One more for Kirsty

Continuing my journey across the output of The Bard Of Barking...

Live Albums

Well, there's quite the combination of offerings here - I suspect there are plenty other less official versions out there, but I've just attempted to listen to the ones listed on his Wikipedia discography

Billy Bragg and The Red Stars Live Bootleg (1993)

This was recorded at the Phoenix festival and The Red Stars seem to be a random bunch of his mates including, of course, Cara Tivey and Wiggy. The album covers material up to Don't Try This At Home, including a few tracks that I don't recognise (he mentions one is a cover and I suspect the others were b-sides - remember them?). It's not a proper bootleg because the recording quality is decent - all in all, I'd say it gives you a good feel for the Bragg live experience with his inter-song banter and adapted lyrics. It is, however, not available on streaming services and is sold out on his website - I listened to it on YouTube.

Mermaid Avenue Tour (1999)

After the rapturous reception I gave Mermaid Avenue, do you really think I was going to listen to this? To be fair, it's not only Mermaid Avenue songs so I'm sure some of it is bearable but that doesn't mean I'm going to change my mind. Once again, it's not available on streaming services and is sold out on his website (probably - there's no obvious way of buying it) - but it is on YouTube if you don't care for your ears.

Bill's Bargains (1999)

This takes us through to England, Half-English - but fortunately mostly concentrates on earlier stuff (phew!). It actually looks like a decent set of tracks and I was quite looking forward to listening to it - but it's not available anywhere online, so that's the end of that!

Live At The Barbican (2006)

Another one with a decent set of tracks on it but this has an awful lot of inter song banter on it (like ten minutes at a time), so is possibly only for the hardcore fans - but seeing as how it's not available online, I suspect only the hardcore fans are ever going to find it.

Live At The Union Chapel (2014)

Finally, we have one that is actually available! And it's got a decent set of tracks on it, quite a few of which I didn't know (so who knows where they came from). However, it's somewhat lacking in early tracks, the sound quality was a bit flat for me and, in contrast to the previous album, all the inter-song banter has been removed which feels just wrong if you've ever seen him live. So I was left feeling a bit disappointed by the whole thing.

Shine a Light: Field Recordings from the Great American Railroad (2016)

Well, this is an interesting one - certainly not your average live album! After recording Tooth & Nail, Billy and US Billy-equivalent Joe Henry set off from Chicago's Union station on a 2,700 mile but only 65 hour train journey recording songs in various train stations across the US. The songs are all mostly traditional US folk numbers with some decent guitar and harmonies, but I think it's fair to say that the whole thing is a bit ramshackle and often surprisingly low key - for some that will be part of the charm, but it all sounds like it was more fun to make than to listen to.

So, a lot of these were either a bit disappointing or just not available - the first one we listened to  was probably the closest to the typical Billy live experience, but it's obviously somewhat dated in the 32 years since it was recorded. Ignoring Glastonbury, I've seen him live three times - once at the mighty St Albans Arena and twice at the Roundhouse, which is a slightly more impressive arena.

Considering Glastonbury, which is very much his natural habitat, I've probably seen him there four or five times - which sounds like quite a lot, but if you work at it, you can probably see him there that many times in a year. And last time I saw him, I was lucky enough to catch him racing through Life's A Riot in 17 minutes - which was pretty much perfect for a sunny June evening.

The Million Things That Never Happened - pretty decent indeed
Compilation albums - an interesting bunch