The Clash-Rat Patrol From Fort Bragg Bootleg CD

I’ve never been as much of a fan of the Clash as lots of my friends are. In my opinion, they had two truly memorable albums. The first was their self-titled debut LP, which has been accurately described as sounding like the Sex Pistols with talent. The second was Combat Rock, the final album recorded with the band’s original lineup. It was one of the first punk records I bought, and it’s always held a special place in my musical heart. Most people are familiar with “Rock the Casbah” and “Should I Stay or Should I Go”, but the some of the lesser-known tracks like “Straight to Hell” display the band’s more offbeat and experimental nature in a compelling way.

I only recently became aware that before the album was released, a much different version had been produced. The band’s guitar player Mick Jones was originally given the responsibility of mixing and sequencing the album, then know under the working title of “Rat Patrol from Fort Bragg”. The rest of the band was dissatisfied with Jones’ mix, and vocalist Joe Strummer stepped in to do a re-mix (Jones was sacked from the band shortly thereafter). The original mix is much longer than the final cut, and was originally meant to cover two LPs. It contains five songs not on Combat Rock (a couple of which are pretty good), and is missing one song (“Overpowered by Funk”). Even the songs that were included in the final product are subtly different here-often longer, with more prominent sound effects, and sometimes with different lead vocal tracks. Strummer did a good job with the remix; Combat Rock is overall a stronger, more concise album that the earlier version presented here. But fans of the album should give this a listen. It presents an interesting alternate take on one of the great albums of period.

1. The Beautiful People Are Ugly Too
2. Kill Time
3. Should I Stay or Should I Go
4. Rock the Casbah
5. Know Your Rights
6. Red Angel Dragnet
7. Ghetto Defendant
8. Sean Flynn
9. Car Jamming
10. Inoculated City
11. Death Is a Star
12. Walk Evil Talk
13. Atom Tan
14. First Night Back in London
15. Cool Confusion
16. Straight to Hell

Enjoy