Clash Take the Fifth Tour with Joe Ely, LA boys, the Rockabilly Rebels

Audio 1

Lots of distortion - sound 2 - 66mins - high generation - 18 tracks

White Man In Hammersmith Palais

A pretty muddy distorted sounding recording

The only known source comes from a pretty muddy sounding tape, copied too many times and suffering from distortion and poor clarity. The blown out sound can be listened to with vocals and drums probably the clearest. It's not awful with some range of sound but it is the worst of the Take The Fifth recordings.

There is an edit after Stay Free, which probably loses at least Career Opportunities, Janie Jones, Garageland, Armagideon Time & Capital Radio. It does though have Be Bop a Lula, of which the only known recordings are here and 2 nights later at Kezar, San Francisco.

Paul turned up an hour late for the gig

Paul turned up an hour late for the gig with the result they were fined by the promoter for being late - the only time this happened to The Clash. They could let each other down but not the fans and so the others were angry with Paul. It's been suggested that a roadie or someone played bass for at least part of the gig but this seems unlikely, as there's no comment about Paul on this recording.

The recording does confirm press reports about the behaviour of at least some of the audience that night. Sylvie Simmons in reviewing the 80 show said most of audience (in 79) seemed to have come not to the see The Clash but to see themselves up on stage, a lot more intent on drawing attention to themselves than to let The Clash get on with their job".

Johnny Green commented that LA's idea of punk was the Addams Family and doing The Worm across the stage. Certainly from the recording Joe and Mick are well pissed off with the crowd for spitting and at one point stop playing and refuse to continue.

Maybe as a result The Clash don't play White Riot but do play Be Bop A Lula as an encore for the first time.

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Hollywood Palladium on Sunset Boulevard

The famous Hollywood Palladium on Sunset Boulevard was opened in 1940 and accommodates 3,750 and although tattered around the edges still hosts' concerts today. It has hosted everything from Sinatra, Rolling Stones, The Who to the Pornographic Film industry's Award Show. The Clash would have favoured it, as it has no fixed seating allowing dancing and indeed returned here again in March 1980 and again for a 4-night residency in 1982.

The energy, humor and wit of Joe

"The 79 shows, Santa Monica Civic, Palladium and Kezar in the city (sf) were spit drenched, poseur, stage hopping affairs.....Vicious crowds. (Although the Santa Monica Civic has a place in my heart, as it was close to our home and we saw countless shows there including a wild Joe Strummer with Xander Schloss on lead concert in the late 80's that was something special)

The punk thing was just happening in 79 and la was more orange county punk (black flag, circle jerks, germs etc etc) than san francisco. (Dead Kennedy's etc). Which was more "authentic" punk than LA

The two cities hate each other, (still do) culturally, sport teams, you name it.. It must have been mind blowing for the clash to step into what is basically another world, California. A lot of anger from The Clash, it must have been hard to play with people spitting on you and jumping on the stage just to show off.

Still the energy, humor and wit of joe are what i remember best. For better or worse, all venues had no seating anywhere near the floor, so it was general crush down front. No mercy was shown to the weak."

People I saw were stoked to see The Clash

Thanks for putting up the information on The Clash concert at the Hollywood Palladium in 1979. I attended this show with my wife and two friends. We drove up from San Clemente (Orange County) to see the show. One thing that wasn't mentioned was the Joe Ely set.

This was a really great set of rock a billy music, but a group of jerks lined up along the front of the stage were jeering, spitting and throwing stuff at them. My impression was that Joe Strummer was really mad about how these people treated the Joe Ely band.

I'm quite sure when he came out that what he was yelling at them was something to the effect that spitting on The Clash was stupid but doing it to the Joe Ely band was just plain ignorant and not acceptable. The only people doing this and trying to jump stage were right in the front row and maybe up to two heads back. 

It was a dance style concert, no seating or chairs. We were about 20 feet from the stage and everyone around us seemed to be into the show and enjoying it.None of trouble that appeared to be at the stage front. By 79 I'd been to hundreds of rock concerts and in my opinion the wait for The Clash to come on wasn't all that bad, relatively speaking. Besides, when they did come on they put on a live show that rates very highly in my opinion.

I don't know what the tape sounds like but take my word for it, the live performance was top notch, peddle to the metal punk rock music. Actually for this type of high energy music it was easily the best show I have attended to this date.

Sorry for rambling on, but after reading your reviews it left me with the impression that you felt the show wasn't all that good and that everyone at the show was a disrespectful idiot. I'd just like to say that most of the people I saw were stoked to see The Clash and a small, but very obnoxious bunch were causing trouble.  GM

Jenny Lens: I was so much in awe of the Clash I couldn't talk to them

Thank you for the info, however, I beg to differ or question comments re Clash at Hollywood Palladium, Oct 11, 1979. I shot them and their opening act were local LA boys, the Rockabilly Rebels. I have color shots of them together backstage. And I shot both groups on stage together the night before in San Diego.

I was onstage for their March 3, 1980 Santa Monica Civic show. That venue barred photographers on the floor, although sometimes we could sneak in cameras. My black and white shots were stolen from the photo lab by junkies. I shot them in England end of June, beginning of July, 1980.

I remember when Johnny left the Clash and decided to work with Joe Ely, having met and toured with him in Texas. That was the first I heard of Joe Ely.

More pix, more stories to come. But I needed to know dates of shows and your site is not only invaluable for that, but Don Waller's (and others) comments. My first published photo was in "Back Door Man." Don, Phast Phreddie and I go waaay back.

Final thought: I was so much in awe of the Clash I couldn't talk to them or ask them to pose. I spoke with Mick Jagger, Johnny Rotten, no one intimidated me. Except the Clash.

I basically shot them onstage, although I hung with them and their road crew. Don mentioned their publicist, Sue Sawyer.

THE BEST LIVE BAND EVER. Photos don't lie.

Thanks again,
Jenny Lens

Jenny Lens: The first time I shot the Clash was their first CA gigs

Part 2...

The first time I shot the Clash was their first CA gigs, San Francisco. Then, I definitely know the Clash only played the Palladium in Oct, 79. I saw them in San Diego the night before, was picked up by Johnny Green and we went back to mny place in West Hollywood staying up up all night with tons of speed. At 4 PM, as he left for sound check, he asked me to give him a guest list of my friends. I was stunned, no one ever offered to get my friends in, I didn't know who had tickets nor a lot of last names.

Palladium: I only shot some backstage images w/Rockabilly Rebels who opened at San Diego (I have shots of Clash and RR onstage in SD). I don't recall the show at all. I hate the Palladium cos it's hard to shoot. I went to a party later. I followed Clash up to San Francisco. My best pal warned me she heard Lindy was looking for me, but didn't know what I looked like, so I hid out in the Cramps backstage dressing room. I had been up for days on speed and quite whacked. I'd been shooting pix for nearly 4 years and nearly the end, too broke and too many pix stolen, and I was burning out. I even could have gone/shot the Roxy show.

someone had spray-painted "Clash Fought $$, $$ Won" in big letters across a wall in the Palladium parking lot.

Thanks for the terrific site; it's bringing back some great memories. In regards the Oct. 79 show--I was there, and I concur with the comment by the punter GM that despite the muddy tape, the late start, and the band's violent peevishness, it was a fantastic set. If there were one gig in my life I could see again, in fact, this would probably be it.

The other punter, Jenny, is mistaken if she's implying that Joe Ely didn't open; he most certainly did, and he definitely joined the Clash for "Be-Bop-A-Lula." I'm fairly sure, too, that Paul played the whole set; I'd remember if a roadie had filled in on bass. (Also, your note that the Clash returned to the Palladium in March 1980 is in error; that show was at the Santa Monica Civic.) Before the 79 show, someone had spray-painted "Clash Fought $$, $$ Won" in big letters across a wall in the Palladium parking lot.

I remember the spitting and the stage diving vivdly; what really pissed Mick off was that at one point two stage divers jumped at the same time with their feet tangled in his guitar cable, and he was pulled into the pit. That's what caused "Clash City Rockers" to drop to drum & bass and stop unfinished, and that's when he (and I think Joe as well) started booting spitters in the face with their DMs (Mick said he was kicking "fans," not "bands").

Robert

Jenny Lens: Finally Paul turn's up and Barry plays an intro of West Side Story's ‘Gee Officer Krupke

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At their last LA gig, the Hollywood Palladium last year, it seemed like most of the audience had come to see themselves up on the stage, a lot more intent on drawing attention to themselves than to let the Clash get on with their job.

The broadening out of the band's music on "London Calling" has brought the inevitable broadening of the audience, fewer jackboots and spiked hairdos, fewer fistfights, even a bit of teenybop appreciation for Mick from the young girls at the side, a smattering of imaginary guitar soloists and just the Clash on the stage (except for regular appearances by keyboardist Mickey Gallagher and a Mikey Dread-plays-Sinatra-to-Clash's-rude-boys bit at the end).

The recording starts (rather amusingly) with an angry Barry "Scratchy" Myers appealing to the audience who are fed up with waiting; "Lets calm down just a little bit, things are getting a little bit out of order, we've got to get this stage together out here, at the moment its like a fuckin' skating rink, [spitting presumably] someone's likely to break their necks or get electrocuted, you'd like to see that would you? You'd like The Clash to come on and get electrocuted! Yeah/ If you want that, fuck off! We're here to give you a fuck'in rock'n'roll show and you've done nothing but moan since we got here.. You don't deserve this, you deserve Boston, Kansas, Foreigner and all that kind of crap"

Finally Paul turn's up and Barry plays an intro of West Side Story's ‘Gee Officer Krupke; "Our mothers all are junkies, Our fathers all are drunks, Golly Moses, naturally we're punks"

Safe European Home kicks off what sounds like another strong performance although the poor recording renders that difficult! Before London Calling Joe tries to settle the crowd "OK I'd just like to say Los Angeles is the most likely city in the entire USA to make it. What I mean make it is you've got some good groups coming up. Now everybody back off a little bit."

Joe sings a new verse on Jail Guitar Doors as he would create for each gig on the tour, but the recording is too poor to hear the words. Mickey Gallagher comes on before Wrong Em Boyo. Clampdown has an edit, which loses about a minute due to tape damage.

"Talking about the law, Julies been working for Joe Strummer!"

During Clash City Rockers as a result of spitting or some other incident the song drops to drum and bass only then stops unfinished. Kosmo shouts excitedly "Everybody must go back, now go back all of you" Joe "Or as they say in England the buggers in the back can't see!"

Strangely as there appears to be no edit Topper then picks out a repeated drum pattern, with Joe doing his customary cries of "Woahh! Woahh!" for Police and Thieves but the song continues as though it were mid song cutting out the opening music. As the song ends a very angry Mick shouts "If anyone wondering why I'm kicking the bands (?) its because the bleedin' bands are spitting in me bleedin' face, that's fuckin' shit! 3 years ago there was spit". The band then refuse to continue, playing a loose jam with Joe singing "Walking on Sunset, trying to pull a funny face!". Eventually Mick shouts angrily "1,2,3,4" and Stay Free is played.

There is then an edit, which almost certainly loses Career/Janie/Garageland/ Armagideon/ & Capital Radio.

It restarts with Joe Ely singing Fingernails and goes straight into Brand New Cadillac and Be Bop A Lula with Joe Ely sharing vocals. The sound is particularly poor now and Kezar two days later is the best source for the rarity Be Bop A Lula. Normally White Riot would be played after Fingernails but not here, maybe as pay back for the audience's behaviour?

The Clash Official

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Skateboarder Magazine - gig review

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Austin Chronicle:
Lubbock Calling, Joe Ely Remembers the Clash

Link - Archived PDF

May 19, 2000

"Honky Tonk Masquerade had just come out, and we were in London playing the Venue Club when all the Clash showed up one night. They came backstage and I guess they'd heard me on the radio and knew every song on my record. This was 1978 and coming from Lubbock; we had no idea what was going on in London.

Daily News: Clash conflict comes to town

Thu Sep 20 1979

Rockabilly rides revival on punks popular coattails

Fort Lauderdale News

Fri Aug 31 1979

Concert Review God Save the Clash

LA Weekly

Fri Oct 19 1979

Fan Trouble at Clash Concert

The Los Angeles Times

Sat Oct 13 1979

A Riot of Our Own p209

Photos

The Clash 1980 Joe Strummer. © Chris Walter

The Clash Photo Archive | Chris Walter Classic Rock Photo Archive

US Promo Postcard

US Promo Postcard from the 11th of October 1979 to Promote The Clash's Hollywood Palladium gig In LA tonight

Courtesy of shared by Jonnie Green via CCC

Setlist

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18	Safe European Home I'm So Bored with the USA London Calling Jail Guitar Doors Wrong 'Em Boyo The Guns Of Brixton White Man In Ham Palais Clampdown English Civil War Koka Kola I Fought the Law Julie's In the Drug Squad Clash City Rockers Police and Thieves Stay Free Fingernails Brand New Cadillac Be Bop A Lu La