| Give 'Em Enough Rope | ||||||||||
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| Studio album by The Clash | ||||||||||
| Released | 10 November 1978 | |||||||||
| Recorded | May–June 1978 Basing Street Studios, London; August–September 1978 The Automatt, San Francisco |
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| Genre | Punk rock | |||||||||
| Length | 36:57 | |||||||||
| Label | CBS, Epic | |||||||||
| Producer | Sandy Pearlman | |||||||||
| Professional reviews | ||||||||||
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| The Clash chronology | ||||||||||
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Give 'Em Enough Rope is the second album by The Clash, released in 1978. In the US it was their official debut, preceding the U.S. version of The Clash. The album was well received by critics and fans, peaking at number 2 in the UK chart,[1] and number 128 in the U.S.[2]
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Album information
The album's title was inspired by the expression "give them enough rope and they'll hang themselves". It was voted album of the year for 1978 by Rolling Stone and Time magazines, as well as the popular UK music weekly, Sounds. The latter gave it a glowing review upon release, with writer Dave McCullough calling it "swash-buckled heavy-metal" and claiming it to be "The best LP since the last Clash LP, both, I personally feel, transcending anything ever recorded".
The cover was designed by Gene Greif, using a postcard, "End of the Trail", photographed by Adrian Atwater, featuring Wallace Irving Robertson.
The cover of the first US pressings showed the band's name written in block capital letters. Subsequent US pressings used a faux-oriental style font, which was then replaced with the more ornate faux-oriental style font used on the UK release.
The original American issue of the album also retitled "All the Young Punks" as "That's No Way to Spend Your Youth". This was revised on later editions.
"Tommy Gun" and "English Civil War" were released as the album's singles, either side of Christmas 1978. They entered the UK charts at #19 and #25 respectively.
Though the opening track of the album's B-side, "Guns On The Roof" is ostensibly a rant about global terrorism, war and corruption, it was partly inspired by an incident that resulted in the Metropolitan Police's armed anti-terrorist squad raiding The Clash's Camden Market base. Paul Simonon and Topper Headon were arrested and charged with criminal damage (and later and fined £750) for shooting racing pigeons with an air-gun from the roof of their rehearsal building. The main riff of the song is lifted from 'I Can't Explain' by The Who.
The band's style of including contemporary subjects in their lyrics was continued on the album; "Tommy Gun" dealt with the middle east terrorist situation and the hi-jacking of aircraft whilst Julie's Been Working For The Drug Squad was a commentary on the infamous "Operation Julie" drug bust that saw the largest LSD production ring in the world, based in Wales dismantled by an undercover police operation.
During recording of the album Joe Strummer's trademark Telecaster guitar needed to be taken in for repairs, so for the bulk of the sessions he played a hired semi-acoustic Gibson ES-345.[3]
Sandy Pearlman, who produced the original album was not a big fan of Joe Strummer's voice, so much so that he ensured the drums were mixed louder than the lead singer's vocals on the entire album.[4]
"Safe European Home" was covered by Sonic Boom Six for their album Sounds to Consume. The song is also featured as a playable track on Guitar Hero: Van Halen.
Stay Free was covered by Fun People, an argentinian punk rock band, the song is in their 1998 album, titled Kum Kum.
Reception
- Q magazine (12/99, pp. 152-3) - 5 stars out of 5 - "...no more punk than Blondie...[it] shined of quality....their drumming problems were over with the arrival of jazz-trained [Topper] Headon."
- Q magazine (5/02 SE, p. 135) - Included in Q's "100 Best Punk Albums."
- NME (10/2/93, p. 29) - Ranked #87 in NME's list of the 'Greatest Albums Of All Time.'
Track listing
All lyrics written by Joe Strummer and Mick Jones, except where noted, all music composed by The Clash. All lead vocals were by Strummer, except "Stay Free" by Jones.
| Side one | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | Title | Length | |||||||
| 1. | "Safe European Home" | 3:50 | |||||||
| 2. | "English Civil War" (Traditional; arranged Mick Jones/Joe Strummer) | 2:35 | |||||||
| 3. | "Tommy Gun" | 3:17 | |||||||
| 4. | "Julie's Been Working For The Drug Squad" | 3:03 | |||||||
| 5. | "Last Gang in Town" | 5:14 | |||||||
| Side two | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | Title | Length | |||||||
| 1. | "Gun on the Roof" (Topper Headon/Mick Jones/Paul Simonon/Joe Strummer) | 3:15 | |||||||
| 2. | "Drug-Stabbing Time" | 3:43 | |||||||
| 3. | "Stay Free" | 3:40 | |||||||
| 4. | "Cheapskates" | 3:25 | |||||||
| 5. | "All the Young Punks (New Boots and Contracts)" | 4:55 | |||||||
Personnel
The following people contributed to Give 'Em Enough Rope:[5]
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Charts
| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1978 | Swedish Albums Chart[6] | 36 |
| 1978 | UK Albums Chart[7] | 2 |
| 1979 | Billboard Pop albums[8] | 126 |
Notes
- ^ Marcus, Greil (1979-01-25). "The Clash: Give 'Em Enough Rope". Album Reviews. Rolling Stone. http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/theclash/albums/album/248769/review/5940574/give_em_enough_rope. Retrieved 2008-03-29.
- ^ Letts Don; Joe Strummer, Mick Jones, Paul Simonon, Topper Headon, Terry Chimes, Rick Elgood, The Clash. (2001). The Clash, Westway to the World. [Documentary]. New York, NY: Sony Music Entertainment; Dorismo; Uptown Films. Event occurs at 41:00–45:00. ISBN 0738900826. OCLC 49798077.
- ^ Sounds Magazine 6/17/78
- ^ NME Magazine 3/16/91
- ^ Clash, The. (November 1978). Give 'Em Enough Rope (Album liner notes). CBS Records.
- ^ "Discography The Clash". SwedishCharts.com. Retrieved 23 February 2008.
- ^ "UK Chart Archive". everyHit.co.uk. Retrieved 17 February 2008.
- ^ "The Clash > Charts & Awards > Billboard Albums". Allmusic. Retrieved 26 October 2008.
References
- Gilbert, Pat (2005) [2004]. Passion Is a Fashion: The Real Story of The Clash (4th edition ed.). London: Aurum Press. ISBN 1845131134. OCLC 61177239.
- Gray, Marcus (2005) [1995]. The Clash: Return of the Last Gang in Town (5th revised edition ed.). London: Helter Skelter. ISBN 1905139101. OCLC 60668626.
- Green, Johnny; Garry Barker (2003) [1997]. A Riot of Our Own: Night and Day with The Clash (3rd edition ed.). London: Orion. ISBN 0752858432. OCLC 52990890.
- Gruen, Bob; Chris Salewicz (2004) [2001]. The Clash (3rd edition ed.). London: Omnibus. ISBN 1903399343. OCLC 69241279.
- Needs, Kris (2005-01-25). Joe Strummer and the Legend of the Clash. London: Plexus. ISBN 085965348X. OCLC 53155325.
- Topping, Keith (2004) [2003]. The Complete Clash (2nd edition ed.). Richmond: Reynolds & Hearn. ISBN 1903111706. OCLC 63129186.
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