Workers Playtime (CD) ~ Billy Bragg (Artist) Cover Art

Workers Playtime (CD)

By: Billy Bragg (Artist)

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Billy Bragg Artist Snapshot:

Billy Bragg stands with one foot in the American dustbowl of Woody Guthrie and one in the anarchy of British punk. Bragg's early records from the 1980s were a revelation: the power and fury of punk transmitted via the age-old medium of a man alone with only his guitar. His songs address social injustices, workers' plights, and affairs of the heart with equal aplomb. In the late 1990s, Bragg embarked on a remarkable collaboration with the band Wilco, putting music to a treasure trove of newly discovered Woody Guthrie lyrics, and the 2000s saw his continued recording, writing, and political activism.

Product Description

Track Listing

DISC 1 for Workers Playtime (CD) Album By Billy Bragg (Artist)
1   She's Got A New Spell  
2   Must I Paint You A Picture  
3   Tender Comrade  
4   Price I Pay, The  
5   Little Time Bomb  
6   Rotting On Remand  
7   Valentine's Day Is Over  
8   Life With The Lions  
9   Only One, The  
10   Short Answer, The  
11   Waiting For The Great Leap Forwards  
 

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Review

Rolling Stone - 3.5 Stars - Very Good
Q (3/00, p.126) - Included in Q Magazine's "Best Relationship Albums Of All Time" - "...At least some good came of the doomed, turbulent affair [with Mary]....The sound of Labour losing in '87."

Title Note

Personnel: Billy Bragg (guitar); Kenny Jones (acoustic guitar); Wiggy (guitar, background vocals); Martin Belmont (guitar); B.J. Cole (pedal steel guitar); Camilla Brunt, Donna Welchman (violin); Theresa Pamplin (viola); Julia Palmer (cello); Barb Jungr (harmonica); Dave Woodhead (trumpet, flugelhorn); Cara Tivey (piano, keyboards, background vocals); Bruce Thomas (bass); Danny Thompson (acoustic bass); Mickey Waller (drums); Tony Maronie (percussion); Jayne Creamer, Kaya Jenner, Michelle Shocked, Cara Tivey, Porky (background vocals).

This 2006 remastered edition of Billy Bragg's revered 1988 record, WORKERS PLAYTIME, features an entire bonus disc of demos, rarities, and live tracks hand-selected by the British alt-folk troubadour. Among the highlights are stripped-down versions of album songs such as "The Only One," a lovelorn ballad, and the restless "She's a Got New Spell," as well as a demo of the energetic B-side "Bad Penny" and a concert rendition of the Tim Hardin-penned classic "Reason to Believe."

WORKERS PLAYTIME finds Billy Bragg continuing his proud tradition of mixing earnest tales of failed romance with unapologetically leftist political rants, a melange addressed rather humbly on the powerful, anthemic closer, "Waiting For The Great Leap Forwards." The album features notable accompaniment from frequent collaborators Cara Tivey on piano and the ever-present Wiggy on all matter of stringed instruments. It showed a new level of maturity and craftsmanship for Bragg, both as a songwriter and a performer.

Opening with the bright, jumpy "She's Got A New Spell," WORKERS PLAYTIME displays Bragg's romantic side at its height. His lyrical wit is also at an apex, from the wordplay of "The Short Answer" to the soulful drama of the timeless-sounding "Valentine's Day Is Over." Political numbers are few, but potent--"Rotting On Remand" has a Tin Pan Alley feel and decries the desperate state of Britain's penal system, while Bragg is stripped to his sparest yet on the a cappella "Tender Comrade."

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