Back to Basics

Billy Bragg emerged in the early \'80s as a “one-man Clash”: a politically motivated folk singer with only a slashing electric guitar for accompaniment. His voice was coarse and, to American ears, *very* British. *Back to Basics* compiles Bragg’s earliest and rawest works: his first album (*Brewing Up with Billy Bragg*) and his first two EPs (*Life’s a Riot with Spy Vs. Spy* and *Between the Wars*). An occasional (as in very occasional) trumpet or organ joins in, but these are skeletal tunes, flush with youthful exuberance and uncompromising social commentary. “A New England” is Bragg at his most accessible, seeking love and comfort amid his political concerns. “The Busy Girl Buys Beauty” is a thrashing insight into simple cosmetic and social-class truths that sound a bit harsh coming from an idealistic twentysomething young man. The youngster’s working-class convictions and Woody Guthrie–styled folk-singer approach is clearly evident with “Between the Wars” and “Which Side Are You On?,” songs that helped define Bragg as a socially aware performer, a distinction that over the decades has remained part of his core commitment.