Description

On 20 September 1979, at the Palladium in New York City, Paul Simonon smashed his Fender Precision bass against the stage. He was angry that the venue's bouncers would not let the audience stand up. "I wasn't taking it out on the bass guitar, 'cos there ain't anything wrong with it," he said later. Pennie Smith, who was photographing the band on tour, caught the moment.

Smith did not want the picture used. She had stepped back as Simonon came towards the edge of the stage, and she thought the shot was too far out of focus. Joe Strummer and designer Ray Lowry overruled her. "Actually, I had no idea it was out of focus," Lowry admitted. "Half-blind at the best of times and half-pissed at the time, that simply had to be the one."

Lowry then framed the photograph as a homage to Elvis Presley's 1956 debut album, with pink lettering running down the left edge and green lettering across the bottom, a nod to the rock and roll roots the double album keeps returning to. The combination made the sleeve one of the most celebrated in rock. In 2002 Q magazine named Smith's picture the best rock and roll photograph of all time, saying it "captures the ultimate rock'n'roll moment – total loss of control." The Royal Mail put the cover on a stamp in 2010, and the broken bass is now in the Museum of London.

Credit

Cover photograph by Pennie Smith; cover lettering and design by Ray Lowry.