In remembrance of Joe Strummer's birthday (August 21st), his widow Lucinda Tait appeared on BBC Radio Wales to discuss Strummer's legacy, how the compilation Joe Strummer 001 came together, and more.
Tait revealed that Strummer had a lot of writings/lyrics/songs stored in plastic bags inside two chests located in a farmhouse which were mostly untouched for years. Since the open-barn farmhouse was exposed to the outdoors and various elements and Tait became concerned the material inside, which she initially thought was just lyrics and writings, would be destroyed so she brought it all inside. To her surprise and delight, along with Strummer's writings and lyrics were tapes and tapes -- reel to reel, cassettes, DATs and more -- full of music and song ideas!
Once she realized what she had, Tait went about getting in touch Strummer's friend and Clash archivist Gordon McHarg III and together they decided this material needed to be seen and heard. McHarg eventually contacted digital archivist Martin Bradley in Ireland and remastering guru Peter Moore in Toronto to create the forthcoming compilation Joe Strummer 001 which features 32 songs from the archive.
Besides 001, fans have even more to look forward to in the future. Tait said there is "more to come" essentially confirming that they plan on releasing another compilation of Strummer's archival material at some point.
Tait believes Strummer's legacy is essentially teaching others that music is empowering -- even in his death Strummer has inspired and encouraged people to question authority and with that power, people have the ability to change anything.
The fascinating segment with Tait also features the previously unreleased tracks "London Is Burning" (Strummer's raw version), "Rose Of Erin," and "It's A Rockin' World" and is available to stream here (begins ~ 1:11:20).
Pre-order Joe Strummer 001 here and view a new video montage of previously unseen footage and unreleased music in celebration of Joe Strummer below.
Published August 23rd, 2018