Don't Try This at Home (Billy Bragg album)
| Don't Try This at Home | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 17 September 1991 | |||
| Studio | Pavillion Studios, London W10; Cathouse Studios, Streatham; Sonet Studio, London; Clear, Manchester; John Keane Studios; Jester House, Athens, Georgia | |||
| Genre | Alternative rock, folk rock, folk punk | |||
| Length | 56:37 | |||
| Label | Elektra, Go! Discs (UK), Cooking Vinyl (UK) | |||
| Producer | Grant Showbiz | |||
| Billy Bragg chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [1] |
| Chicago Tribune |  [2] |
| Encyclopedia of Popular Music | [3] |
| Entertainment Weekly | A−[4] |
| NME | 9/10[5] |
| The Philadelphia Inquirer | [6] |
| Q | [7] |
| Rolling Stone | [8] |
| The Rolling Stone Album Guide | [9] |
| Select | 5/5[10] |
Don't Try This at Home is the sixth full-length album by urban folk artist Billy Bragg.
"Sexuality" was released as a single which reached #27 on the UK charts and #2 on the U.S. Modern Rock charts. Johnny Marr of The Smiths co-wrote "Sexuality" and helped to produce two tracks.
The song "Cindy of a Thousand Lives" is about photographer Cindy Sherman.
"Tank Park Salute" is about his father, Dennis Bragg, who died of lung cancer when Bragg was 18. He said that for a show in Barking, where he grew up, he was so moved by the presence of his mother and brother in the audience that he kept a copy of the lyrics in case he forgot them while performing.[11]
R.E.M.'s Michael Stipe and Peter Buck contribute to "You Woke Up My Neighbourhood." The song was named after a drawing by Woody Guthrie, whose unpublished lyrics were set to music by Bragg and Wilco on the Mermaid Avenue albums a few years later.[12]
"Dolphins" is a cover of the Fred Neil song.
The song "God's Footballer" is about former professional football player Peter Knowles who spent his career at Wolverhampton Wanderers before voluntarily ending his football career to become a Jehovah's Witness.[13]
Track listing
All tracks written by Billy Bragg except where noted.
- "Accident Waiting to Happen" – 4:01
- "Moving the Goalposts" – 2:34
- "Everywhere" (Greg Trooper, Sid Griffin) – 5:01
- "Cindy of a Thousand Lives" – 4:15
- "You Woke Up My Neighbourhood" (Bragg, Peter Buck) – 3:11
- "Trust" – 4:13
- "God's Footballer" – 3:04
- "The Few" – 3:27
- "Sexuality" (Bragg, Johnny Marr) – 3:49
- "Mother of the Bride" – 3:36
- "Tank Park Salute" – 3:30
- "Dolphins" (Fred Neil) – 4:20
- "North Sea Bubble" – 3:19
- "Rumours of War" – 2:50
- "Wish You Were Her" – 2:46
- "Body of Water" (Bragg, Philip Wigg aka "Wiggy") – 3:58
Bonus disc track listing
Along with a remastered album, a second bonus disc was released by Yep Roc Records (in the U.S.) and Cooking Vinyl (in the U.K.) in 2006. The new tracks include demos of songs on the album, as well as several other songs, including a cover of The Beatles' "Revolution". Natalie Merchant sings on two tracks.
- "Party of God" (Lead vocals by Natalie Merchant) – 4:15
- "North Sea Bubble" (demo) – 3:30
- "Sexuality" (demo) – 3:54
- "Just One Victory" (Todd Rundgren) – 5:31
- "Everywhere" – 4:42
- "Trust (demo)" – 5:43
- "Bread & Circuses" (Natalie Merchant) – 4:28
- "Cindy of a Thousand Lives (demo)" – 3:38
- "The Few (demo)" – 3:50
- "Revolution" (John Lennon, Paul McCartney) – 1:51
- "Tighten up your Wig" (with The Athenians and DJ Woody Dee) – 3:18
- "MBH" – 2:07
- "This Gulf Between Us" – 2:46
- "Picadilly Rambler" – 1:49
Personnel
- Grant Showbiz – production
- Johnny Marr – production
- Danny Thompson - double bass
- Peter Buck – mandolin
- Jody Linscott – percussion
- John Keane – pedal steel guitar, bass
- Billy Bragg – vocals, acoustic & electric guitars, keyboards
- Mary Ramsey – violin, viola
- Dave Woodhead – flugelhorn
- Steven Lewis - backing vocals
- J. F. T. Hood – drums, percussion
- Kirsty MacColl -- backing vocals
- Cara Tivey – piano, background vocals on "Dolphins"
- James Eller – bass
- Wiggy – electric guitar, bass
- Julia Palmer – cello
- Amanda Vincent – keyboards
- Andy Hobson - bass
- Caroline Hall – trombone
- Elliet Mackrell – violin
- Lorraine Bowen – clarinet, background vocals on "Accident Waiting to Happen", "Trust", "God's Footballer", "Wish You Were Her"
- Victoria Taylor Roberts – background vocals
- Michael Stipe – background vocals on "You Woke Up My Neighbourhood"
- Andy Szabo – background vocals on "Wish You Were Her"
- Technical
- John Keane, Owen Morris, Victor Van Vugt - engineer
References
- ^ Deming, Mark. "Don't Try This at Home – Billy Bragg". AllMusic. Retrieved 3 June 2013.
- ^ Rothschild, David (21 November 1991). "Billy Bragg: Don't Try This at Home (Elektra)". Chicago Tribune.
- ^ Larkin, Colin (2011). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th concise ed.). Omnibus Press. ISBN 978-0-85712-595-8.
- ^ Arnold, Gina (20 September 1991). "Don't Try This at Home". Entertainment Weekly.
- ^ Quantick, David (14 September 1991). "Long Play: William the Conkerer". NME. p. 36.
- ^ Moon, Tom (20 October 1991). "Billy Bragg: Don't Try This at Home (Elektra)". The Philadelphia Inquirer.
- ^ Snow, Mat (October 1991). "Billy Bragg: Don't Try This at Home". Q. No. 61.
- ^ Tannenbaum, Rob (31 October 1991). "Billy Bragg: Don't Try This at Home". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 2 October 2007.
- ^ Considine, J. D. (2004). "Billy Bragg". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. p. 101. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
- ^ Kirsch, Michele (November 1991). "Billy Bragg: Don't Try This at Home". Select (17): 68.
- ^ Ross.P (2006)"Best of British", The Herald, 2006-11-25. Retrieved 2009-11-13.
- ^ "Patriot games". Record Collector. No. 345. 4 February 2008. Retrieved 21 August 2021.
- ^ God's Footballer
