''Brewing Up with Billy Bragg'' is the second album by

Billy Bragg Stephen William Bragg (born 20 December 1957) is an English singer, songwriter, musician, author and political activist. His music blends elements of folk music, punk rock and protest songs, with lyrics that mostly span political or romantic th ...

, released in 1984. While his debut

album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

'' Life's a Riot with Spy vs Spy'' (1983) was performed by Bragg accompanied only by his

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

, ''Brewing Up with Billy Bragg'' began to use subtle

overdub Overdubbing (also known as layering) is a technique used in audio recording in which audio tracks that have been pre-recorded are then played back and monitored, while simultaneously recording new, doubled, or augmented tracks onto one or more a ...

s, such as

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are us ...

on "Love Gets Dangerous",

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz musical ensemble, ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest Register (music), register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitche ...

on "The Saturday Boy" and

organ Organ and organs may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a group of tissues organized to serve a common function * Organ system, a collection of organs that function together to carry out specific functions within the body. Musical instruments ...

on "A Lover Sings". The album also continued Bragg's legacy of political songs. "It Says Here" is a bitingly satirical attack on the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

tabloid press and "Island of No Return" is a concise

anti-war An anti-war movement is a social movement in opposition to one or more nations' decision to start or carry on an armed conflict. The term ''anti-war'' can also refer to pacifism, which is the opposition to all use of military force during conf ...

anthem. The album reached number 16 on the

UK albums chart The Official Albums Chart is the United Kingdom's industry-recognised national record chart for album, albums. Entries are ranked by sales and audio streaming. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the O ...

. The cover of the original album has the subtitle "A Puckish Satire on Contemporary Mores," a quote from the

Woody Allen Heywood Allen (born Allan Stewart Konigsberg; November 30, 1935) is an American filmmaker, actor, and comedian whose career spans more than six decades. Allen has received many List of awards and nominations received by Woody Allen, accolade ...

film ''

Love and Death ''Love and Death'' is a 1975 American comedy film written and directed by Woody Allen. It is a satire on the Golden Age of Russian literature starring Allen and Diane Keaton as Boris and Sonja, Russians living during the Napoleonic Era who enga ...

'', in which Allen's character reviews an army play presented to Russian soldiers to prevent them from becoming infected with venereal diseases while at war.

Versions

The album was originally released on

vinyl Vinyl may refer to: Chemistry * Polyvinyl chloride (PVC), a particular vinyl polymer * Vinyl cation, a type of carbocation * Vinyl group, a broad class of organic molecules in chemistry * Vinyl polymer, a group of polymers derived from vinyl ...

in 1984 with 11 tracks. In 1987 the album was again released along with the album '' Life's a Riot with Spy vs Spy'' (1983) and the EP '' Between the Wars'' (1985) and titled '' Back to Basics''. ''Back to Basics'' was

reissue In the music industry, a reissue (also re-release, repackage or re-edition) is the release of an album or single which has been released at least once before, sometimes with alterations or additions. Reasons for reissue New audio formats Reco ...

d in 1990. ''Brewing Up with Billy Bragg'' was reissued on its own in 199

In 2006, as part of a planned series of reissues of albums in his back catalogue, ''Brewing Up with Billy Bragg'' was

remaster A remaster is a change in the sound or image quality of previously created forms of media, whether Mastering (audio), audiophonic, Cinematography, cinematic, or Videography, videographic. The resulting product is said to be remastered. The term ...

ed and reissued for the first time on CD with a number of bonus tracks. These tracks included covers of "Back to the Old House" by

The Smiths The Smiths were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Manchester in 1982, composed of Morrissey (vocals), Johnny Marr (guitar), Andy Rourke (bass) and Mike Joyce (musician), Mike Joyce (drums). Morrissey and Marr formed the band's songwrit ...

(with Smiths guitarist

Johnny Marr John Martin Marr (Birth name#Maiden and married names, né Maher; born 31 October 1963) is a musician, songwriter and singer. He first achieved fame as the guitarist and co-songwriter of the Smiths, who were active from 1982 to 1987. He has sinc ...

playing guitar) and " The Last Time" by

The Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...

. The bonus tracks also include the ''Between the Wars'' EP.

Reception

''Brewing Up with Billy Bragg'' was ranked number six among the "Albums of the Year" for 1984 by ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...

''. In 2000, '' Q'' placed ''Brewing Up with Billy Bragg'' at number 87 on its list of the "100 Greatest British Albums Ever".

Track listing

All songs written by Billy Bragg, except where noted.

Disc one

#"It Says Here" – 4:18 #"Love Gets Dangerous" – 2:23 #"The Myth of Trust" – 2:54 #"From a Vauxhall Velox" – 2:31 #"The Saturday Boy" – 3:30 #"Island of No Return" – 3:37 #"St Swithin's Day" – 3:54 #"Like Soldiers Do" – 2:39 #"This Guitar Says Sorry" – 2:31 #"Strange Things Happen" – 2:38 #"A Lover Sings" – 3:54

Disc two (2006 reissue)

#"It Must Be a River" – 2:19 #"I Won't Talk About It" – 5:06 #"Talking Wag Club Blues" – 2:59 #" You Got the Power" (

James Brown James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, musician, and record producer. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th-century music, he is referred to by Honorific nick ...

, George Terry) – 3:10 #" The Last Time" (

Mick Jagger Sir Michael Philip Jagger (born 26 July 1943) is an English musician. He is known as the lead singer and one of the founder members of The Rolling Stones. Jagger has co-written most of the band's songs with lead guitarist Keith Richards; Jagge ...

Keith Richards Keith Richards (born 18 December 1943) is an English musician, songwriter, singer and record producer who is an original member, guitarist, secondary vocalist, and co-principal songwriter of the Rolling Stones. His songwriting partnership wi ...

) – 2:55 #" Back to the Old House" (

Morrissey Steven Patrick Morrissey ( ; born 22 May 1959), known :wikt:mononym, mononymously as Morrissey, is an English singer and songwriter. He came to prominence as the frontman and lyricist of rock band the Smiths, who were active from 1982 to 198 ...

) – 2:53 #"A Lover Sings" (alternative version) – 3:58 #" Which Side Are You On?" ( Florence Reece, Bragg) – 2:34 #"It Says Here" (alternate version) – 2:36 #" Between the Wars" – 2:30 #"The World Turned Upside Down" (

Leon Rosselson Leon Rosselson (born 22 June 1934, Harrow, Middlesex, England) is an English songwriter and writer of children's books. After his early involvement in the folk music revival in Britain, he came to prominence, singing his own satirical songs, i ...

) – 2:35

Personnel

Musicians

–

vocals Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...

*Dave Woodhead –

* Kenny Craddock –

Production

*Edward de Bono – producer *Kenny Jones –

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, build, maintain and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials. They aim to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while ...

*Tim Young – digitally

ed by *Duncan Cowell – digitally remastered by * Heeps Willard – cover illustration

Footnotes

References

Official Billy Bragg discography
*2006 reissue CD

liner notes Liner notes (also sleeve notes or album notes) are the writings found on the sleeves of LP record albums and in booklets that come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or cassette j-cards. Origin Liner notes are descended from the prog ...

{{Authority control Billy Bragg albums 1984 albums Go! Discs albums Cooking Vinyl albums