In a new interview with Guitar World, Brian Setzer revealed why he kept the unreleased music of The Clash’s Joe Strummer a secret.
Back in the day, Setzer worked with Strummer before his passing away but never released them. In the recent interview to discuss his new album, ‘The Devil Always Collects,’ he was asked about his earlier discussion about the songs he wrote with The Clash rocker. Sharing whether or not he ever considered including any of these songs in his new album, he said:
“No. That was in a different style. I’ve got three or four [songs] around, but I like to think that I guard Joe. I don’t talk about him too much. We were close friends. I like to keep his memory the way I think he would like it.”
Setzer then revealed why he wouldn’t share them publicly:
“If those songs ever see the light of day, I’d probably run them past Lucinda, his widow — ‘Would it be all right if I did this?’ — just because I have that much respect for him.”
Setzer described his friendship with Strummer as ‘family-vacation’ friends and shared that they would spend the whole summer together when he and his family came to California.
Although he never intended to release any of the songs out of respect, one of the songs was leaked by a user on YouTube. According to what the user wrote in the video’s description, the song is only available in the Japanese CD version of the album, ‘Guitar Slinger.’ You can listen to the title track below.