The Clash - Mr Bass Man - 1979 - Ray Lowry

The Clash - London Calling Mr Bassman - Giclée Print of Original Album Design Sketch by Ray Lowry.

Taken from Rays 1979 tour sketch books of The Clash

Art dimension - 11.9" x 17"| Outer dimension - 16.5" x 23.4"

| Giclée | Hahnemühle German Etching | 310gsm | 

Limited Edition of 79

Framed option comes in wooden frame with anti-glare acrylic glass.

Sketchbook feel | Splashes of ink | Capturing the essence of Mr Simonon and his ability to epitomise the art of cool | Taken from the sketchbooks that accompanied Ray on ' The Clash's second tour of the USA in 1979 | Strummer, Simonon, Jones and Micky Gallagher is written in the hand of Ray along the bottom of the image |

" To many, of course, it's a rock and roll show and the latest excuse to jump up and down, however as if guided by some infallible rock and roll racial consciousness the band are more than ever, looking like the bastard offspring of Eddie Cochran, Gene Vincent and of a Harley Davidson. To someone of my great age it's nothing short of miraculous that the most intelligent, positive rock and roll on Earth at the present time is being presented nightly by this group who now look like the kind of awe-inspiring culture heroes who haunted the troubled skies of my adolescence. America is being reminded of how rock and roll looks as well as how it should sound " - Ray Lowry 

Ray Lowry was an English cartoonist, illustrator and satirist, with a highly distinctive style. He contributed to The Guardian, Private Eye, Punch, Tatler and NME, among many other publications.

With the rise of the underground press in the 1960s, his work found a home in publications like Oz and International Times. This exposure led to a lasting collaboration with the New Musical Express (NME), where he contributed a weekly cartoon strip titled “Only Rock’n’Roll.”

His passion for raw rock and roll aligned perfectly with the emerging punk scene of the late 1970s. After seeing the Sex Pistols on their Anarchy tour at the Electric Circus in Manchester, he met The Clash. This encounter led to an invitation to join them on their 1979 U.S. tour as the official tour artist. Armed with sketchbooks, pens, and paint, he captured impressions of the tour in real-time.

Later that year, he designed the iconic sleeve for The Clash's third album, London Calling. He chose Pennie Smith’s photograph of Paul Simonon smashing his bass at New York’s Palladium Theatre on September 21, 1979. The moment he saw the photograph, he knew it was perfect; reminding him of the iconic image of Elvis Presley on his debut album. He felt both images perfectly encapsulated the essence of rock 'n' roll. When sketching his vision for the album cover, he incorporated vivid green and pink lettering as an homage to that Elvis Presley LP.

All limited prints are numbered, embossed and come with a Certificate of Authenticity signed by Samuel Lowry on behalf of the Ray Lowry Estate