Joe Strummer box set focuses on The Mescaleros work in September

Dark Horse Records is celebrating what would have been Joe Strummer’s 70th birthday on August 21 with Joe Strummer 002: The Mescaleros Years, the first-ever comprehensive collection highlighting his work with his post-Clash band, The Mescaleros.

The collection includes remastered editions of all three of the band’s studio albums, plus 15 rare and unreleased tracks spanning the first demos Joe wrote for the Mescaleros, as well as ‘Ocean Of Dreams’, featuring Steve Jones of the Sex Pistols on guitar, and outtakes of several tracks of Joe’s final recordings with the band. 

This curated boxset was executive produced by Joe’s widow Lucinda Tait and produced by David Zonshine and features exclusive new interviews with Joe’s friends, collaborators and Mescaleros band mates, plus never-before-seen handwritten notes, lyrics, and drawings by Strummer taken from the Joe Strummer Archive. The release arrives everywhere Friday, September 16 on 4 CD w/72-page book and 7 LP w/32-page book, special edition packaging and exclusive 12”x12” art print. 

The first track from the collection, the previously unreleased version of “The Road To Rock ‘N’ Roll (Demo)” is available to stream. The video for the song was created using Joe’s drawings and handwritten lyrics found in the Strummer archive - WATCH HERE

PRE-ORDER JOE STRUMMER 002: THE MESCALEROS YEARS HERE

While best known as the front man for The Clash, Strummer also produced acclaimed work with The Mescaleros. Strummer said during this period: “All that’s happening for me now is just a chancer’s bluff. I learned that fame is an illusion and everything about it is just a joke. I’m far more dangerous now, because I don’t care at all.”

Joe Strummer 002: The Mescaleros Years highlights the period of 1999-2002, collecting for the first time such albums as Rock Art and the X-Ray Style (1999), Global A Go-Go (2001), and the posthumous Streetcore (2003), along with Vibes Compass, a brand-new compilation of 15 B-sides and rarities, including early demos of some of the first tracks Joe wrote for the Mescaleros such as “The Road To Rock ‘N’ Roll”, “X-Ray Style”, “Techno D-Day”, as well as the previously unreleased “Secret Agent Man” and the original recordings from Joe’s last ever sessions, including outtakes of “Get Down Moses”, “Coma Girl” and the song “Fantastic”.

All albums are remastered by Grammy-winning engineer Paul Hicks (The Beatles, John Lennon, The Rolling Stones, David Bowie) especially for the release and are packaged with new liner notes, unreleased images, and four reproduction lyric sheets and chord charts from the Strummer archive.

"There's so much great music that Joe left us in his archive,” says Joe’s widow and the executive producer, Lucinda Tait. “We started this work with '001', so to focus on Joe's work with The Mescaleros was the natural second step on '002' because those songs he made with them just seemed to resonate so strongly and reinvigorated his connection with his audience at a level he hadn't experienced since his days with The Clash.

“He was so excited to work with the Mescaleros and the reception he got from the press and fans was incredible, it gave him a whirlwind of energy and confidence and he was creatively fulfilled and happy.

“His words are so beautiful and honest and together with the Mescaleros some fantastic tunes were created and to listen to some of the tunes recorded as outtakes for me was really special.”

TRACK LISTING: 

Rock Art and the X-Ray Style

1. Tony Adams

2. Sandpaper Blues
3. X-Ray Style
4. Techno D-Day
5. The Road to Rock 'N' Roll
6. Diggin' The New
7. Nitcomb
8. Forbidden City
9. Yalla Yalla
10. Willesden To Cricklewood

Global A Go-Go
1. Johnny Appleseed
2. Cool ’N’ Out
3. Global A Go-Go
4. Bhindi Bhagee
5. Gamma Ray
6. Mega Bottle Ride
7. Shaktar Donetsk
8. Mondo Bongo
9. Bummed Out City
10. At The Border, Guy
11. Minstrel Boy (full-length version)

Streetcore
1. Coma Girl
2. Get Down Moses
3. Long Shadow
4. Arms Aloft
5. Ramshackle Day Parade
6. Redemption Song
7. All In A Day
8. Burnin' Streets
9. Midnight Jam
10. Silver and Gold

Vibes Compass

1. Time And The Tide
2. Techno D-Day (Demo)
3. Ocean Of Dreams (feat. Steve Jones)
4. Forbidden City (Demo)
5. X-Ray Style (Demo)
6. The Road To Rock ‘N’ Roll (Demo)
7. Tony Adams (Demo)
8. Cool ‘N’ Out (Demo)
9. Global A Go-Go (Demo)
10. Secret Agent Man
11. All In A Day (Demo)
12. London Is Burning
13. Get Down Moses (Outtake)
14. Fantastic
15. Coma Girl (Outtake)

ABOUT DARK HORSE RECORDS

George Harrison’s passion for introducing the world to new music expressed itself in May of 1974 when he created his own new label – Dark Horse Records. The label contained a variety of talented artists on its roster, including George himself. Alongside Joe Strummer, the newly relaunched Dark Horse Records roster also includes Billy Idol, Leon Russell, Benmont Tench and others. For more information, please visit www.darkhorserecords.com.