Punk rocker, folk singer, Skiffle aficionado, protest singers’ protest singer, lefty polemicist, author, singer and AUK favourite Billy Bragg will release a career-spanning compendium entitled ‘The Roaring Forty | 1983-2023‘ on 27th October on Cooking Vinyl. This will be available in three formats:
1. a single disc 13-song ‘primer’ on orange vinyl,
2. a 40-song three-album collection on three shades of green vinyl (also available as a 2 CD and digital set),
3. a 14 CD box set containing more than 300 songs, including each of Billy’s twelve studio albums, non-album singles and B-sides, session tracks, rare live recordings, collaborations and previously unreleased material from across his career. The box set also includes a large format book containing images of 40 significant objects from Bragg’s career, including the hand-tinted flyer to his first solo gig, his first NME cover, the original lyrics to ‘A Lover Sings‘, the “Red Wedge manifesto”, his membership card to the Smokey Robinson & The Miracles fan club, and other curios, all with commentary from Bragg.
Bragg of this new collection says, “It seems like just the other day that I was handing John Peel a mushroom biryani and asking him to play my first record. The music business has changed dramatically since then, but my belief in the power of the song is undimmed“.
Bragg has recorded eleven solo albums, an EP, and a collection of BBC performances. He has also authored three books, including one about skiffle. The Essex man has worked with an eclectic selection of musicians over the years, including Eliza Carthy, Norman Cook, Dick Gaughan, Joe Henry, Kirsty MacColl, Ian McLagan, Johnny Marr, R.E.M., Natalie Merchant, Romeo Stodart, Danny Thompson, Robert Wyatt, Pete Seeger, The Philharmonic Orchestra and Wilco.
You can preorder ‘The Roaring Forty‘ here. Preorder from the official store to access presale tickets for the forthcoming Autumn tour, which will be announced soon.
