Paul Simonon
Paul Simonon at the Eurockéennes 2007
Background information
Birth name	Paul Gustave Simonon
Born	December 15, 1955 (1955-12-15) (age 51) Brixton, London
Origin	London, England
Genre(s)	Punk rock Reggae Alternative rock
Occupation(s)	Bass guitarist, visual artist, vocalist, songwriter
Instrument(s)	bass guitar
Years active	1976 - 1993, 2006 - present
Label(s)	CBS Records Capitol Records Parlophone
Associated acts	The Clash Havana 3am The Good, the Bad and the Queen

Paul Simonon (born December 15, 1955 in Brixton, London, England) is best known as the bass guitarist and vocalist for punk rock band The Clash. He grew up in the South London area of Brixton, a poor but cosmopolitan neighbourhood with a sizeable black population. Before joining the Clash, he had planned to become an artist.

He was asked to join The Clash in 1976 by lead guitarist Mick Jones, who planned to teach Simonon guitar. However, the instrument proved too difficult for Simonon, so Jones decided to teach him bass instead. He is credited with coming up with the name of the band and was mainly responsible for the visual aspects such as clothing & stage backdrops. He was also immortalized on the front cover of the band's double album "London Calling"; Pennie Smith's image of him smashing his bass has become one of the iconic pictures of the punk era.

Often described during this period as 'the most handsome man in London', Paul Simonon wrote three of the Clash's songs: "The Guns of Brixton" on London Calling, "The Crooked Beat" on Sandinista!, and the B-side "Long Time Jerk". He sang "Red Angel Dragnet" from Combat Rock but this song was written by Joe Strummer.

Simonon played bass on almost all of the Clash's songs. Songs that weren't played on by Simonon: "The Magnificent Seven" and "Lightning Strikes (Not Once but Twice)" on Sandinista! (played by Norman Watt-Roy), "Rock the Casbah" on Combat Rock (played by Topper Headon), and 10 of the 12 tracks on Cut the Crap (played by Norman Watt-Roy). Many of the tracks on Combat Rock are thought to have bass tracks laid down by Mick Jones or engineer Eddie Garcia and early recordings on Sandinista! featured bass played by Jones or Strummer, some but possibly not all of which Paul later re-recorded once he rejoined the sessions after filming "Ladies & Gentleman the Fabulous Stains".

Simonon's contrapuntal reggae-influenced lines set him apart from the bulk of other punk rock bassists of the era in terms of complexity and the role of the bass guitar within the band [1]. He usually played with a plectrum (pick) as opposed to plucking the strings with his fingers.

After the Clash dissolved in 1986, Simonon started a band called Havana 3am. They recorded one album in Japan before breaking up. He also participated in a Bob Dylan session along with the Sex Pistols' Steve Jones that became part of the Dylan album Down in the Groove. Presently, Simonon works as an artist - his first passion before joining the Clash. He has had several gallery shows, and even designed the cover for one of Big Audio Dynamite's (Mick Jones' post-Clash band) albums, as well as the cover for Herculean from the album The Good, the Bad and the Queen, a Damon Albarn project on which Simonon plays bass.

Equipment

He started off playing through a 4x10 combo, but in 1978 he began using Ampeg cabinets and Ampeg toppers and has since used Ampegs.

His first bass was a cheap knock-off that he used through 1976 and into 1977, which he splattered in paint. In 1977, during the recording of The Clash, he received a black Rickenbacker from Patti Smith, which he also decorated in paint, but he didn't quite like the sound of it, as it sounded too thin, and then he got hold of a white Fender Precision Bass in 1978, and after that he has only played white Fenders live.

This one was probably just a cheap bass, that he gave up and later he received a better Fender which he used many for years. It was another P-Bass, and this one is known for having "Paul" scratched into the body. The pickups were black on all of his Fenders but he changed the ones on this bass into white.

He used it mainly through 1978 and used it as a backup in 1979. He played a Wal during the recording session in 1978, because the producer Sandy Pearlman suggested it, but Paul disliked it, because it had too many switches.

In 1979 he got a new Fender, which was the one he smashed on the cover of London Calling. And after it was smashed, it was back to the old Fender, which he used until he got a new bass in 1980. All of his Fenders up to then had maple necks.

But in 1981, he got a Fender Fretless Precision with a rosewood fretboard. He played it through 1981, but he got back to fretted Fenders in 1982. He then got hold of two Fender Precisions with black heads, rosewood fretboards, and white pickups.

One of them he used most as a backup and the other one he played mainly, and he still uses it as a main axe today (it can be seen on the picture of him on the top of the page.) He had a sunburst Precision in the last years of The Clash, but that one was only used as a backup and by Joe Strummer during the song "The Guns of Brixton".

He had a sunburst Gibson EB-2, which can be seen in the videos for "The Call Up" and "London Calling", but he was also seen with it in the earliest days of The Clash. It had probably belonged to Joe Strummer or Mick Jones or someone in their former bands, The 101ers (Strummer) or London SS (Mick Jones). He used an acoustic bass during the recording of The Good, the Bad and the Queen.

Discography

see also The Clash discography

The Clash

• The Clash, 1977, CBS Records
• Give 'Em Enough Rope, 1978, CBS Records
• London Calling, 1979, CBS Records
• Sandinista!, 1980, CBS Records
• Combat Rock, 1982, CBS Records
• Cut the Crap, 1985, CBS Records

Havana 3am

• Havana 3am, 1991, Capitol Records

The Good, the Bad & the Queen

• The Good, the Bad and the Queen, 2007, EMI

External links