Interview with Billy Bragg in the Shropshire Star on Friday 22nd November 2013

Birmingham expects the classics from Billy Bragg

Billy Bragg brings his classics to the Birmingham's Symphony Hall on Sunday.

Friday 22nd November 2013

Fans often hanker to hear old favourites or neglected classics when they see their favourite artists live. Billy Bragg seldom disappoints. He regularly plays his debut album, Life’s A Riot With Spy vs Spy, for his encore .

“I’ve been playing the whole album live as an encore, ‘cause the record originally was only 17 minutes long,” he said, from his home in Dorset.

Thirty years since Life’s A Riot With Spy vs Spy came out, Cooking Vinyl have released an anniversary edition, including a live version of the album. Bragg clearly retains a fondness for his debut long-player.

“It’s a lot of fun to do, the audiences really like it, so I do keep it in my back pocket as a special reward to audiences that are very vociferous,” the singer-songwriter said.

“The last album, Tooth & Nail, which came out earlier this year, is a lot more ballad based. It’s not got that furious anger that Life’s A Riot [With Spy vs Spy] had, but I still have that in me, it’s just a matter of tuning in.”

So what can the audience at Birmingham Symphony Hall expect from the Bard of Barking on Sunday?

“[We’ll] take some of the older Billy Bragg songs and run them through that Tooth and Nail sound, and then I’ll play a few solo songs in the middle as well, for those people who like their Billy Bragg raw,” he said.

One Bragg song with a Midlands link is “God’s Footballer,” about one of the most talented players ever to wear the gold and black for Wolves.

“Peter Knowles, who played for Wolverhampton Wanderers [in the late-1960s], gave it all up to become a Jehovah’s Witness. He was one of those guys who was going to be the new George Best, and I liked the idea of him finding something deeper than the fame of playing football, and giving his life to that,” he said.

The song certainly hit a chord with one particular regular at Molineux, when he bumped into Bragg.
“The first thing that Robert Plant ever said to me [was], ‘You’re that bloke who wrote that song about Peter Knowles, ain’t ya?’” Bragg recalled with a laugh.

Billy Bragg at Birmingham Symphony Hall Sunday 24 November. See www.thsh.co.uk for booking details.

By Stephen Taylor