Why You Need Joe Strummer and The Mescaleros in Your Playlist Right Now
July 20 | Written By Jessica Pispisa
The Clash made history by being a band that made political awareness into irresistible music to dance and mosh to. The four-piece of Joe Strummer, Mick Jones, Paul Simonon and Topper Headon lasted only for a robust decade, but in those ten years they released genre-shifting albums that always put the message of being an accountable human being to yourself and others front and centre. After they disbanded, front man Joe took a long break from music –deliberate and involuntarily, that would last for almost 15 years.
The dry spell finally broke when Joe was at Glastonbury with his daughters and saw a fully nude man raid the stage during a set. That man was Antony Genn, a musician who’s played with Pulp and the band he was he was crashing, Elastica. After meeting each other, Genn convinced Joe to come back to write and make music again, with a new band. Joining the line-up were Martin Slattery (guitar, keyboards), Scott Shields (bass), Pablo Cook (percussion) and Luke Bullen (drums) and more talented musicians during the next four years.
In 1999, The Mescaleros released their debut album Rock Art and The X-Ray Style, on the Tim Armstrong’s Hellcat label. The record is a blend of all the genres that Joe had loved throughout his life – from rockabilly to reggae with a dose of trip hop (Yalla Yalla is standout) and more added to the mix. The themes in the album range from his love of rave culture (Techno D-Day, The Road to Rock ‘n’ Roll) ruminations on fatherhood (Willesden to Cricklewood), and the restlessness that Joe was known for (Tony Adams, X-Ray Style). The musicianship that each member of the Mescaleros possess do more than follow Joe wherever he wants to go but are tight and let their musical expertise flourish in their own right. The album was not a commercial success, but signalled the triumphant return of Joe, and when they embarked on their tour, the audience was more than happy to see him and the new band, who would also play Clash tunes on the set to rapturous reception. Joe was back, and ready to welcome the new millennium with a good time.
In the summer of 2001, Global a Go-Go was released. This was an even more special project because Joe enlisted his busking buddy from the 70s, violinist Tymon Dogg, to join the line-up. As the title implies, this record has even more musical genres and styles from around the world such as Africa, Latin America and India, all blended together for an intoxicating sound. This album came around the end of Joe’s BBC radio show“Joe Strummer’s London Calling”, and its influences on the record are throughout; from a literal jaunt around the world (title track Global A GO-GO, Bhindi Bhagee) to the plight of migrants and misadventures (Shaktar Donetsk, At the Border Guy) and the most sensual song Joe has ever put down (Mondo Bongo), all ending with an epic, almost 18-minute instrumental rendition of the Irish standard The Minstrel Boy. Global a Go-Go is a more flavourful offering that the band was only able to sample a little bit from their debut, and it makes for a perfect summer soundtrack. They toured once again in support of the album, before and after the tragedy of 9/11, as Joe felt it was important to keep going and offer his audience the rollicking interlude that was much needed during the traumatic months that followed.
Sadly, this proved to be one of the final times you could catch Joe Strummer. He died on 22 December 2002, after returning home from walking his dog. His death was a massive shock to those who knew and loved him and brought along the abrupt end to his incredible comeback. The Mescaleros had been working on their third album,which the band decided to complete before dissolving. Streetcore was posthumously released in 2003 and is more akin to Rock Art as it’s more straight rock ‘n’ roll and less of the mix of genres from Global, but touchingly more introspective due to Joe’s untimely passing.Opening the album with an exuberant ode to Glastonbury (Coma Girl), acoustic numbers from the former meant for Johnny Cash (Long Shadow) to the Bob Marley cover tribute (Redemption Song), to samples of his radio show incorporated onto previously unfinished tracks. Streetcore is a loving ragtag summation of everything Joe held dear during his lifetime, and a laudable final project with which the incredible collective of all the musicians that made The Mescaleros, have surely made Joe somewhere very proud. In 2022, the whole catalogue was collected in a boxset, Joe Strummer 002: The Mescaleros Years, exactly twenty years after Joe’s death.
These albums are unique in their sound, and each listen guarantees a reward that it’s impossible to find a favourite song. The three records are not only a testament to the wordsmith and worldly musical vision of the late “Punk Rock Warlord”, but that it really takes all kinds of sounds and souls to make the world a vibrant and beautiful place to live in. In times like these, it’s a joyful reminder that we gain more by sharing our cultures and sounds with each other, all over. And, if you are currently unable to travel, then allow Joe and his gang take you on whirlwind adventure. As Joe simply said: “Without people, you’re nothing.”