plastic. This has white and although the matrix combinations are about the same as on the "green tag" ones it's probably somewhat later. (GÖJ*)