(Vinyl Love is a series of posts that quite simply lists, describes, and displays the pieces in my growing vinyl collection. You can bet that each record was given a spin during the drafting of each corresponding post.)
Artist: Billy Bragg
Album Title: The best Of Billy Bragg At The BBC 1983 – 2019
Year released: 2019
Details: 3 x LP, heavyweight vinyl
The skinny: That thing I mentioned back at the beginning of the year? The thing where I put on a record and do nothing but listen to it, read the liner notes, enjoy the album artwork, follow along with the lyrics, and really just experience each record? Yeah, I’m still doing it, albeit at meandering pace. I started alphabetically and am just now reaching Billy Bragg ten months later. I’ve been a fan of the Bard of Barking since high school and yet, for the longest time, have had few of his records* on my vinyl shelves. So a few years ago, when I saw on the upcoming release charts a compilation of his best performances on BBC radio, I jumped at the chance and hit the pre-order button. This 3 LP set pressed to heavyweight vinyl shows Billy Bragg at his purest, for the most part, just him and his guitar, telling it like it is.
Standout track: “Levi Stubbs’ tears (with Frank Turner at Glastonbury)”
*His record reissues have been few and far between since I started collecting – the only proper studio that I’ve seen re-released has been the 30th anniversary of his debut, which of course, I purchased.
My (life in) music lists 