Jail Guitar Doors is an independent initiative set up by protest singer Billy Bragg with the aim of providing musical equipment for the use of inmates serving time in Her Majesty’s prisons. It takes its name from the b-side of the Clash’s 1978 single “Clash City Rockers.”
Hearing the English punk rock band The Clash as a 19-year-old changed Billy Bragg’s life.
And so he found himself, in 2007, looking for a way to commemorate the fifth anniversary of the death of Joe Strummer, who was co-founder of The Clash. He was looking for a project that would highlight the “transformative power of music.”
It must have been fate, then, when a letter arrived from Malcolm Dudley, a drug and alcohol counselor working at HMP Guy's Marsh near Shaftesbury in Dorset, England. The letter was addressed to Billy.
Malcolm was hoping to set up a weekly guitar workshop for prisoners, to help with their rehabilitation.
Malcolm told Billy how ex-prisoners who have actively participated in such sessions have a re-conviction rate of between 10%-15%, compared to the national average of 61%. And while Malcolm had permission to hold the workshops, he lacked the musical equipment to do so.
Malcolm wrote to ask if Billy could help by providing six acoustic guitars and some percussion instruments to breathe life into the pilot project.
And Billy jumped at the chance.
He was able to convince Hanks Guitar Shop, on Denmark Street in London, to provide the project with six of their own brand acoustic guitars at cost price. The guitars came sold as beginner’s instruments, which meant they came with extra strings, pitch pipes, a soft case, and an instructional DVD. They cost £49 each ($98 Canadian).
To further embody the spirit and style of The Clash, Billy brought the guitars to Jeff Behan to be customized in a way that was similar to how the band used to decorate their own instruments. When the guitars were handed back to Billy two weeks later, they were covered in slogans such as “Strummer,” “Clash City Rockers,” “Stay Free,” and of course “Jail Guitar Doors.” (You can see the finished items here.)
Billy’s favourite decoration was a new take on the anti-fascist slogan that Woody Guthrie—who greatly influenced both Joe Strummer and Billy Bragg—had written on his guitar: “This machine kills time.” (The one on Guthrie’s guitar said “This machine kills fascists.”)
Before Jail Guitar Doors was launched, previous projects in other prisons have relied on borrowing guitars from staff members which have to be taken home again after the session, depriving inmates of the chance to take their instruments back into their cells to play.
But back in their cells is where the inmates need their guitars most…
It cost just under £375 (in total) to provide guitars and percussion instruments for Malcolm Dudley's project in Guy's Marsh. “It's a relatively small amount of money,” says Billy, “which could be raised at a benefit concert by any band or artist that can draw a crowd.” Billy is personally asking musicians—“particularly those of you who were inspired by The Clash”—to raise the money to provide just ONE prison with enough equipment to help inmates find that same sense of release.
If you'd like to participate in Jail Guitar Doors, please email Billy Bragg directly at billy@jailguitardoors.org.uk.
