By Thomas Semioli

He anchored “the only band that matters.” *

 

The snapshot of his impromptu thrashing of his beloved Fender Precision at the Palladium in New York City on 20 September 1979  is arguably the greatest rock and roll image ever captured on film. Photographed by Pennie Smith, the bassist adorns the cover of what many of my generation consider to be the greatest rock and roll album of its era – and perhaps of all time …

 

Paul Gustave Simonon has gone on record as saying he regrets busting up his instrument in the heat of the moment. Yet Paul and that hunk of wood, metal, and wires have waxed slabs and songs which have stood the almighty test of time.

 

Miles Davis taught us that 90% of playing an instrument is “attitude.” And in the attitude department, Simonon is second to none: Paul’s detached persona of the brooding rock bassist making only the coolest of stage moves has inspired countless players from punk to alternative to metal and permutations thereof.

 

Credited with naming the group he joined at the behest of  Mick Jones as “The Clash” –  Paul’s background in the arts as a scholarship student at Byram Shaw School of Art was a major factor in the band’s formidable fashion forward visual appearance – exuding an attitude which fortified the Joe Strummer’s political libretto and Jones’ songcraft.

 

The Clash looked as dangerous as they sounded! Paul also played a major role in the design of their record sleeves and stage designs / props – or lack thereof!

 

 

As for his musical abilities, Simonon was a minimalist who was taught to play bass by Jones, and he followed guitarist’s instructions to the note.  On Clash tracks which required more rhythmic and technical prowess, bassist Norman Watt-Roy of Ian Dury’s Blockheads was called in to get the job done.

 

As I was witness, Simonon impressively replicated Norman’s passages on stage – and improved as a player as the band’s career progressed. Paul was among the players who made great strides to incorporate the language of ska and reggae into the rock bass lexicon as Clash grooves were ubiquitous on rock radio during their time together.

 

Simonon was not a sonwriter per se, and given the competition between Strummer and Jones, it is indeed ironic that he composed one of the band’s most powerful anthems “The Guns of Brixton.”

 

Following the demise of the Clash, Simonon formed the rockabilly punk ensemble Havana 3am, which waxed one commendable platter with Paul then spilt up following the death of a bandmember. Paul also cut a track with Bob Dylan – who was reportedly a huge Clash fan and attended many shows – which appeared on the bard’s Down In The Groove collection release in 1987.

 

Simonon retired from rock in the late 1980s, and pursued his artistic career until 2010 when he resurfaced on stage and on record with Damon Albarn’s “group” Gorillaz (with Mick Jones) and Albarn’s ensemble The Good The Bad and The Queen which continues to tour and record.

 

Though he has occasionally been photographed with a Rickenbacker 4001 in The Clash’s early years, Paul’s primary weapon of choice and the one he will always be identified with is the Fender Precision.

 

* “The only band that matters” designation was created by CBS Records’ advertising department.

 

Paul Simonon Sound & Vision

Paul crooning “The Guns of Brixton” https://youtu.be/WPOTgzqErd4

 

Paul crooning “Red Angel Dragnet” which he composed with Clash “associate” / producer Kosmo Vinyl https://youtu.be/at09i0NqROI

 

“London Calling,” and “Train in Vain” https://youtu.be/Lhwk9PTPOpU

 

 Paul with Bob Dylan “Sally Sue Brown” https://youtu.be/qhbBESvSt98

 

 Paul with Havana 3am “Reach the Rock” https://youtu.be/vdEt9EuDQhE

 

 Paul with Gorillaz “Plastic Beach” https://youtu.be/AGM8BMqBcTo

 

 Paul with The Good The Bad and The Queen “Herculean” https://youtu.be/iSj0dkqBiWc

 

 Tony Senatore’s rendition of Paul’s passage for “Should I Stay or Should I Go” https://youtu.be/jQsEY5iXXxI

 

 Tony Senatore’s rendition of Paul’s passage for “London Calling” https://youtu.be/1xpuPKDuHng

 

 

At the height of the punk era, a time wherein musical skill and instrumental prowess were frowned upon, therein emerged England’s most cherished cadre of musical misfits who played their respective arses off: Ian Dury and the Blockheads – anchored by Norman Watt-Roy – who steered the ensemble as they seamlessly fusing jazz, music hall, funk, and traditional rock ‘n’ roll.

 

Profoundly inspired by Jaco (note Watt-Roy’s use of a signature Pastorius motif in “Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick” https://youtu.be/0WGVgfjnLqc Norman Watt-Roy’s bass-lines danced amid Mr. Dury’s wicked cockney word-play, hysterical character sketches, and farcical sexual humor which were rooted in Lord Upminster’s astute observations of everyday British life.

 

Producers often called upon Norman to contribute his multi-genre expertise – Clash fans note that it was Norman who rendered the fantastic dub reggae bass parts on Sandinista (1980).

 

Norman has been recording and touring for thirty years and counting with guitar icon Wilko Johnson, and continues to work with the surviving Blockheads in the UK pubs, keeping the waggish flame of the dearly departed Ian Dury burning into the 21st Century. Norman’s bass artistry can also be heard with Frankie Goes to Hollywood (“Relax”), Wreckless Eric, Nick Cave, and Roger Daltrey, among others, including Wilko and Roger’s collaborative Going Back Home (2014).  

 

Bringing his contemporary jazz yearnings to the forefront, Mr. Watt-Roy waxed his first solo album in 2013 entitled Faith & Grace (Ian’s nickname for Norman).

 

Faith & Grace: “He’s the man with the face, from outer space, on his faith and grace” bellowed the late, truly great Ian Dury of his virtuoso bassist Norman Watt-Roy. Behold this fascinating glimpse into the madcap musical mind of Mr. Watt-Roy – the anchor of the aforementioned cockney bard’s iconic Blockheads, UK studio ace, and Wilko Johnson’s go-to player for the past few decades and counting. 

 

On his lone solo slab, revel as Norman references his signature passages among the ten tracks, including a swingin’ rendition of his celebrated “Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick” which provides the foundation for “Save It” featuring Sara Gillespie, along with new twists on the magnificent motifs to “Magnificent 7” and Frankie Goes to Hollywood’s “Relax” as found on “Norman! Norman!” http://bit.ly/2DV6vxp  

 

Flexing his jazz funk punk soul pedigree – and wicked sense of humor as evidenced in various vocal vignettes by his fallen bandleader – the incomparable Norman Watt-Roy tributes his idol Jaco on “John and Mary” and “Papa Chu Pap,” and waxes autobiographical in “Me, My Bass and I.”       

 

The Bass Centre has honored Norman with a signature “Blockhead Bass” which is among its most popular models!

 

Norman Watt- Roy Sound & Vision

With Ian Dury: 

Live 1977 https://youtu.be/yVYkR4SB2R8

Live 1999 Ronnie Scott’s https://youtu.be/_sNykJnVqcA

Sex & Drugs & Rock ‘n’ Roll: https://youtu.be/BCaPTNhwK-4

With The Clash: 

“Magnificent Seven” https://youtu.be/dj1Nf850Lys