BRAGG, BILLY

Personnel: Billy Bragg (vocals, acoustic & electric guitars, keyboards); Wiggy (electric guitar, bass); Johnny Marr (electric guitar); John Keane (pedal steel guitar, bass); Peter Buck (mandolin); Elliet Mackrell (violin); Mary Ramsey (violin, viola); Julia Palmer (cello); Lorraine Brown (clarinet, background vocals); Caroline Hall (trombone); Dave Woodhead (flugelhorn); Cara Tivey (piano); Amanda Vincent (keyboards); Danny Thompson, James Eller (bass); J.F.T. Hood (drums, percussion); Jody Linscott (percussion); Kristy MacColl, Michael Stipe, Stephen Lewis, Andy Szabo, Victoria Taylor Roberts (background vocals).

Engineers: Victor Van Vugt, Owen Morris, John Keane.

Perhaps more aptly titled, 'Don't Try Humming These Alone', on this set the prolific Bragg squeezed his impressive and thoughtful lyrics into 16 extraordinarily tight and melodic songs. It briefly made him a chart star, largely helped by the lush arrangements (Cara Tivey's keyboards and Mary Ramsey's violas, in particular), catchy choruses and Bragg's own street-cred humour. Who else could sing about 'drinking with Thomas Paine', who said that 'revolutions . . . are as different as the cultures/That give them birth', and still produce three hits ('Sexuality', 'Accident Waiting To Happen', 'You Woke Up My Neighbourhood') from the same album?

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