Something About England: Strummer/Jones (The Clash) song-by-song

I ****ing LOVE this song! The snare intro, the weird synths, everything. Could listen to this or the dub all day

 

Sorry to correct you Lance.
Channel One not Studio One.
There’s a difference.
Totally separate places.
The Roots Radics were the house band at Channel One.
The out of tune piano was at Channel One.
I’m surprised it’s Paul on bass and not Flabba.
The/ their backing track is spot on. The vocals not.
4 for the music.
Zero for the vocals.

 

I love the Roots Radics and the Channel One sound so Junco Partner is alright with me. The thing is I haven't heard it for years and don't remember a naff vocal! I'm going to have to play side one of Sandinista over the weekend. For now I'll give Junco Partner 3/5 as I remember liking it and for the Roots Radics.

 

Junco Partner - 4/5. It dares to be different, and if you think about just side 1 of Sandanista, it's a blueprint for both the rest of the album, and their career.

Love the acoustic version, too.

 

Junco Partner

No - Joe no….. fake Jamaican accents can only go so far before they enter the ‘Dreadlock Holiday’ area of cringe. Unfortunately Strummer jumps in with both feet…..

I think this is one of the poorest tracks on the album.

You can hear Strummer doing an earlier version of this song with his old band the 101ers from the album Elgin Avenue Breakdown, which I prefer



2/5

 

Junco Partner

2/5

I don't like it at all, but I can recognise there's some good work going on musically. Certainly not the vocals, though.

I can't remember my feelings at the time of buying and playing Sandinista when it first came out, apart from giving up on it pretty quickly. But right now, after tracks 2 and 3, and with 33 still to go, I'm thinking this s*** is really gonna ruin my Christmas!

 

Well, it's 5 from me.

 

I did think I might be in a small minority complaining about the vocal but it seems we all think the same. And it drags the score down.

Perhaps it should have been an instrumental or have someone else sing it.

 

Thanks! No double checking on my part.

Paul seems to have been there, though and his girlfriend bankrolled the whole thing.

 

I suppose, I thought those ships had sailed with Stay Free. I put it down to the Yoko affect. At the time I was heavily into Orange Juice, anything that wasn't a bit fey and camp I derided as rockist.

 

Nah, it's Joe innit? Having fun..

And this being the only time he inserts something 'romantic' into the Clash oevure ("keys to your heart" doesn't count)

 

I think side 1 of sandinsta is probably my favourite single side of clash vinyl and I give junco partner a 4.

 

Not really. Stay Free was anchored with hard, driving guitar chords. The wimpyness creeped in on London Calling with the dreadful Lost In The Supermarket (which was like a secondary school music class song).

 

We called out Joe for hamming up an accent on Revolution Rock. It's far less egregious here.

 

I remember my middle brother picking up Sandinista when it came out. We all puzzled over some of it but the winning songs carried the day.

The Magnificent Seven - A great opener and we were all on board. It might be a little long but I wouldn't change a thing. My brother dutifully went out and got some Grandmaster Flash vinyl and we felt like we were on to something big. A strong 5/5.

Hitsville UK - Another great song and we all appreciated the Clash referencing American music. A tad long but a great song. 4.5/5

Junco Partner - Right in line with London Calling and the mix of various musical types, we have another cool foray. A friend turned me onto James Booker's version years later and I hardly recognized it. Cool. 4/5

 

Junco ; likeable enough for me and i like the synth noises , 3/5

 

Junco Partner

Interesting - seems to be you love it or hate it track. I'm in the first category. Joe definitely seemed to be in that category too - he seems to have played it in every single phase of his career- There are versions with the 101'ers, The Clash, The Mick Jones-less Clash, Solo and with The Mescalaros - one of the few tracks to achieve such a feat!.

4/5

 

I like Junco Partner, but just enough to give it a 3.2

 

Junco Partner - Louisiana meets Jamaica. Wonderful. And Joe’s vocals “don’t bother me”, though I do think his solo version is the keeper.

4/5

Solo version 5/5

 

Not a favorite of mine and I find the sound effects/noises really annoying. That said, there are worse tracks on this album. 2.5/5

 

Love Junco Partner as well as the dub "Version Pardner" at the tail end of the album. It's an interesting cross-hybrid of Cajun/Reggae/Calypso stylings and also love the violin, xylophone, synth tonal accompaniments that adorn it. As has been stated, this song seemed to be a favorite of Joe's as there's been several versions offered over his career span that justify it as such. I found this one intriguing the first time I heard it and have always had a special place for it on the record. It sets a standard for what other styles they would tackle further into the grooves of the record as one listens and it stands out as something innovative to my ears.

4.5/5

 

Junco Partner

I was familiar with the New Orleans boogie version of this song - not the version Lance posted, but something similar.

So the reggae take on it is very different.

I really like the first few minutes of the Clash version, but it just goes on way too long. The arrangement is very good, but at some point Joe just starts squawking and the song should have been tied up much sooner than it was, say at around 3 minutes. A shorter version would have been a better version.

3.75/5

 

“Junco Partner” - The vocals on this song make my skin crawl. Horrible. 1/5

 

"Junco Partner"

Has a cool vibe - I like the dishevelled nature and Jamaican feel.

4/5

 

In my (probably unpopular here) opinion, The Clash would have been better served if they'd have compiled their reggae-and-the-like stuff, including "Junco Partner", on a separate Pinups-style LP and just have had at it. This song does very little to move me in any way. 1/5