Billy Bragg

Biography

Youth

Billy Bragg was born in the Comté from Essex, England which makes maintemeant integral part of large Londre. It grew with Barking. Currently, he lives in a small village of the Dorset and he is always attached to his Londonniennes roots: Bragg supports the team of foot of West Ham United.

Its school course was poorer, though, according to certain sources, it was brilliant in English. It left the school without qualification, but given to do something of its life. It joined its Wiggy neighbor in order to learn how to play of the guitar. They copied especially the fronts of the artists of their impressive collection of discs. Their principal influence with beginning of the year 70 were: The Faces, The Small Faces, The Rolling Stones and, to a lesser extent, the groups punk (The Clash in particular). In 1977, they formed a punk group pub rock'n'roll named Rif Raff and made a round in the clubs and pubs London. The group repeats in a farm of the Northamptonshire and publishes a series of individual. However, these discs did not have great diffusion nor of success and the group separated. Billy worked for a store of discs with bottom taken in Essex.

Military career

After his experiment with Rif Raff, Bragg does not believe any more in one musical career and decides to join the British army, as a soldier, within the Queen' S Royal Irish Hussars off the Royal Armoured Corps in May 1981. This experiment will turn short rather quickly, but will provide him a source of inspiration for the continuation of its musical work. After one month of physical drive to Solihull and three months of basic drive to Catterick Garrison with the Yorkshire, it bought the cancellation of its contract for the sum £ 175 pounds sterling and it turned over in his mother and to her music.

Career in Solo

Bragg commensa to be turned intensively in the London area, carrying out concerts only with its electric guitar. Its first demonstrations interested few people, but thanks to a stratagem, while being made pass for a television repairman, it is introduced into the offices of Charisma Records 'A&R man Peter Jenner. Jenner liked its musqiue, but the company was close to the bankruptcy and did not have a budget to sign new artists.

Bragg had a proposal of another recording company to record several demonstrations. In order not to lose the business, Jenner agrees to produce an album, whose only promotion would be the astronomical quantity in concert.

The album Life' S.A. Riot with Spy Vs. Spy left to Charisma Record in July 1983. The album was largely perceived like that of the blossoming of a new promising talent.

Hearing DJ John Peel mention one-air that He was hungry, Bragg rushed to the BBC with has mushroom Biryani, and was rewarded when Peel played has track from Life' S.A. Riot , albeit At the wrong speed (since the 12" LP was, unconventionally, cut to play At 45rpm). Peel insisted He would cuts played the track even without the biryani and later played it At the correct speed .

Some month afterwards, Charisma was repurchased by Virgin Records, and Jenner was laid off. He becomes manager of Bragg. A specimen of Life' S.A. Riot fell between the hands from the former leader from Stiff Record, Andy Macdonald, which was assembling its own recording company " Go! Discs". It repurchased the rights of the album to Virgin and arisen Life' S.A. riot in November.

In 1984, it publishes Brewing up with Billy Bragg , comprising a mixture of committed political songs and love songs nonreciprocal.

The following year, it publishes Between the Warq , a comprising EP of the committed songs and policies which included a resumption of Leon Rosselson: World Turned Upside Down .

He collaborated later with Rosselson on the song Balad off the Spycatcher . Moreover, in 1985, its song has New England , with worms additional, is classified in the hit British parade.

In the tread, it leaves in round. September 30th, 1985, it was in “Zeche Bochum”, in Germany.

In 1986, Bragg carried out its third album: Talking with the Taxman butt Poetry . Its title is extracted from a poem of Russian Vladimir Mayakovski, who was printed in the small pocket of the disc. This albun was well accommodated, and thanks to individual the Levi Stubbs' Tears , Bragg saw one as of his discs at the head being classified for the first time hit parade.

The month of September 1988 saw the publication of its fourth album, Workers Playtime . It was a radical change for Bragg, dropping his guitar solo for a complete group.

In May 1990, Bragg published a mini-LP very committed, entitled The Internationale . The songs were, partly, a return to its formula of origin with a solo of guitar, but also of other more complicated arrangements. This album pays homage to one of the influences of Bragg in I Dreamed I Saw Phil Ochs Last Night , it acts of an adaptation of I Dreamed I Saw Joe Hill Last Night .

Don' T Try This At Home is published in September 1991 and included its most known title to date " Sexuality" , which was published into individual.

Bragg had been convinced by the owners of recording company GO! Music Andy and Juliet Macdonald to sign a contract for four albums, n the other hand of an advance of a million books, and an important promotion in the form of individual and clip. This agreement did not make it possible to carry out additional sales and put company GO! Music in difficulties.

N the other hand refunding of most of its advance, Bragg will recover the rights of his catalog and its albums.

Bragg left in round to promote the album, with his group the Red Stars , with his former companion of Front-Raff and become now his roadie, Wiggy.

Collaboration with Woody Guthrie

It will run out 5 years until the publication of its next album William Bloke , because Bragg arrété his musical activity to deal with his young person wire.

During the realization of the album William Bloke , Bragg was invited by Nora Guthrie, girl of a legend of the American folk Guthrie Woody, to put in music part of the not recorded texts of his father.

The result was a collaboration with the group Wilco, with a contribution of Natalie Merchant (with which it had previously worked), published under the title Mermaid Avenue (1998) and Mermaid Avenue vol. II (2000). A disagreement with Wilco during the mixing of the albums pushed Bragg to recruit his own group The Blokes to promote the disc. Among the members of The Blokes figure with the keyboard an influence of Bragg: the clavierist veteran Ian McLagan, old members of The Faces

Tolpuddle

Bragg often made concerts and taken the word with the Festival of Tolpuddle.

Beautiful Days Festival 2005

The Beautiful Days Festival 2005 in Devon, Bragg played with the Levellers some songs of the Clash for the birthday of Joe Strummer. Bragg played of the guitar and sang on Police and Thieves , and limited himself to the guitar and in the middle for English Civil War and Police one my Back

Political activity

Billy Bragg was a long time near to the political movements popular and alternate (alternative left/mondialist in France) and this is often reflected in its texts and its music. Between his meetings of recording in studio, Bragg has, at the time of his many concerts, attracted a big number of faithful fans. At the time of its concerts, it always showed much humor, by ridiculing the holders of the capacity.

Bragg supported the strike of the minors of 1984 and the following year it joined the countryside of artists of left " " Red Wedge" " in order to inform the young voters on the program of the workers party, and to dissuade them to vote for the conservative party during the general elections of 1987.

During the electoral campaign, it supported Neil Kinnock and the workers party. After the defeat of Kinnock and the new victory of Margaret Thatcher and his conservative government, Bragg joined the movement Charter88 in order to militate for a total reform of the British political system.

During the Eighties, it made some voyages in Soviet Union, often as prolongations of voyages towards Finland - at the same time when President Gorbachev had started to support the perestroika and the Glasnost. At the time of one of its voyages, it was accompanied by a tele team by MTV, and another time the voyage was filmed by Hannu Puttonen, which carried out a mini-documentary heading " Mr. Bragg Goes to Moscow" (1988).

The documentary watch Bragg ready to go everywhere, his guitar on the back. He will visit even factories where he was presented to the workmen as an element entertainment of the workmen and the pop musicians Western one.

Moreover, during the Eighties, it defended its ideals and its music in the United States. In Dallas, in Texas, he was interviewed and often diffused by George Gimarc during his radio broadcast " Alternative" rock'n'roll; initially diffused by KZEW.

During the general election of 2001, Bragg tried to fight the apathy of the voters as a militant for the tactical vote in order to try to make lose the conservative candidates in Dorset, in particular in Dorset of south of Dorset and Westerner.

With the election 2001, the members of the Labor Party took the south of Dorset with smallest of the majorities, and the variation of ways between conservatives and members of the Labor Party in Western Dorset was reduced; at the time of the elections of 2005, the members of the Labor Party will preserve the South Dorset, but the advance of the conservatives in the north of Dorset will progress again.

Bragg continues to write political songs. On this subject, it developed an interest for the English national identity and this felt in 2002 on its album carried out with the The Blokes, " " England, Half-English" ".

The former Prime Minister for the Zealand News, David Lange, is also a large fan and attended the majority in his concerts in Zealand News.

In 2004, he collaborated with the ska group/punk American Less than Jake for a re-recording of their song " The Brightest Bulb Has Burned Out". This song is the last of the album Rock Against Bush.

In 2006, it published a book, the " " " Progressive The Patriot" " " (the progressive patriot), in which it developed an argument which it defended a long time - namely that it feels English, the Socialists can take again patriotism with the right-hand side. It also supports Scottish independence Scottish independence

Discusses

Bragg was openly an adversary of the Fascisme, Racisme, Bigoterie, Sexisme and Homophobie in all demonstrations and of a defender of unr multi-racial Great Britain. In reprisal, Bragg was the target of attacks of by national Partie British. In March 2006 the journalist Garry Bushell (old a Trotskyiste which was turned towards the the English democrats and of the positions nationalist in the years '90) showed Bragg of “pontifier on a field of the south of council of London when we all know it lives in a beautiful large house in Western Dorset”.

After an article of Jonathan Freedland about the proposals of Bragg for reformed House of Lords, in The Guardian , February 18th, 2004, some affirmed that Bragg recommends the use of violence in order to intimidate the political adversaries, although it is more probable than it showed humor:

" The British National Party would probably make it has elected by parliament [[proportional representation]], too. It would shine has torch into the dirty little corner where the BNP defecate one our democracy, and that would Be much more powerful than duffing them up in the street -- which I' m also in favor of."

Simple: Billy Bragg

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