Mick Jones (The Clash)

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For the Spooky Tooth and Foreigner guitarist, see Mick Jones (Foreigner).

Michael Geoffrey Jones (born June 26, 1955), better known as Mick Jones, is an English guitarist and singer best known for his work with The Clash.

1 The Clash
2 Big Audio Dynamite
3 Recent Projects
4 External links

[edit] The Clash

Jones was born in Brixton, South London, England to a Welsh father and a mother of Russian Jewish descent. He spent much of his early life living with his grandmother, Stella. Before he helped start up The Clash, he was in the legendary proto-punk band London SS, who only recorded one demo and never played live. Other members of London SS included Tony James, and Rat Scabies.

After London SS dissolved, Mick tried to form many new bands with good friend Tony James. But all efforts ended in failure. Soon, Mick worked with Paul Simonon, and helped teach him how to play the bass guitar. Soon, they found other members: a lead singer in Joe Strummer, who Mick and Paul first saw singing for the pub rock band, The 101ers; a lead guitar player in Keith Levene (who left before the band recorded an album); and a drummer in Terry Chimes, who was later replaced by Topper Headon. It is during this time that the group first became known as "The Clash".

Jones played lead guitar, sang, and co-wrote songs with Strummer from the band's inception until he was fired by Strummer and Simonon in 1983. Jones played on 5 of the band's 6 albums, and produced the original version of Combat Rock, which was scrapped and later bootlegged under the name Rat Patrol From Fort Bragg.

[edit] Big Audio Dynamite

Main article: Big Audio Dynamite

After his expulsion from The Clash, Jones was briefly a founding member of General Public. However, by the time that band's debut album appeared, Jones was no longer an official band member, although he did play guitar on many of the album's tracks.

Leaving General Public behind, in 1984 Jones formed Big Audio Dynamite (often shortened to BAD) with film director Don Letts, who had directed various Clash videos and later the Clash documentary Westway to the World. The band's debut album This Is Big Audio Dynamite was released the following year, with the song "E=MC2" getting heavy rotation in dance clubs.

For Big Audio Dynamite's second record, No. 10 Upping St. Mick Jones reunited with Joe Strummer. Together, the two wrote several songs on the album, including "Beyond the Pale", "V. Thirteen", and "Sightsee M.C."; Strummer also co-produced the album. This reunion did not last long, and following the album Jones and Strummer would not work together again for some time.

Big Audio Dynamite's third album, Tighten Up, Vol.88 features cover art painted by ex-Clash bassist Paul Simonon. Following recording, Jones developed pneumonia and spent some time in the hospital; after his recovery, Jones released one more album with Big Audio Dynamite, Megatop Phoenix, before reshuffling the line-up and renaming the band Big Audio Dynamite II and releasing The Globe album.

The band's lineup was reshuffled again in 1994, and they released the album Higher Power under the name Big Audio. In 1995 a greatest hits album Planet B.A.D. was released as well as a studio album called F-Punk under the original Big Audio Dynamite name. A further album, Entering a New Ride was recorded in 1997 but was only released on the internet due to disagreement with Radioactive Records, then their record label. Another "best of" collection called Super Hits was released in 1999.

[edit] Recent Projects

Image:Mick Jones C-Si.JPG

In 2005, Jones teamed up with former London SS and Generation X member Tony James to form a new band named Carbon/Silicon. The band has toured the United Kingdom and has performed a number of anti-fascist benefit concerts; they have also recorded 3 yet-to-be-released albums: Sample This, Peace, Dope Factory Boogie and The Grand Delusion. The band encourage their fans to share their music on P2P networks, and allow the audio and video taping of their shows. Their first song, MPFree is an anthem for P2P file sharing^{[citation needed]}.

Jones has also become an occasional producer. He was at the controls for London based band The Libertines debut album Up The Bracket. The CD was critically very well-received, both in the UK and USA. Jones stayed on to produce the band's second and final album, eponymously titled The Libertines. He also produced Down In Albion, the debut album of former Libertines Lead singer and guitarist Pete Doherty's new group Babyshambles. Mick Jones is also credited with contributing guitar and vocals to "Mal Bicho", the lead track of Los Fabulosos Cadillacs' album Rey Azucar.

Jones has a cameo appearance in the 2003 film Code 46, singing the Clash song "Should I Stay or Should I Go" in a karaoke club.