 Trade In this Item for up to £0.25
Get an extra £5 when you trade in books worth £10 or more until June 30, 2012. Trade in Joe Strummer and the Legend of "The Clash" for an Amazon.co.uk gift card of up to £0.25, which you can then spend on millions of items across the site. Trade-in values may vary (terms apply). Find more products eligible for trade-in.
|
Frequently Bought Together
Product details
|
More About the Author
Product Description
Book Description
Combining his own anecdotal and press material from the era with a wealth of biographical detail, Needs breathes life into the legend of The Clash. As a fan, a journalist and a close friend of the band, Needs illuminates the Clash story and provides a special insight into the life and times of The Clash’s lead singer Joe Strummer. Joe Strummer and the Legend of The Clash conveys the white-hot excitement of their gigs and the intense emotions their music caused, while providing an account of the life and times of a true punk pioneer.
About the Author
Kris Needs is the former editor of the legendary alternative rockzine ZigZag. In the last 25 years, he has conducted the final press interview with Bob Marley, worked as a DJ on the 1990s dance music scene, and enjoyed club success with the record ‘Sugar Daddy’. He is the author of Needs Must, his autobiography, The Scream, a career biography of Primal Scream, and Keith Richards: Before They Make Me Run.
Suggested Tags from Similar Products(What's this?)Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
|
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Kris Needs first met the Clash shortly after they had started out on the long, often arduous, frequently funny but rarely dull road to success. He was part of the inner circle, liked and respected by the members of the band who considered him more of a friend than just another journalist. He personally charted their progress in the magazine ZigZag and championed their cause from first to last (last being when Mick Jones departed). However, this is far from being a subjective, rose-tinted view of "the only band that matters" from a man who was both friend and fan. Needs doesn't pull any punches when it comes to the mistakes that were made, the tempers that frayed and the events that led to the eventual implosion of The Clash. But along the way, he gives us a rare insight (even more so than Johnny Green's excellent "A Riot of Our Own") into the day-to-day life of a now legendary band, recounting many of the dodgy and often hilarious situations that the lads and their cohorts found themselves in, as well as detailing the technical side of the various ways they set about writing, recording and playing live. While going into great depth, Needs never fails to keep the reader's interest and there's something new to discover or remember on virtually every page. What's more, he doesn't stop when the Clash ceased to be. Charting the highs and lows of post-Clash Strummer and Jones in particular (while touching on the fortunes or otherwise of Simonon and Headon) he brings us up to the present day, with a plethora of comments from the surviving members, recorded in 2004, peppered throughout the book.
This is an absolute gem of a book, written with humour, insight and a great deal of affection. It's essential reading for anyone interested in the ins and outs of the world of Rock 'n' Roll. As for all the Clash fans out there; your bookshelves will be bereft without it.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Kris Needs, or "Needsy" as the group called him has put together a book which gives both a musical and personal insight into the four group members plus their entourage. Not only is it easy to read, but you also find out extra mad pieces of info, such as where the wilderbeest impressions come from on London Calling, or how the author listened to the album decked out in gaffer tape! Loads of useless but funny tales on the antics of everyone. Very balanced too, he definately hasn't written nostalgically, stories about the band and their mates come over as a fair of the good times and the bad ones. Excellent read for any Clash fan who has read all the other books. Even though he was a journalist the author was trusted by Joe Strummer et al giving the book even more credence. Highly recommended.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
4 reviews
18 of 18 people found the following review helpful
A genuine, funny book that portrays The Clash as real people rather than inaccessible rock icons
3 Oct 2005
Format:Paperback
Kris Needs' 'Joe Strummer & The Legend of The Clash' is the most fun that you'll have with a book on this legendary band. The author hung out with the group during the heyday of punk and recounts many amusing anecdotes from this period.
His reminiscences go a long way to dispelling the myth of the band as a quartet of humourless political activists and give a genuine sense of Messrs Strummer, Jones, Simonon and Headon's true personalities. In addition to exploring the indvidual band member's fun-loving natures, Needs exposes the interpersonal dynamics within the group and the way in which outside forces caused Strummer to sack both Mick Jones and Topper Headon, thus effectively destroying the band.
The two decades following The Clash's split are comprehensively described and the section recalling Joe's untimely death from an undiagnosed congenital heart condition are especially moving.
If you want to know what The Clash were really like, then you should check out this lively, entertaining book.
His reminiscences go a long way to dispelling the myth of the band as a quartet of humourless political activists and give a genuine sense of Messrs Strummer, Jones, Simonon and Headon's true personalities. In addition to exploring the indvidual band member's fun-loving natures, Needs exposes the interpersonal dynamics within the group and the way in which outside forces caused Strummer to sack both Mick Jones and Topper Headon, thus effectively destroying the band.
The two decades following The Clash's split are comprehensively described and the section recalling Joe's untimely death from an undiagnosed congenital heart condition are especially moving.
If you want to know what The Clash were really like, then you should check out this lively, entertaining book.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
The best Clash retrospective I have found
17 Oct 2007
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
This is an extremely detailed, up close and personal history of the Clash. The unique perspective of being written by a journalist that became a true friend of the band and who was there from the start gives it an authenticity that is irreplaceable. I did not want the book to end, just like a lot of things relating to the band.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Soak up this book!!
25 May 2007
Format:Paperback
This "you're right there book" inspires and grabs you. Joe Strummer and The Clash are some of the greatest artists and original creators of all time. Author Kris Needs keeps you hooked. Fill your soul with Joe Strummer. Like a cosmic twin of John Lennon--he is raw, genuis, powerful, loving!!!
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
|
|
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
|
