Songs on the album were composed by guitarists Joe Strummer and Mick Jones, with the notable exception of the reggae cover "Police and Thieves". The song "What's My Name" is co-credited to Clash founding member Keith Levene, who left the band in September 1976.
Several songs from the album's recording sessions, including "Janie Jones", "White Riot", and "London's Burning" became classics of the punk genre and were among the first punk songs to see significant presence on singles charts. The Clash featured Jones and Strummer sharing guitar and vocal duties, with Paul Simonon on bass and Terry Chimes on drums, his only studio appearance with the band. (Chimes and Rob Harper drummed intermittently with The Clash until Topper Headon joined the band as permanent drummer in May 1977.) Chimes was credited as "Tory Crimes" on the album's original sleeve.
The Clash was not released in the US until 1979, making it the band's second US release. The US version also included a significantly different track listing, changing the track order and swapping out several songs for non-album tracks recorded in the interim.
