Eddie Vedder has offered up a heartfelt tribute to the late Joe Strummer, covering The Clash frontman’s posthumous track, ‘Long Shadow’. The cover arrives just in time for what would have been Strummer’s 70th birthday, on 21st August.
The cover, uploaded to the official Joe Strummer YouTube channel, sees Vedder covering the song in an acoustic format, positioned directly behind an evening campfire. The performance features the production and directorial talents of acclaimed filmmaker Lance Bangs.
Eddie Vedder – ‘Long Shadow’ (Joe Strummer cover)
As the video wraps up, Vedder can be seen burning sheets of paper as his words are heard in a voiceover. “I just think that what Joe did with The Mescaleros and those records, and those songs, and those words, it’s a very communal sound,” he explains.
“The listener feels like they can be part of that community. I can only imagine that he facilitated thousands and thousands of connections.”
‘Long Shadow’ originally appeared on Streetcore, the third and final album that Strummer recorded with The Mescaleros. The album was released in October 2003, ten months after Strummer’s passing in December 2002.
A new box set dedicated to Strummer’s final years – Joe Strummer 002: The Mescaleros Years – is due to arrive on Friday, 16th September. 002 has been described as “the first-ever comprehensive collection highlighting Joe’s work with his post-Clash band, The Mescaleros.”
Further Reading
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