England, Half English

This is an Enhanced CD, which contains both regular audio tracks and multimedia computer files.
Billy Bragg & The Blokes include: Billy Bragg (vocals, acoustic & electric guitar); Ben (electric guitar, bouzouki, barizouki); Lu (guitar, background vocals); Terry Edwards (tenor saxophone); Dave Woodhead (trumpet); Caroline Hall (trombone); Mac (piano, Wurlitzer piano, Hammond B-3 organ, background vocals); Simon (bass); Martyn (drums, shakers, tambourine, background vocals); Lorraine Brown (background vocals).
Recorded at Monnow Valley Studio, Steet Level, and Roundhouse Studio, London, England.
This is the first full album by Billy Bragg and The Blokes. The first song starts with the sound of Ian McLagan's piano; McLagan spent the '70s carousing with the Faces, and his rough-and-tumble prowess is a hallmark of this band as well. Bragg's songs continue along familiar lines (the plight of workers, class disparities, etc.), this time also focusing on issues of national identity. As always he relishes both strongly articulated sociopolitical issues ("NPWA," with its chorus of "No power without accountability") as well as more poetic circumstances. The latter is nicely represented by the album-closing "The Tears of My Tracks," which finds its protagonist broke, selling all of his records, but full of sly confidence and unshakable hope, delighting in the sun filling his empty room. Many of the songs have their music credited jointly to the whole band, and the camaraderie isn't mere socialist pie-sharing, it's genuine aesthetic truth--this album is a result of the entwined enthusiasms of Billy Bragg AND The Blokes.