Springsteen covers Clash in London, video included
I’ve never known where I stand on Bruce Springsteen, I admire his politics and his dedication I’ve never been very involved with his music. I put that down to lack of effort on my part. How many musicians can you be dedicated to in a lifetime? What I do know is he has tremendous fans and is apparently beyond compare in a live setting.
The reason ‘The Boss’ is on my radar tonight was his brilliant decision to open his Hyde Park concert tonight with a cover of London Calling. Most Clash fans will know Springsteen played the same track with Elvis Costello and Dave Grohl when the Clash were inducted into the Rock and Roll hall of Fame. The NME reports that Mick Jones watched from the side of the stage.
Found the footage, not sure about it being a hand clapping song but still good stuff..
As soon as I find the London version I’ll post it (now done!). On a related note I wanted to post the photo below (click to make more legible). It’s a hand written letter by Joe Strummer recommending Bruce Springsteen for a TV project. The letter is pure Joe, nobody else wrote like him or spoke like him. A lovely bit of history.
It was 109f here in Phoenix today, and I just got back from playing football (soccer) needless to say I feel a bit dehydrated. I’ll just get this posted and reward myself with a beer I believe. Should have some Glastonbury news in the days ahead.
Goodnight Clash fans ~ Tim
Just fyi, I talked to Mick at the Springsteen show; he seemed pleased about London Calling!
The hand-clapping is painful to watch / hear…shame
Firstly, I have to say that I recognise the fact that Bruce Springsteen is one of the all-time great performers/musicians and also making allowances for this atrocious sound quality with its excessive hand clapping. Now I'm partial to a Clash cover and loved Lily Allen's recent duet with Mick on 'Straight To Hell' for Warchild and many of the other covers too, but I've gotta say this version of London Calling is pretty poor.
From a musical point of view it loses it immediately. It has to be that rising chord progression – Joe's rhythm part sets the tone of the song – Em (at the 7th fret) to a Csus4 (at the 8th fret which is essentially an Fm using G on the B string instead of an A flat….) If you've got a guitar, just try it
Whoever looked online at the guitar tabs for Bruce didn't listen closely enough to the song to realise that the majority of the tabs are incorrect. Cheers all…..rant over. It sounds even better played on this….
http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/kk259/Pete23_3…
Pete, There is the video of this (much better) on Springsteen's official site which I'll get around to adding. Audio is crisp but again it lacks so much of the original. I play guitar (poorly) and would concur that the main difference is playing those major chords at the top of the neck kills the punch of London Calling. The world of Clash covers has become huge – and I've been putting it off as a regular feature – but it will be something soon. Check my earlier post which links to 20+ versions of Straight to Hell. Cheers ~ Tim
I didn't watch it but at glastonbury he opened with coma girl.