Details
Track Listing
1. Milkman of Human Kindness
2. To Have and to Have Not
3. Richard
4. Lovers Town Revisited
5. New England, A
6. Man in the Iron Mask, The
7. Busy Girl Buys Beauty, The
8. It Says Here
9. Love Gets Dangerous
10. From a Vauxhall Velox
11. Myth of Trust, The
12. Saturday Boy, The
13. Island of No Return
14. This Guitars Says Sorry
15. Like Soldiers Do
16. St. Swithin's Day
17. Strange Things Happen
18. Lover Sings, A
19. Between the Wars
20. World Turned Upside Down, The
21. Which Side Are You On
| Details | | Distributor: | WEA (Distributor) | | Recording Type: | Studio | | Recording Mode: | Stereo | | SPAR Code: | AAD |
Album Notes
Personnel: Billy Bragg (vocals, guitar); Dave Woodhead (trumpet); Kenny Craddock (organ).
Producers: Oliver Hitch, Edward De Bono, Kenny Jones.
Compilation producer: Kenny Jones.
Engineers: Oliver Hitch, Kenny Jones.
Principally recorded at Berry Street Studio, London, England in July 1984; Vineyard Studio, London, England in 1985.
Compiled from his first album BREWING UP WITH BILLY BRAGG and the EP LIFE'S A RIOT WITH SPY VS. SPY, BACK TO BASICS captures the Bard of Barking at the birth of his legendary career. Bragg's unique style was firmly in place from the first; sparely produced, with a few notable additions-- Dave Woodhead's popular hum-along trumpet part on "The Saturday Boy" and the vintage organ sound on "A Lover Sings" provide the few embellishments here.
BACK TO BASICS is a testament to Bragg's writing and to his solid, sincere delivery--singing in one of pop music's heaviest regional accents, Bragg takes on fiery social issues and affairs of the heart with equal earnestness. Finding his inspiration in Motown, he spins tales of failed romance ("St. Swithin's Day," "The Milkman Of Human Kindness"), infused with a quirky, wholly British facility for wordplay and phrasing. But this tender heart has another side--a well know political activist, Bragg takes on issues of racial injustice (the I-IV-V rant "This Guitar Says Sorry"), social inequality ("To Have And Have Not"), and freedom of the press (the anthemic "It Says Here").
Industry Reviews
8 - Excellent - ...[Billy Bragg] is an electric Arthur Mullard let loose on the diaries of Nick Drake...
NME (11/27/1993)
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