Paul Gustave Simonon (born 15 December 1955) is an English musician best known as the bass guitarist for punk rock band The Clash. His most recent work is his involvement in the album The Good, the Bad & the Queen with Damon Albarn, Simon Tong and Tony Allen, released in January 2007.
Biography
Simonon was born in Brixton, London, England. His father, Gustave, was a clerk in the civil service and his mother, Elaine, was a librarian. He grew up in the South London area of Brixton, spending around a year in Siena, Italy with his mother and stepfather. Before joining The Clash, he had planned to become an artist and attended the Byam Shaw School of Art, then based in Campden St, Kensington (now part of Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design) relocated in Archway, London.
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.
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. Recordings that he did not play on include: "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 Simonon later re-recorded once he rejoined the sessions after filming Ladies and Gentlemen, 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. He usually played with a 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 designed the cover for Big Audio Dynamite's album, Tighten Up, Vol. 88 , as well as the cover for "Herculean" from the album The Good, the Bad and the Queen , a project with Damon Albarn on which Simonon plays bass. In 2008, after a seven year gap, Simonon began exhibiting paintings again with an exhibition at Thomas Williams Fine Art, London. One of his paintings was bought by British singer Lily Allen for £23,500, according to the Telegraph newspaper.
Equipment
Paul is known for using white Fender Precision basses and Ampeg amplification. He has also used Sunn amps. He is also known for decorating his own basses with paint and stickers, and his basses often had a text on the upper horn of the body.
Paul Simonon Bass Story 1976 - 2008
He started off playing through a small unknown head-amplifier and a pink 4x10 cab, but in 1978 he began using Ampeg cabinets and Ampeg amps and has since used Ampegs. His first bass was a 1. "cheap knock-off", as he called it himself, that he used through 1976 and early 1977, which he splattered in paint. In 1977, during the recording of The Clash, he received a black 2. 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 he also thought it wasa too light-weighted (he's stated that he prefers heavy basses, as they seem more resonant and robust). Then he got hold of a white 3. 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 (there's a possibility that he broke this bass during a concert in Paris, it's been stated that this concert ended in Paul throwing off his bass in frustration because of the sound, and that might have broken the bass). Later he received a better Fender from CBS which he used many for years. CBS used to give him a new bass every now and then. It was another 4. 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 5. Wal JG Custom Bass during the recording session for Give 'Em Enough Rope 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 6. Fender, which was the one he smashed on the cover of London Calling. He strongly regretted that move, because it was his best sounding bass (it now resides in the Rock 'N' Roll Hall Of Fame). And after it was smashed, it was back to the old 4. Fender, which he used until he got a new 7. bass in 1980 (there is a small possibility that this is the same bass as Bass 9 , before it eventuelly got modified). Note: All of his Fenders up to then had maple necks.
But in 1981, he got a 8. Fender Fretless Precision with a rosewood fingerboard. He played it through 1981, but he got back to fretted Fenders in 1982. He then got hold of a 9. Fender Precision with a black headstock, rosewood fingerboard, and white pickups. He then also changed the neck on his 4 PAUL-bass to a neck with black headstock and rosewood fretboard.
Bass 8 and 9 was mostly used as backup basses, and they still are his backup basses, and Bass 4 still are his main bass, heavily worn and beaten up. (it can be seen on the picture of him on the top of the page.) He had a 10. 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 11. Epiphone Rivoli, 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 12. Ovation acoustic bass during the recording of The Good, the Bad and the Queen.
List Of Bass Numbers
- 1. Cheap Brand Bass: Black w. paint-mess, (also had "POSITIVE" on its upper horn for a short while), Rosewood fretboard (used during the early days and during the recording of "The Clash")
- 2. Rickenbacker Bass: Black w. paint-mess and "POSITIVE" on upper horn, Rosewood fretboard (used during the recording of "The Clash" and for touring in support of "The Clash" album)
- 3. Fender Precision Bass: White w. paint-mess and "POSITIVE" on upper horn, Black pickguard, Maple neck (rarely seen, but used on the first concerts in 1978 and BBC TV Something Else Live 1978)
- 4. Fender Precision Bass: White w. "PAUL" carved on body (which was once covered up by stickers, which are now removed), Black pickguard (formerly with paint-mess), Rosewood fretboard (formerly maple neck) (used all the way from touring in support of the "Give'Em Enough Rope" album, both as main bass and backup bass, both live and recording, still used as main bass)
- 5. Wal JG Custom Bass (Serial No. JG1126): Cherry Red, Black pickguard, Rosewood fretboard (used for recording the "Give'Em Enough Rope" album). Now owned by Leigh Gorman of Bow Wow Wow.
- 6. Fender Precision Bass: White w. "PRESSURE" on upper horn, Black pickguard w. paint-mess, Maple neck (used for both recording and touring in support of the "London Calling" album. Smashed on the cover for "London Calling")
- 7. Fender Precision Bass: White, Black pickguard, Maple neck (used as both backup and main bass during tours between "London Calling" and "Sandinista")
- 8. Fender Fretless Precision Bass: White, Black pickguard, Rosewood fretboard (used as main bass for both recording and touring in support of the "Sandinista" album, "Combat Rock" album and "Cut The Crap" album, still used as backup)
- 9. Fender Precision Bass: White, Black pickguard, Rosewood fretboard (used as both main and backup bass for touring in support of the "Sandinista" album, "Combat Rock" album, and "Cut The Crap" album, still used as backup)
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