Billy Bragg – The Peel Sessions (1987)
Now this really is stretching the definition of an album. It's really a six track 12" single, barely clocking fifteen minutes in total. But it's my blog, and I make and break the rules. I've no idea where I picked this up, and it rarely gets an airing.
That's a pity, because it's a great little snippet of early Bragg, recorded in July 1983. Just Billy and his guitar, with minimal enhancement, it's a great reminder of how he started. All the songs are decent interpretations, one from his debut EP Life's A Riot With Spy vs Spy (A New England ), only just released at time of recording, and three which would appear on 1984's Brewing Up - Strange Things Happen, This Guitar Says Sorry and Love Gets Dangerous.
The final two songs are a bold cover of John Cale's Fear Is A Man's Best Friend, which doesn't really improve on the original, and live favourite A13, Trunk Road To The Sea, Bragg's version of Route 66 rewritten as an Essex Boy.
It's well worth a listen, just as a reminder how fresh stripped down Bragg was in those post punk days
4* - an exhilarating slice of early Billy Bragg
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