It almost seems hard to remember, but in the immediate and intermediate years after the Clash self-destructed, Mick Jones sold millions while at the helm of Big Audio Dynamite, versions I and II. And it is clear throughout Redemption Song that Jones more than Strummer was the creative mastermind behind the Clash. And Strummer knew it, as his ill-fated decision to kick Jones out of the band in 1984 haunted him for the better part of the rest of his life, which, as we all know, was tragically cut short more than five years ago, just as he was getting his mojo back.

Although Salewicz could’ve used an editor–there’s really no need for the book’s length–he paints a vivid picture of Strummer as a troubled, haunted man saddled with depression and dependency. He was dependent on a handful of enablers and yes men who propped his ego shortly before and well after Jones was kicked out of the band. He made several bad decisions and not enough records. He simply lost all of his confidence after Cut the Crap, the one and only Clash album after Jones’ departure, landed with a deafening thud across the music industry.

According to Salewicz, Strummer’s first solo album, 1989’s Earthquake Weather, sold 7,000 copies. 7,000 copies!!! This directly on the heels of Rolling Stone naming The Clash’s London Calling as the best album of the 1980s. This should’ve been the beginning of a profitable solo career, or possibly even a Clash reunion, but instead, Strummer could barely fill a small

It took another 10 years, a marriage, and a clear desire to make amends before Strummer was back on his feet with 1999’s Rock, Art, and the X-Ray Style, his first of three albums with the Mescaleros, which set the course for a career-redeeming run that turned out to end all too quickly.

All the while, Mick Jones soldiered on in Big Audio Dynamite, and although he maintained a passing interest in reforming the Clash, Jones was clearly happy being in charge–and in front–of his own band. BAD sold consistently well, scored a few hits, and served as a viable and powerful outlet for the former punk rocker. Just do a search on You Tube for any BAD videos–particularly the live shots from the band’s original incarnation–and you will see a powerful performance.

As it turns out, Mick and Joe were breathtakingly close to reforming the Clash on a few occasions, most notably just before the band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In fact, at one point, Joe himself backed out of a reunion in the late 1990s, and bassist Paul Simonon, perhaps rightly, refused to play the Hall of Fame show. Had Strummer lived, there seemed to be a very good chance that the Clash may have performed at the induction ceremony–but without their bass player.

But Strummer didn’t live, and all this reunion talk became purely hypothetical after Joe died suddenly at his home in England. Thankfully Mick Jones hasn’t completely abandoned the spotlight, even if the light is getting smaller and smaller. He’s struck up a new band with former Damned member Tony James called Carbon Silicon, and the group has taken to the Internet, doling out free downloads of new tunes and albums at their website, http://www.carbonsiliconinc.com/.

While its a far cry from playing in front of tens of thousands with the Clash and Big Audio Dynamite, it is somewhat comforting to see Mick still out there.