Must I Paint You a Picture?: The Essential Billy Bragg

Initial pressing includes bonus CD.
Personnel inlcudes: Billy Bragg, Wiggy, Cara Tivey, Dave Woodhead, Johnny Marr, Kirsty MacColl, John Porter, Kenny Craddock, Danny Thompson, Simon Moreton, Tony Maronie, Bruce Thomas, Mickey Waller, Martin Belmont, Jayne Creamer, Kaya Jenner, Michelle Shocked, The Blokes, Wilco.
Producers includes: Grant Showbiz, Oliver Hitch, Edward de Bono, John Porter, Kenny Jones.
Compilation producer: Grant Showbiz.
Recorded between 1983 & 2001. Includes liner notes by Andrew Collins.
MUST I PAINT YOU A PICTURE, a double-disc, 40-song retrospective, covers the first 20 years of this extraordinary troubadour's career. A smart, sensitive anti-hero armed with a guitar, Bragg sings alternately about political issues and lost love with a startlingly literate wit. He recalls the early-'60s folk of Bob Dylan in his stark, solo sound and biting lyrics about social injustice, and also the legacy of punk in his passionate delivery, uncompromising stance, and aggressive phrasing (complemented by a pronounced accent that lets him chew words distinctively).
But the clincher is Bragg's songwriting. Lyrically and melodically, Bragg is a superior craftsman, as Disc One makes plain. Accompanied only by electric guitar, Bragg addresses economic inequalities ("To Have and To Have Not"), organized labor ("There Is Power in a Union"), and the trials of heartbreak (the achingly poignant "Valentine's Day is Over"). Disc Two, which features tracks from Bragg's '90s releases, finds the artist working a more pop-oriented sound with a full band. (Also included here are tracks from MERMAID AVENUE, Bragg's collaboration with Wilco on Woody Guthrie songs). A 10-song bonus disc adds to the value of this stellar compilation, a perfect introduction to the work of this brilliant performer.