Brand New Cadillac

“Brand New Cadillac” is a 1959 12-bar blues song by Vince Taylor and The Playboys, and featured as the second song on The Clash’s album “London Calling“.

It was the first song recorded by The Clash at London Calling’s Wessex studio. According to Marcus Gray’s Route 19 Revisited: The Clash and London Calling, Topper Headon called Cadillac “the first British rock and roll song.” Joe Strummer called Vince Taylor, who presented a leather-clad, wild man image, the beginning of rock and roll in England.

Vince Taylor was born in Middlesex, England but moved to the States at the age of 7 where he attended the fabled Hollywood High. Growing up there, he listened to Gene Vincent and Elvis Presley and, while traveling in London with his sister, formed The Playboys. “Brand New Cadillac” was the B-side to their second single (“Parlophone“) but became one of their most well-known songs and was sought out by collectors even before The Clash covered it.

The choice of Taylor’s song reflects Joe Strummer’s clear preference for “rockers” over “mods” – a constant theme in his compositions and lyrics, his personal image, and a sub-text to the lyrics of the title track of “London Calling“.