Chris Salewicz was a close friend of Joe Strummer, the cool outlaw rock icon, whose impassioned politicized lyrics, humour and confrontational stance as The Clash frontman projected him to dizzying heights of fame. The Clash were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2003. Strummer's untimely death in 2002 spawned huge and deeply respectful responses amongst his friends and fans from the far reaches of the four corners of the globe. The inspiration, influence, respect and love felt for Joe Strummer was overwhelming.
As Salewicz indicates in this interview, he had to write Redemption Song. It is a detailed, open and honest biography of the man. From the perspective of a close friend for 30 years, Salewicz has managed to not only capture the energy, angst, and poetic beauty of the musician, songwriter, political activist, poet and cultural icon, he has skilfully articulated Strummer's fears, his complexity and reveals the man's down to earth humanity. Never shirking in laying bare the demons that fuelled Strummer's gut-wrenchingly dark low times and the wilderness years following the demise of The Clash, Salewicz writes with compelling authority. With rich detail culled from his friendship with Strummer himself, his many many friends and, of course, his family, Salewicz makes a very persuasive case for him to be added to the long list of protest singers that include Woody Guthrie, John Lennon, and Bob Marley. He certainly convinced me. A sincere and rivetting biography of a warm, outspoken and searingly articulate man, whose drive, integrity, passion, and artistic accomplishments ensure his centrality within forms and discourses of music and popular culture.
I had the chance to talk with author, journalist and film producer Chris Salewicz recently, following the release of Redemption Song;
I have just finished reading Redemption Song Chris, it is certainly the definitive biography of Joe Strummer, in my opinion. What inspired you to write the book?
The day after Joe's funeral, on December 30 2002, I sat down to write all my thoughts and impressions of what had just occurred. I finished two weeks later, with exactly fifty pages written. Speaking to my agent, I mentioned what I had been doing. He asked to see it. Then he came back to me and said, "Do you realize you've just written the first chapter of a book?" By that time I sort of did, and we went from there. A couple of people told me it was my job to write Joe's biography, and although I initially tried to escape this task, I knew they were correct. So this is what happened.
Article comments
1 - Natalie Bennett
This article has been selected for syndication to Advance.net , which is affiliated with newspapers around the United States, and to Boston.com. Nice work!