Weekend Entertainment: Wolfgang's Vault Has The Clash, Talking Heads, And Joe Strummer

It's been a little while since we've seen any new material that caught our eye on Wolfgang's Vault, but apparently when it rains, it pours. This weekend the streaming site has shows from The Clash and Talking Heads, as well as a two part interview with Joe Strummer. Yes, tasty indeed.

The Clash show is from The Agora Ballroom in Ohio circa 1979, and as such it has a selection of tracks from the band's first two records. Some of those tracks (especially from the second album) got rarer in later years, so it's nice to catch a live version of some of those tracks. We were psyched to see "Stay Free" on the list.

The Talking Heads set is from a 1977 set at CBGB for King Biscuit Flower Hour. It was recorded prior to the band's debut 77, but also interesting contains their cover of "Take Me To The River" from the second album. If you want raw, early Talking Heads, this is your cup of tea.

Finally, the Joe Strummer interview is made up of two parts, one from 1983 and one from 1984. The focus is largely on the breakup of The Clash, and decidedly absent is the optimistic Joe of the late 90's. It's interesting, to say the least.

All in all, these three serve to underscore why Wolfgang's Vault continues to be filed under "awesome" here at HAD - free, rare, new concerts every week? Too cool.

Stream: The Clash Live At Agora Ballroom
Stream: Talking Heads Live At CBGB's
Stream: Joe Strummer Interview

Joe Strummer: "Generations"

It's no secret that Joe Strummer experienced a career renaissance before his untimely death in 2002. The trio of albums released in the late 90's and early 2000's represented some real growth for the former Clash frontman, both in instrumentation and songwriting. If they're not already in your collection, they certainly should be. But that's a story for another day.

Prior to those three, Strummer was in something of a "lost weekend" phase. After The Clash, Strummer released an overlookable solo record (Earthquake Weather) and a smattering of side projects and one-offs, none of which really failed to take hold. However, there was one piece of the puzzle that is obviously the clear lead in to Strummer's fantastic late-period records, and criminally overlooked: "Generations".

The song is the title cut from a 1997 charity album of the same name, and is brimming with the promise that would be fully realized in 1999 with Rock Art And The X-Ray Style. All the elements are in place: Strummer's new found laid back vocal style, eccentric percussion, and guitar lines that border on sounding like synthesizers. More importantly, it truly sounds as though Strummer is inspired and has something to sing for.

There's no question that Joe Strummer died far too early, but at least one can be thankful that he found his muse again before leaving life behind. He was an unquestionably unique talent in the world of rock music, and while his legacy with The Clash was fantastic, he truly built upon it with his later work. Stumbling across gems like this just serves to hammer that point home, and make us glad he left so much damn good music behind.

mp3: Joe Strummer - Generations