Excerpt:
“The afterlife of Joe Strummer is proving to be surprisingly rich. A blockbuster biography, a Julien Temple documentary, a string of tribute records, a limited-edition Strummer Telecaster and a Great Western loco bearing his name are all part of a wider sense that Strummer’s life and work remain an inspirational example. As Billy Bragg puts it here: “He’s not a legend but a legacy.”
Don Letts’ film supplies a snapshot portrait of Strummer’s life and times, including plenty of great home movie footage, and weaves this biographical material into Strummerville’s work. Several of the young acts that have been given a helping hand had only a vague (or no) notion of what Joe Strummer achieved, but all are quick to grasp that authenticity is at the centre of his output. “He was a man of the people,” says Alex Thomson of The Riff Raff, one of the hopefuls helped by Strummerville. “We’re trying to keep the fire burning.”
So far names like Shooting Star Poets and Nimmo And The Gauntletts remain on the fringes, but one senses that Strummerville, as alt.Fame college, will help deliver a breakthrough soon enough. “It’s about making bands stand on their own feet,” says one of the Gauntletts.
Produced by musician and film director Don Letts, Strummerville charts the work of a new music foundation inspired by The Clash’s late lead singer Joe Strummer.
Following his death in 2002, the charity was set up in the spirit of his name the following year to create opportunities for people through music that have the will but not the funds to further their creative talents.
The documentary is spliced with previously unseen footage of the iconoclastic bellwhether in concert and at home; comments on man from the likes of Damien Hirst and Billy Bragg, and their relationship with the charity; and interviews with those who have been affected by his work. A touching tribute to the man of the people.
Excerpt:
“Letts said of his film, ‘In a cultural climate that feels like punk never happened, Strummerville (the film) serves as a timely reminder of a way forward. It worked back then and it can work again.’ To see Joe’s ethos in practice leaves you with a lump in your throat. As he said ‘Everybody has a story to tell,’ and this film explains how his organization helps a new generation tell theirs.”
