Rewind: 1979 Epic Finally Release The Clash Debut in America!

The Clash - The Clash

Epic

26th July 1979

Produced by Mickey Foote, Lee Perry, The Clash, Sandy Pearlman, Bill Price

US Chart #126

It took two years to do but Epic Records in America finally released The Clash Debut album (Give 'Em Enough Rope was the first album by The Clash to get a US release in 1978). They had deemed the album as "not radio friendly" and chose not to release it beforehand and with the release they ended up giving it a total makeover!

More than 100,000 copies of the 1977 original had been imported to the States prior to the release of the Epic version!

Listening to the album with this new sequence is a very odd experience because the intensity of the original CBS release has totally vanished I think. 

The problem with the added singles etc to the mix is that they sound so polished and amazing but by comparison, the original tracks produced by Micky Foote, come off sounding just a little better than demo versions!

Also this new tracklisting knocked out of kilter the chronology of the band's music as it jumps from one year to another without any explanation and ends up looking like a Jigsaw Puzzle where none of the pieces fit together! That's just my view on it, others might perceive it as different.

Omitted from the US version were the following tracks:
    "Deny"
    "Cheat"
    "Protex Blue"
    "48 Hours"
    "White Riot" (original version)

 Added were the following tracks:

• "Clash City Rockers" - Initially released as a single (A-side) in the UK in February 1978
• "Complete Control" - Initially released as a single (A-side) in the UK in September 1977
• "White Riot" (re-recorded version) - Initially released as a single (A-side) in the UK in March 1977
• "(White Man) In Hammersmith Palais" - Initially released as a single (A-side) in the UK in June 1978
• "I Fought the Law" - Initially released as a track on the Clash EP The Cost of Living in the UK in May 1979
• "Jail Guitar Doors" - Initially released as the B-side to "Clash City Rockers" in the UK in February 1978  

Tracklist for US Release

1. Clash City Rockers
2. I'm So Bored With The U.S.A.
3. Remote Control
4. Complete Control
5. White Riot
6. White Man In Hammersmith Palais
7. London's Burning
8. I Fought The Law
9. Janie Jones
10. Career Opportunities
11. What's My Name
12. Hate And War
13. Police And Thieves
14. Jail Guitar Doors
15. Garageland 

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A free single was given away with the US version of the album and the two tracks 'Gates of the West' and 'Groovy Times' had both been released in the UK on 'The Cost of Living EP' alongside 'Capital Radio' and 'I Fought the Law' two months earlier in the UK.