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Tuesday 14 April 2020

The Clash in the Middle 2


Whereas it was the Waco Brothers who inspired that I Fought the Law post it was Wayne Hancock who was the catalyst for Brand New Cadillac given that it popped up on his That's What Daddy Wants album which recently featured on my current Saturday series.

The original was written and recorded by British rock'n'roller Vince Taylor in 1959. Incredibly it was released as the b-side to a song called Pledgin' My Love.
A version called Cadillac by British beatband The Renegades did very well in Finland leading to it also being recorded by Swedish bands Hep Stars and Shamrock who both enjoyed success with it across Europe with Taylor eventually successfully suing for copywright.

It reached a whole new and wider audience as track 2, side 1 of London Calling  the classic double album from The Clash in 1979 it being the first song recorded  for the album.

Then we have Wayne's version from 1997 leaving The Clash once more in the middle

There are also versions out there by The Brian Setzer Orchestra and The Fall out there which I don't have - hint, hint ..

Vince Taylor - Brand New Cadillac

The Clash - Brand New Cadillac

Wayne Hancock - Brand New Cadillac

8 comments:

  1. I had no idea the Fall covered this song.
    Did you know I have that Clash album?

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  2. Here you go CC and also a particularly good version by The Vibes
    https://app.box.com/s/lfjaxb9s1q40epjpiu0osw2fowtm9dty

    https://app.box.com/s/li4f6ip4n66q6j08mosi8smdxxjm5ds3

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    Replies
    1. Drew, is that "I'm in Pittsburgh (and it's raining)" The Vibes?

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    2. .......it doesn't sound like them

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  3. CC - One of my boring facts: The original series of the Swedish crime drama "Wallander" featured Rolf Lassgård as Wallander. He used to drive around in a snazzy old American car and almost always he played Vince Taylor's "Brand New Cadillac" on the car stereo.

    (NB - I preferred the later Swedish version of Wallander starring Krister Henriksson. The Brit version with Kenneth Branagh was awful - and nobody can tell me different!)

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    Replies
    1. I suspect Branagh is more of an opera or classical man

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  4. No George an English band, I think Liverpool, from 2013.

    ReplyDelete