super groovy delicious bite: streetcore

Joe Strummer and The Mescaleros found redemption in the midnight jams and scrappy rockers of this stirring spiritual swansong. The group had found a measure of success with their first two albums ('Rock Art and the X-Ray Style' and 'Global A-Go-Go') of worldbeat folk that provided some vindication for Strummer after his long years spent wandering after the Clash disbanded.

In the final months of his life, he began work on the the songs that would make up 'Streetcore' while living with his wife and three daughters in Somerset in the county of Wessex, 350 miles west of London. Strummer expressed at the time: "My face is very deep in the mud. I can't see the trees or the woods or the valley or the hills. You can only follow what's on your mind. In fact, a song is something you write because you can't sleep unless you write it ... We’re always in rooms in modern life, we never really think about were on a planet circling through space. Which is really weird; we almost shouldn’t exist. And being down here, you walk outside to piss on the grass and the whole celestial thing is looking at you...It knocks your head off ... Grow up? Me? No way! I never pay any attention to the concept of time. I just try to appreciate the trees and sunsets and concentrate on the good aspects of life. I want to be the ruler of my own mind, what's left of it."

In November of 2002, during a benefit show for striking miners in London, Mick Jones joined Strummer and The Mescaleros onstage for a set of Clash tunes. It was the first time they had been on stage together since the 1983 tour for 'Combat Rock'. Little more than a month later on December 22, 2002, Strummer died suddenly from a heart attack after walking his dogs at his Somerset home.

'Streetcore' was assembled from various first takes, cover songs, and snippits from his London Calling radio show on BBC. The album features Joe Strummer on vocals, guitar, vocal samples, photography, and artwork; Martin Slattery on synthesizer, guitar, organ, Chamberlin, tambourine, piano, Wurlitzer electric piano, Mellotron, drums, percussion, tenor saxophone, backing vocals, programming, production, engineering, and mixing; Scott Shields on drums, acoustic guitar, bass guitar, percussion, slide guitar, electric guitar, synthesizer, harmonica, cowbell, backing vocals, programming, production, engineering, and mixing; Simon Stafford on bass guitar, trombone, guitar, cello, cornet, and backing vocals; Luke Bullen on drums, congas, and loops; and Tymon Dogg on violin; with Josh Freese on drums; Smokey Hormel on guitar; Rick Rubin on piano, production, and mixing; Peter Stewart on backing vocals; Benmont Tench on harmonium; Danny Saber on production and mixing; and Cameron Craig on programming, mixing, and engineering.