BOOK REVIEW : ROUTE 19 REVISITED - MARCUS GRAY

Being familiar with the work of Marcus Gray thanks to having bought and read his 1997 book It Crawled From The South : An R.E.M. Companion, I had an idea in advance that the 500+pages that comprised Route 19 Revisited : The Clash and London Calling would be packed with all sorts of facts, figures, information and trivia as well as some terrific insights into the making of an album that features in just about every critics list of greatest of all time.

Route 19 doesn't disappoint and believe me - it does a lot more than it simply says on the dustcover. Before analysing the 1979 LP, you can enjoy potted bios of the band members and some of the other key figures in their history as well as a look back at the albums and singles that appeared before they went into the studio to record London Calling. Afterwards there is an even better postscript - where even if you are very familiar with the post-Clash careers and lives of Mick, Joe, Paul and Topper you will come across sentences and paragraphs that give you a whole new insight.

Taking its title from a London bus route along which many of the songs were conceived, written and recorded (and a route name checked on the track Rudie Can't Fail), the heart of this excellent book lies with the 205 pages devoted to looking at every minute aspect of the songs that make up London Calling. Every lyric is dissected, every musical note and sound is analysed and all sorts of links and tangents are explored. Yes, sometimes you can get the feeling that some of the connections feel a touch contrived to make the song a better fit to some of the issues explored. And yes, being a non-musician I did get a bit bored now and again when the prose centres on the chord changes or the types of pedals/percussion used, but this has to be balanced against the opportunity afforded to learn about those who inspired many of the songs or who were responsible for writing the songs that The Clash covered. It also at times feels like a wonderful London travelogue....and made me want to jump on board the 19 bus.

In addition, Marcus Gray corrects a few long-held myths about some of the songs - and in particular highlights that some songs long attributed to Mick Jones were in fact largely the work of Joe Strummer. Stories of the the band's seemingly endless battles with their record label, both in the UK and USA, are explored in some detail - often within the context of a story on a particular song.

Oh and there's also a hugely entertaining sections about the design, artwork and photography which certainly made this particular reader appreciate just how important these things can be when it comes to the finished product of any record....

Route 19 Revisited is not a cheap buy - retailing at £20 - but if you shop around on the internet it can be obtained for a few quid less (and I'm guessing that many of the bigger bookstores will also have it at a discounted price). But if you're someone who likes London Calling, then you will soon appreciate that it is money well spent for this is a book that without any question adds to your listening experience.

mp3 : The Clash - Rudie Can't Fail
mp3 : The Clash - Clampdown

Happy Reading.