‘On the 10th anniversary of the death of my extraordinary friend Joe Strummer I’d like to share an un-released track I recorded with The Clash around the time they were making Combat Rock. The full track is 8 minutes long, here is 3 minutes worth, much of it instrumental. The band are playing exceptionally well – Joe and Mick on guitars, Topper on drums and percussion, Paul on bass and me, Tymon Dogg, on keyboard, violin and vocals. During the recording of this song, Joe remarked ‘it sounds like a Casbah’ and Topper, Paul and Joe started shouting ‘Rock the casbah, Man’, joking that the Ayatollah Khomeini wouldn’t like it. So the chorus of one of their most famous tracks was born.’
Tymon Dogg 22 December 2012
Tymon –
Thanks a bunch – this is a really great track and makes sense of Rat Patrol/ Combat Rock and should be included in a remastered version of Rat Patrol for public consumption in my opinion simply because it deserves to be heard by the masses.
Hats off to you – you are truly an influential and inspirational musician who deserves far greater recognition (if indeed that’s what you yourself would want!).
Respect and love,
Tim (Cardiff)