Weller’s Passion, Craft Combine in ‘Jam Extras’ : The album’s 26 selections include many rarities from the great but short-lived British rock group.

The Jam never enjoyed more than a cult following in this country, but it was one of the great British rock groups to grow out of the late-’70s punk movement.

Inspired by the Who’s belief in the power of music and the Sex Pistols’ disdain for pop convention, the trio, led by singer-songwriter-guitarist Paul Weller, echoed during its brief tenure the aspirations and frustrations of British youth even more cohesively perhaps than the Clash.

In his best moments, Weller mixed passion and craft in a way that made it quite reasonable to think of him as a meeting of the Who’s Pete Townshend and the Kinks’ Ray Davies.

Weller--who was joined in the group by bassist Bruce Foxton and drummer Rick Buckler--was such a rock purist that he didn’t let the group’s massive popularity in England keep him from calling it quits in 1982 when he felt things were starting to get stale. Unfortunately, Weller’s work with his next group, the Style Council, failed to match the quality or impact of the Jam. He recently embarked on a solo career.

In “The Jam Extras,” just released by Polydor Records, we see how much the group had to offer.

The album’s 26 selections include all sorts of Jam rarities, from singles that were never put on an album to demo versions of Jam originals and songs by other artists.

Among the highlights:

* The Jam’s versions of Curtis Mayfield’s “Move On Up,” Lennon-McCartney’s “And Your Bird Can Sing,” Townshend’s “Disguises” and “So Sad About Us” and James Brown’s “I Got You (I Feel Good).”

* Two songs by the Jam that were never released: “Hey Mister,” which was recorded in 1979, and “No One in the World,” recorded a year later.

* Demo versions of songs--including “Burning Sky,” “Thick as Thieves” and “The Eton Rifles”--that later appeared on Jam albums.

In the liner notes for “Extras,” British rock writer Paolo Hewitt accurately declares that this collection of rarities “builds up, in its own offbeat manner, a comprehensive understanding of Paul Weller’s art and therefore, by definition, of the Jam themselves.

” . . . It says more about the group than previous collections because its musical directions tell us so much more about Weller’s progress as a songwriter.”