Spanish Bombs by the Clash: JD and Bubba acoustic version

[Bubba]

This is a work in progress; we intend to add cajon at some point.

This is a headphones mix - monitors mix tomorrow.

JD - drum programming, acoustic guitars, original idea.
Bubba - bass, singing, extra acoustic guitars, mixing
Rob Smith - Tenor and soprano saxophones

[JD01]

Woohoo!
Great singing and bass playing.
Guitar player is cunt and his drum programming is shite.

Would never have the balls to critique a brass player... time I went to bed.

[Greg_L]

This is one of my favorite Clash songs. Yall are doing okay so far. I know the original so well I'm missing a lot of the key elements of the song. The guitar stabs for one, the dynamics from verse to chorus, etc. The instrumentation sounds pretty good to me. Cool horns! The drums are very small and weak. Those kick and snare sounds are no bueno mi corazon. Good vocals Bubba. I think the vocals need another voice to get some juxtaposition like Strummer/Jones. They had very different voices.

[JD01]

Sober now

Cheers, Greg. I know what you mean about the guitars - these were actually my scratch tracks that I put down when I initially sent the concept to Bubba for one open guitar and one capo guitar. I agree that they could with being more percussive in the chorus; I'm pretty pleased with how they sound though; it was when I was testing that AKG mic which I now have as a 2ndary on my amp, and they sound better now than when I emailed them to Bubba. Its a lovely guitar though - would probably be hard to make them sound shit.

The vocal - Bubba's been trying to get me to sing one of the vocals - which I'm not entirely adverse to, but I'd have to practice. Which one?

On the whole though - I think the mix sounds great - just enjoying listening to it and not thinking "Ooo, this is something I'm playing on" its just a good piece of music.

[rayc]

A very cool start on an excellent song. The album really covered a lot of bases and did it REALLY well.
I agree about the guitar but that is obviously on the list of to dos.
The saxes will need a little work as they seem hesitant in a few places but some automation would likely fix that.
GREAT start chaps.

[Bubba]

Thanks for the comments, folks. I had the drums dry on this to try to keep the mix from getting muddy, but all it did was spoil the drums, lol

JD, I've done nothing with the guitars - absolutely nothing at all. I think what you're hearing is the sound of them once everything else is balanced properly. So kudos to yourself for recording those acoustics really well. I do think they need compressing a bit after watching my rendering of the track - I think they're a bit too dynamic and they're making it difficult for me to get a loud overall level. They sound great subjectively, but they're peaky and they need levelling out a bit.

I agree with it needing two distinct voices, too.

JD, would you like to provide me with the acoustic chops? Good man.

There's a second mix in the OP, done on the monitors.

[rammer24]

Woohoo! I thought the Clash thread/challenge died for some reason. Don't know the original, so I can't comment as well as Greg on this. I'll wait until it's finished. I know how many changes can happen to a mix by the time it's done. Just happy we're still Clashing.

[WhiskeyJack]

DUDES!!!! This is brilliant. Stoked to see a recording rebels duet hahaha.

I am at the office listening on ear buds but i can't wait to get home to listen to this on monitors. Listening ot the second mix up there and i quite like the acoustic guitars. I hear a little bit of compression pumping on them near the end? Maybe it's compression pumping? Maybe it's maybeliene? Who knows? I'll wait till i get home to my monitors though to see if it is still there.

But this is a good start and i am SUPER stoked that this is a recording rebels collaboration. I may sticky this thread actually for what it symbolizes. Bringing people together.

Glad you blokes did this.

[Greg_L]

Woohoo! I thought the Clash thread/challenge died for some reason. Don't know the original, so I can't comment as well as Greg on this. I'll wait until it's finished. I know how many changes can happen to a mix by the time it's done. Just happy we're still Clashing.

Check out the original, you might really like it. It's kind "soft" for a Clash song, but it has all of their typical elements. It's one of their "greatest hits" IMO.

[rammer24]

Ah yes, I know this. I think I know more Clash than I originally thought. It could almost be a "Madness" tune, like "Our House in the Middle of the Street".

I can't help but think that The Clash got away with a lot of "softer" shit just because they're the Clash. If another band came out with "Casbah", "Train in Vain" or "Spanish Bombs", it would be dismissed as pop/dance music. Not saying I don't like those tunes, but they're not very edgy, which is what I always thought the Clash was supposed to be.

[Greg_L]

Ah yes, I know this. I think I know more Clash than I originally thought. It could almost be a "Madness" tune, like "Our House in the Middle of the Street".

I can't help but think that The Clash got away with a lot of "softer" shit just because they're the Clash. If another band came out with "Casbah", "Train in Vain" or "Spanish Bombs", it would be dismissed as pop/dance music. Not saying I don't like those tunes, but they're not very edgy, which is what I always thought the Clash was supposed to be.

The real beauty of The Clash in my eyes is that they were not at all restrained by the punk rock blueprint. Sure their early stuff was raw and fast and edgy, but they willingly and happily went any way they felt like going, and they did it all so well that no one could say a fucking thing about it. They were the real deal. They had so much immediate credibility, they could do whatever they fucking wanted.

[rammer24]

Didn't their British/UK audience sort of turn on them when they came to North America? I vaguely remember there being some kind of backlash, like they "sold out" or something?

[WhiskeyJack]

Didn't their British/UK audience sort of turn on them when they came to North America? I vaguely remember there being some kind of backlash, like they "sold out" or something?

I think that would apply to just about any band that sort of makes any kind of gains that came from an underground environment.

[Greg_L]

Didn't their British/UK audience sort of turn on them when they came to North America? I vaguely remember there being some kind of backlash, like they "sold out" or something?

Bubba or Muttley might know that for sure. I'm not aware of any bad feelings towards The Clash. The first wave of punk in the UK sort of fizzled out anyway by the time those bands made any dent in the US. By 78, the original UK punk movement had died out and become passe. All of those O.G. punk rockers went on to other things. The generation that filled in behind them was pretty shallow and superficial so maybe they might have shunned The Clash for not being stuck in 1976.

[rammer24]

I just Googled "Clash backlash punk" to see what comes up, and all I got was a Clash tribute band called "Backlash".

https://www.google.ca/search?q=clash+ba ... 8QfT6Z6ACA

[Bubba]

I know "transcends" is a very hipster pseudo-intellectual word to use, but that's exactly what the Clash did. They transcended the music of the movement they were born in and pointed out a direction that others might wish to follow. They left the rest of UK punk wallowing in their wake. The music of the punk genre is still disappearing up its own arse to this day.

[rammer24]

Here's a couple of interesting articles. Both quick reads.

https://www.jstor.org/stable/23013074?s ... b_contents

https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/ ... 8b9e8c5137

[Greg_L]

Here's a couple of interesting articles. Both quick reads.

https://www.jstor.org/stable/23013074?s ... b_contents

https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/ ... 8b9e8c5137

I don't agree with any assessment that paints the Sex Pistols as more culturally or musically relevant than The Clash. The Pistols were definitely more infamous, and they had good songs, but they were ultimately a total joke compared to The Clash. The Clash were a real band. The Pistols were comparatively punk's first boy band. It's easy to see in hindsight. I mean, really, Sid Vicious? He's a character at best. A puppet. A prop. The Pistols' firing Glen Matlock, a good bass player, and bringing in an idiot like Sid is when the music stopped for them and the retardedness began. The Pistols brought a lot of attention to punk rock, but the actual good bands all suffered because of it.

[Bubba]

When I was doing the vocals to this, I kept singing "My senorita's nose was ripped in the bud".

True story.

[JD01]

Thanks for the comments, folks. I had the drums dry on this to try to keep the mix from getting muddy, but all it did was spoil the drums, lol

JD, I've done nothing with the guitars - absolutely nothing at all. I think what you're hearing is the sound of them once everything else is balanced properly. So kudos to yourself for recording those acoustics really well. I do think they need compressing a bit after watching my rendering of the track - I think they're a bit too dynamic and they're making it difficult for me to get a loud overall level. They sound great subjectively, but they're peaky and they need levelling out a bit.

I agree with it needing two distinct voices, too.

JD, would you like to provide me with the acoustic chops? Good man.

There's a second mix in the OP, done on the monitors.

Nearly missed this, what do you want me to do with the guitars, I'll try and retrack them tomorrow.