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The Clash: Give 'Em Enough Rope

 A l b u m   D e t a i l s


Label: Epic Records
Released: 1978.11.10
Time:
 36:57
Category: Punk
Producer(s): Sandy Pearlman
Rating: *******... (7/10)
Media type: CD
Web address: www.theclashonline.com
Appears with:
Purchase date: 2011
Price in €: 1,00





 S o n g s ,   T r a c k s


[1] Safe European Home (Jones/Strummer) - 3:50
[2] English Civil War (Jones/Strummer/Traditional) - 2:35
[3] Tommy Gun (Jones/Strummer) - 3:17
[4] Julie's Been Working for theDrug Squad (Jones/Strummer) - 3:03
[5] Last Gang in Town (Jones/Strummer) - 5:14
[6] Guns on the Roof (Headon/Jones/Simonon/Strummer) - 3:15
[7] Drug-Stabbing Time (Jones/Strummer) - 3:43
[8] Stay Free (Jones/Strummer) - 3:40
[9] Cheapskates (Jones/Strummer) - 3:25
[10] All the Young Punks [New Boots and Contracts] (Jones/Strummer) - 4:56

 A r t i s t s ,   P e r s o n n e l


Joe Strummer - Vocals, Rhythm Guitar
Mick Jones - Lead Guitar, Vocals
Paul Simonon - Bass Guitar
Topper Headon - Drums

Sandy Pearlman - Producer
Corky Stasiak - Chief Engineer, Mixing
Dennis Ferranti - Sound Engineer
Gregg Caruso - Sound Engineer
Kevin Dalimore - Sound Engineer
Chris Mingo - Sound Engineer
Paul Subblevine - Mastering Engineer
Ray Staff - Digital Remastering
Bob Whitney - Digital Remastering
Gene Greif - Cover Designer
Hugh Brown - Concept Designer

 C o m m e n t s ,   N o t e s


1978 LP Epic 63884
1999 CD Sony Music Distribution 32444
1999 CD Sony Music Distribution 4953462
1999 LP Simply Vinyl 0000134
2000 CD Epic 63884
2000 CD Sony Music Distribution 63884
2005 CD Sony Music Distribution 521
2005 LP Phantom Import Distribution H35543

Give 'Em Enough Rope is the second studio album by the English punk rock band The Clash. It was released on 10 November 1978 through CBS Records. It was their first album released in the United States, preceding the US version of The Clash. The album was well received by critics and fans, peaking at number two in the United Kingdom Albums Chart, and number 128 in the Billboard 200.

Digitally remastered by Ray Staff & Bob Whitney (Whitfield Street Studios).


Despite the tepid production by metal guru Sandy Pearlman, the Clash's sophomore album, Give 'Em Enough Rope, manages to burn with white-hot intensity. Though not as amateurish or snarling as their debut album, Rope finds the boys flexing their songwriting muscles. The first three songs ("Safe European Home," "English Civil War," and "Tommy Gun") stand among their most powerful and leap from the record with brute force. Though they hit a few clunkers ("Cheapskates"), this album is a near classic and gives a hint of the band to come that would light up the world with London Calling.

Tod Nelson - Amazon.com



The album was voted album of the year for 1978 by Rolling Stone and Time magazines, as well as the popular UK music weekly Sounds which 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 numbers 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 fined £750) for shooting racing pigeons with an air-gun from the roof of their rehearsal building. The main riff of the song is similar to "I Can't Explain" by The Who. This riff was borrowed heavily in other Clash songs throughout their early 70's oeuvre.

The band's style of including contemporary subjects in their lyrics was continued on the album; "Tommy Gun" deals with the middle east terrorist situation and the hi-jacking of aircraft while "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. Julie's Been Working For The Drug Squad also makes a reference to the popular Beatles song "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds" in the line, "It's Lucy in the sky and all kinds of apple pie."

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. 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.

Wikipedia



For their second album, the Clash worked with the American hard rock producer Sandy Pearlman, best-known for his work with Blue Öyster Cult and the Dictators. The teaming was quite controversial within the punk community, and the sound of Give 'Em Enough Rope is considerably cleaner, yet the more direct sound hardly tamed the Clash. While the record doesn't burn with the same intense, amateurish energy of The Clash, it does have a big, forceful sound that is nearly as powerful. What keeps Give 'Em Enough Rope from being a classic is its slightly inconsistent material. Many of the songs are outright classics, particularly the first half of the record ("Safe European Home," "English Civil War," "Tommy Gun," "Julie's Been Working for the Drug Squad") and "Stay Free," but the group loses some momentum toward the end of the record. Even with such flaws, Give 'Em Enough Rope ranks as one of the strongest albums of the punk era.

Stephen Thomas Erlewine - All Music Guide



Sensing the emollient rattle of punk was an artistic dead end, the Clash took an abrupt volte-face and invited American Sandy Pearlman to produce their second album. Respected for his work with Blue Oyster Cult and the Dictators, Pearlman introduced a sheen that disturbed purists but introduced the Clash to a wider audience. The clear sound brought a new emphasis to the quartet's internal interplay and allowed the material to stand up in its own right. GIVE EM ENOUGH ROPE contains several of the band's most popular songs, which range from the defiant "Tommy Gun" to the sensitive "Stay Free," a contrast confirming the Clash's wider musical ambitions.

CDUniverse.com
 

 L y r i c s


Safe European Home

Well, I just got back an' I wish I never leave now
Who dat martian arrival at the airport?
How many local dollars for a local anaesthetic?
The johnny on the corner was a very sympathetic

I went to the place where every white face is an
Invitation to robbery
An' sitting here in my safe european home
I don't wanna go back there again

Wasn't I lucky n' wouldn't it be loverly?
Send us all cards, an' have a laying in on a sunday
I was there for two weeks, so how come I never tell
That natty dread drinks at the sheraton hotel?

Now they got the sun, an' they got the palm trees
They got the weed, an' they got the taxis
Whoa, the harder they come, n' the home of ol' bluebeat
Yes I'd stay an' be a tourist but I can't take the gunplay


English Civil War

When Johnny comes marching home again
He's coming by bus or underground
A woman's eye will shed a tear
To see his face so beaten in fear
An' it was just around the corner in the english civil war

It was still at the stage of clubs and fists
When that well-known face got beaten to bits
Your face was blue in the light of the screen
As we watched the speech of an animal scream
The new party army was marching right over our heads

Alright

There you are, ha ha, I told you so
Says everybody that we know
But who hid a radio under the stairs
An' who got caught out on their unawares?
When that new party army came marching right up the stairs

When Johnny comes marching home again
Nobody understands it can happen again
The sun is shining an' the kids are shouting loud
But you gotta know it's shining through a crack in the cloud
And the shadows keep falling when johnny comes marching home


Tommy Gun

Tommy gun
You ain't happy less you got one
Tommy gun
Ain't gonna shoot the place up
Just for fun
Maybe he wants to die for the money
Maybe he wants to kill for his country
Whatever he wants, he's gonna get it!

Tommy gun
You better strip it down for a custom run
Tommy gun
Waiting in the airport 'till kingdom come
An' we can watch you make it
On the nine o'clock news
Standing there in palestine lighting the fuse
Whatever you want, you're gonna get it

Tommy gun
You'll be dead when your war is won
Tommy gun
But did you have to gun down everyone?
I can see it's kill or be killed
A nation of destiny has got to be fulfilled
Whatever you want, you're gonna get it!

Tommy gun
You can be a hero in an age of none
Tommy gun
I'm cutting out your picture from page one
I'm gonna get a jacket just like yours
An' give my false support to your cause
Whatever you want, you're gonna get it!

Boats an' tanks and planes, it's your game
Kings an' queens an' generals learn your name
I see all the innocents, the human sacrifice
And if death comes so cheap
Then the same goes for life!


Julie's Been Working For The Drug Squad

It's lucy in the sky and all kinds of apple pie
She giggles at the screen 'cos it looks so green
There's carpets on the pavements
And feathers in her eye
But sooner or later, her new friends will realise
That julie's been working for the drug squad

Well it seemed like a dream, too good to be true
Stash it in the bank while the tablets grow high
In their millions

And everybody's high (hi, man...)
But there's someone looking down
From that mountainside
'cos julie's been working for the drug squad

And it's ten years for you
Nineteen for you
And you can get out in twenty-five
That is if you're still alive

An' then there came the night of the greatest ever raid
They arrested every drug that had ever been made
They took eighty-two laws
Through eighty-two doors
And they didn't halt the pull
Till the cells were all full
'cos julie was working fob the drug squad

They put him in a cell, they said you wait here
You've got the time to count all of your hair
You've got fifteen years
A mighty long time
You could have been a physicist
But now your name is on the mailbag list
Julie's been working for the drug squad

Gumbo!


Last Gang In Town

Everybody's looking for last gang in town
You better watch out for they're all comin' around

The sport of today is exciting
The in crowd are into infighting
When some punk sees some rock-olla
It's rock and roll all over
In every street and every station
Kids fight like different nations
And it's brawn against brain
And it's knife against chain
But it's all young blood
Flowing down the drain

The Crops hit the Stiffs
An' the Spikes whipped the Quiffs
They're all looking 'round

For the last gang in town

Meanwhile down in black town
Those old soul rebels are haingin' around
An' when some punk come alooking for sound
RastaferI goes to ground
The white heart flipped his pocket dipped
'Cos a black sharp knife never slips
And they never say to one antoher
That tomorrow we might kill our brothers

Down from the edge of London
The rockabily rebels came
From another edge of London
Skinhead gangs call out their name
But not the Zydeco kids
From the high rise
Though they can't be recognized
When you hear a cajun fiddle
Then you're nearly in the middle
Of the last gang in town


Guns On The Roof

I swear by Almighty God
To tell the whole truth
And nothing but the truth

Guns guns
They torture all the women and children
Then they've put the men to the gun
'Cos across the human frontier
Freedom's always on the run

Guns guns a-shaking in terror
Guns guns killing in error
Guns guns guilty hands
Guns guns shatter the lands

A system built by the sweat of the many
Creates assassins to kill off the few
Take any place and call it a court house
This is a place where no judge can stand

Sue the lawyers and burn all the papers
Unlock the key of the legal papers
A jury of a billion faces
Shouted out condemned out of hand

Guns guns, and nobody's kidding
Guns guns, or foolin' around
Guns guns, the violence is singing
Guns guns, a silence the sound

'N I Iike to be in Aferica
A-beatin' on the final drum
'N I like to be in U.S.S.R.
Makin' sure these things will come
'N I like to be in U.S.A.
Pretending that the wars are done
'N I like to be in Europa
Saying goodbye to everyone

Guns guns there's guns on the roof
Guns guns they're made to shoot


Drug-Stabbing Time

Drug stabbing time
Well I got working on the Ford line
A paying off the big fine
Drug stabbin' time

Drug stabbin' time
Is from nine to nine
Nobody wantsa user
Nobody needs a loser
So kick him out that door
An' don't answer it no more

Drug stabbin' time
It's a Greenwich Mean Time
Your friends all hate each other you think
You've got another
But who's at the door?
Don't answer it no more

Drug stabbin time
In a bedroom crime
There's a tape recording on a telephone line
An' it's ringin from the floor
So don't answer it no more

Now I was lying in my room
It was raining drugs all afternoon.
I hear this car pull up outside
Comes to a stop like, skreeee

Someone's in a hurry
'N someone better worry
'Cos these four guys all had on their feet
A pair of black shoes shining and neat
I thinks

Blackshoes on
No that's bad news
Here they come charging up the stairs alright
Sonny just tell us where

Drug stabbin time
Don't ask me mate
Working on the Ford line
Paying off the big fine
Drug stabbin' time


Stay Free

We met when we were in school
Never took no shit from no one, we weren't fools
The teacher says we're dumb
We're only having fun
We piss on everyone
In the classroom

When we got thrown out I left without much fuss
An' weekends we'd go dancing
Down streatham on the bus
You always made me laugh

Got me in bad fights
Play me pool all night
Smokin' menthol

I practised daily in my room
You were down the crown planning your next move
Go on a nicking spree
Hit the wrong guy
Each of you get three
Years in brixton

I did my very best to write
How was butlins?
Were the screws too tight?
When you lot get out
Were gonna hit the town
We'll burn it fuckin' down
To a cinder

Cos years have passed and things have changed
And I move anyway I wanna go
I'll never forget the feeling I got
When I heard that you'd got home
An' I'll never forget the smile on my face
'cos I knew where you would be
An' if you're in the crown tonight
Have a drink on me
But go easy...step lightly...stay free


Cheapskates

I have been a washer up
An' he has been a scrubber up
An' I seen him a picking up
Dog ends in the rain
An' he has never read a book
Though I told him to take a look
He lifted his poolhall cue
For another game
But it ain't no modern miracle
That we found the golden rule
What you can't buy you gotta steal
An' what you say can't steal you better leave

I don't like to hang about
In this lonely room
'Cos london is for going out
And trying to hear a tune
But people come pouncing up to me
And say what are you doing here
You're supposed to be a star
Not a cheapskate bleeding queer

Like a load of rats from a sinking ship
You slag us down to save your hip
But you don't give me the benfit
Of your doubt
'Cos I'll bite it off and spit it out

We're cheapskates anything'll do
We're cheapskates what are we supposed to do?
An' we can rock
Hey hey let's roll
An' we can walk
An' do the stroll

Just because we're in a group
You think we're stinking rich
'N we all got model girls
Shedding every stitch
'N You think the cocaine's flowing
Like a river up our noses
'N every sea will part for us
Like the red one did for Moses

Well I hope you make it one day
Just like you always said you would some day
And I'll get out my money and make a bet
That I'll be seein' you down the launderette


All The Young Punks (New Boots And Contracts)

Hanging about down the market street

I spent a lot of time on my feet
When I saw some passing yabbos
We did chance to speak

I knew how to sing
Y' know an
They knew how to pose
An' one of them had a Les Paul
Heart attack machine

All the young punks
Laugh your life
Cos there ain't much to cry for
All the young cunts
Live it now
Cos there ain't much to die for

Everybody wants to bum
A ride on the rock 'n' roller coaster
And we went out
Got our name in small print on the poster
Of course we got a manger
Though he ain't the mafia
A contract is a contract
When they get 'em out on yer

You gotta drag yourself to work
Drag yourself to sleep
You're dead from the neck up
By the middle of the week

Face front you got the future shining
Like a piece of gold
But I swear as we get closer
It look more like a lump of coal
But it's better than some factory
Now that's no place to waste your youth
I worked there for a week once
I luckily got the boot
 

 M P 3   S a m p l e s


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