The Roaring Forty 1983-2023

by Billy Bragg

Overview

The dirty little secret of the rise of British punk and new wave in the mid- to late '70s was that the era saw the return of the singer/songwriters movement. After the Sex Pistols dropped the F-word on live television, hundreds of clever young men and women suddenly traded their acoustic guitars for cheap electric instruments and sang what was on their mind with an extra portion of piss and vinegar. They finally found an audience they never would have reached, even after years of playing the coffeehouse circuit. While Elvis Costello was the first and best example of this strategy in action, a few years down the line Billy Bragg put a fresh and exciting spin on the formula, singing witty, emotionally compelling stories of love and everyday life alongside smart, impassioned political broadsides, accompanied by just his buzzy electric guitar and his thick Barking accent on early releases like Life's a Riot with Spy vs. Spy (1983) and Brewing Up with Billy Bragg (1984). Few people could imagine fusing Bob Dylan and Joe Strummer the way Bragg did, and fewer still would have guessed he could grow and mature into one of England's most well-respected tunesmiths and activists a few decades on from his beginnings as a cheeky noisemaker. 2023's The Roaring 40 1983-2023 isn't the first attempt to sum up the flow of Bragg's career in a single release, but if you want to show someone why he made such an impact in the '80s, and how he evolved into an unpretentious eminence grise four decades later, this set will do the job better than any other Bragg anthology. The sequence replicates Bragg's journey as a musician and spokesman very well, from his days as a one-man-Clash to his contemporary position of one of the U.K.'s last great pub rockers. Nearly all of his best and best-known songs are on board, including a few choice rarities (such as the cracking "Red Star Version" of "Accident Waiting to Happen," a live recording of "California Stars" with a funky New Orleans groove, and "Old Clash Fan Fight Song," an anthemic rant for aging punks). If 21st century Bragg seems mellower than the guy who came up in the '80s, "King Tide and the Sunny Day Flood" and "I Will Be Your Shield" show that his principles and his heart have changed very little. If you've somehow managed to avoid hearing Billy Bragg's work, The Roaring 40 1983-2023 is an ideal starting point, and if you're already a fan, this is a top-shelf mixtape of the songs that made him a legend. Either way, it's great music with heart, soul, and a conscience. ~ Mark Deming

Product Details

Release Date:	10/27/2023
Label:	Cooking Vinyl
UPC:	0711297536218

Tracks

1. A New England
2. Between The Wars
3. Levi Stubbs Tears
4. Greetings To The New Brunette
5. Waiting For The Great Leap Forwards
6. Sexuality
7. Accident Waiting To Happen [Red Star Version]
8. Upfield
9. The Boy Done Good
10. California Stars [Live October/November 1998]
11. I Keep Faith
12. The L&N Dont Stop Here Anymore
13. I Will Be Your Shield

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Billy Bragg   Primary Artist
Wilco   Primary Artist
Cara Tivey   Featured Artist

Technical Credits

Traditional   Composer
Paul McCartney   Composer
Billy Bragg   Composer,Lyricist,Producer,Adaptation
Joe Boyd   Producer
Joe Henry   Producer
Gary Smith   Producer
Jay Bennett   Composer
Florence Reece   Composer
Romeo Stodart   Producer
Johnny Marr   Composer,Producer
John Porter   Producer
Jean Ritchie   Composer
John Lennon   Composer
Jeff Tweedy   Composer
Wilco   Producer
Mike Hallett   Mixing,Engineer
Duncan Cowell   Remastering
Oliver Hitch   Producer
Woody Guthrie   Composer,Lyricist
Grant Showbiz   Producer
Kenny Jones   Producer
Leon Rosselson   Composer
Paul Slattery   Photography
Jayne Creamer   Photography
Pierre Degeyter   Composer
Stuart Nicholls   Photography
David Blackman   Audio Master
Edward DeBono   Producer
Blokes   Composer
Steve Rapport   Photography
Tim Young   Remastering
Dave Izumi Lynch   Producer
Theo Michael   Photography
Michael Mulligan   Project Manager
Pete Dunwell   Photography
Kevin Copsey   Photography