Billy Bragg

Says Billy: Doesn’t seem like just that long ago that I was playing Thursday nights at the Tunnel in Greenwich, opening for whoever was headlining that night. I learned my chops there in late 82/early83 and I’m still putting those lessons to good use 40 years later. Hope to see some of you on the Roaring Forty tour this autumn.

Punk rocker, soldier, Essex boy, folk singer, Skiffle aficionado, protest singers’ protest singer, patriot, optimist, lefty polemicist, author, soul miner, musicologist, champion of the underclasses, Cockney vocalist and all round decent bloke Billy Bragg will release a career spanning 14-disc deluxe box set (3 LP and single LP versions also available) entitled ‘The Roaring Forty | 1983-2023’ on 27th October ’23 on Cooking Vinyl.

‘The Roaring Forty | 1983-2023’ celebrates the remarkable and enduring musical legacy of a much-loved songwriter, principled activist and alternative national treasure.

Billy Bragg has been a fearless recording artist, tireless live performer and peerless political campaigner for 40 years. He has released 11 solo studio albums: Life’s A Riot With Spy Vs Spy (1983); Brewing Up With Billy Bragg (1984); Talking With The Taxman About Poetry (1986); Workers Playtime (1988); The Internationale (1990); Don’t Try This At Home (1991); William Bloke (1996); England, Half English (2002); Mr Love & Justice (2008); Tooth & Nail (2013); The Million Things That Never Happened (2021); three albums with Wilco – (Grammy nominated) Mermaid Avenue (1998); Mermaid Avenue Vol II (2000); Mermaid Avenue Vol III (2012); and one album with Joe Henry – Shine A Light: Field Recordings From The Great American Railroad (2016). He released a mini album Bridges Not Walls in 2017. His performances at the BBC were anthologised in The Best Of Billy Bragg At The BBC 1983-2019 (2019).

Billy Bragg added best-selling author/musicologist to his CV with the success of his acclaimed 2017 book Roots, Radicals & Rockers – How Skiffle Changed The World. He has written two books of political analysis -  The Progressive Patriot: A Search For Belonging (2006) and The Three Dimensions of Freedom (2019), which has been translated into German and Spanish.

To be expected from a career that has straddled many genres, Billy Bragg has worked with a wealth of celebrated musicians from different musical backgrounds including Eliza Carthy, Norman Cook, Dick Gaughan, Joe Henry, Kirsty MacColl, Ian McLagan, Johnny Marr, R.E.M., Natalie Merchant, Romeo Stodart, Danny Thompson, Robert Wyatt, Pete Seeger, The Philharmonic Orchestra and US alt-Rock band Wilco, with whom he created two critically acclaimed collections setting previously unheard lyrics by legendary American Folk singer Woody Guthrie to music.

WHAT THE PAPERS SAY ABOUT BILLY BRAGG:

‘the perfect Venn diagram between the political and the personal’  The Guardian. 

‘a musically mature, international artist who is still bursting with energy.”  Rolling Stone 

‘…an elder statesman of British popular music.’ The Morning Star

‘Unquestionably our generation’s finest protest singer…vital and indispensable’  Classic Pop

“Everybody’s favourite troubadour.”  Scotland On Sunday

“A true legend of a singer-songwriter…” Louder Than War

“A British institution.” Clash

“Missing link between Woody Guthrie and Joe Strummer.” Pitchfork

‘One of the great human beings of Planet Earth…while the world changes by the minute, Billy's empathy remains steadfast.’ Brooklyn Vegan

‘One of the most reliable left-wing good guys in all of music.’ Stereogum

‘….Bragg will always be relevant.’  Record Collector

BILLY BRAGG - THE ROARING FORTY | 1983-2023

RELEASE DATE - 27th OCT ‘23

'Billy Bragg - 40 years in 40 minutes' - 19:30 (40 Minutes)

interval - 15 Minutes

Billy Bragg - 20:30 (120 Minutes)