Redemption Song: The Ballad of Joe Strummer

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Farrar, Straus and Giroux, May 13, 2008 - Biography & Autobiography - 640 pages

With exclusive access to Strummer's friends, relatives, and fellow musicians, music journalist Chris Salewicz penetrates the soul of an rock 'n roll icon.

The Clash was--and still is--one of the most important groups of the late 1970s and early 1980s. Indebted to rockabilly, reggae, Memphis soul, cowboy justice, and '60s protest, the overtly political band railed against war, racism, and a dead-end economy, and in the process imparted a conscience to punk. Their eponymous first record and London Calling still rank in Rolling Stone's top-ten best albums of all time, and in 2003 they were officially inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Joe Strummer was the Clash's front man, a rock-and-roll hero seen by many as the personification of outlaw integrity and street cool. The political heart of the Clash, Strummer synthesized gritty toughness and poetic sensitivity in a manner that still resonates with listeners, and his untimely death in December 2002 shook the world, further solidifying his iconic status.

Salewicz was a friend to Strummer for close to three decades and has covered the Clash's career and the entire punk movement from its inception. He uses his vantage point to write Redemption Song, the definitive biography of Strummer, charting his enormous worldwide success, his bleak years in the wilderness after the Clash's bitter breakup, and his triumphant return to stardom at the end of his life.

Salewicz argues for Strummer's place in a long line of protest singers that includes Woody Guthrie, John Lennon, and Bob Marley, and examines by turns Strummer's and punk's ongoing cultural influence.

 

Contents

Title Page 1 straight to heaven
r i punk
indian summer
stepping out of babylon one more time
be true to your school like you would to your girl
blue apples
the magic vest
the bad shoplifter goes gravedigging
red hand of fate
news of clock nine
lst may take a holiday
the news behind the news
anger was cooler
spanish bombs
man of mystery
soldiers of misfortune

pillars of wisdom
this man is a star
im going to be a punk rocker
under heavy manners
the allnight drugprowling wolf
on the other hand
the reckless alternative
the cool impossible
the excitement gang
lets rock again

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About the author (2008)

Chris Salewicz's writing on music and popular culture has appeared in publications around the globe, including New Musical Express and The London Sunday Times. He is the author of over a dozen books.

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