Singers and Songwriters

I've been listening to three compilation albums by singer-songwriters which I bought using a works thank-you voucher for actions above and beyond the call of bedtime. The ones I went for were by Joni Mitchell, Billy Bragg and Bob Dylan.

Joni Mitchell's Hits was released in 1996 along with a companion album, Misses, which contained her worthy but less well known tunes. I think the odd thing about Hits is that I didn't know as many of her songs as I thought I did. Aside from Both Sides Now, Big Yellow Taxi and River, quite a few of the songs sound vaguely familiar without being the instantly recognisable "hits" of the title. However, that's not to say that they aren't worthy of being here and all of the songs are beautifully performed even compared to fantastic covers by the likes of Judy Collins.

Must I Paint You a Picture? is described as "The Essential Billy Bragg" although, at 40 tracks, this is actually quite an in-depth introduction to Bragg's works up to 2003. I was quite familiar with his early albums - mainly because I bought a book called Back To Basics when I was learning guitar in the mid-1980s. The problem with the book was that I didn't have much trouble with the guitar bits (I was actually quite good) but I couldn't sing to save my life. In fact, Bragg's voice isn't what I would really describe as "beautiful", in the way I would with Joni Mitchell's, but it is brash, confident and strident. He uses his Essex accent unashamedly and belts the tunes out in a manner that would be more at home on the football terrace than the local folk club and this actually works to his favour. Of the three albums I bought, this is the one that I really wanted (and could) make out the lyrical content and it's well worth listening to.



The songs vary between tales of unrequited love, Socialist anthems and protest songs. It kicks off with New England which was wonderfully covered by Kirsty McColl and contains one of my favourite ever daft lyrics: "I saw two shooting stars last night /I wished on them but they were only satellites/Is it wrong to wish on space hardware /I wish, I wish, I wish you'd care". The first disk continues with such classics as Between the Wars, Levi Stubbs' Tears and Waiting for the Great Leap Forwards. The second side starts with Sexuality, one of his best known songs, but then strays into (for me) unfamiliar territory; but it's a journey worth taking - the lyrical content is as strong as anything he did in the 1980s and the tunes and production values get progressively stronger; presumably he could afford more studio time as he went on. Brickbat and Boy Done Good are standout tracks as well as the album closer: Take Down the Union Jack - which is Bragg's lament of fallen empires and a call for English independence. He sounded angrier in the 1980s as he opposed Thatcher's government but given the antics of our current crowd he is a voice worth hearing again.

Bob Dylan is one of those oddities: a great songwriter who I have never rated as a singer buy whose style several generations have chosen to copy. I usually don't like cover versions as much as the originals but with Dylan the opposite seems true. The Essential Bob Dylan covers Bob's career from the early 60s through to 2000 but with a concentration on the 1960s when he was at his song writing peak. There isn't anything from his first album as this was mainly arrangements of traditional tunes which have been done better by others such as House of the Rising Sun (The Animals) and In My Time Of Dying (Led Zeppelin). Instead it kicks off with the seminal Blowing In The Wind (Peter, Paul and Mary) and includes most of his famous tunes such as The Times They Are a-Changin' (Simon and Garfunkel), Mr. Tambourine Man (The Byrds), It's All Over Now, Baby Blue (Van Morrison), All Along the Watchtower (The Jimi Hendrix Experience), The Mighty Quinn (Manfred Mann), Knockin' on Heaven's Door (Eric Clapton) and Subterranean Homesick Blues which must have one of the most influential videos of all time.

The second disk contains his later work including a couple of tracks from Blood on the Tracks, the epic Hurricane and the achingly beautiful Blind Willie McTell - a track that Dylan does wonderfully and which inexplicably lay in a cupboard unreleased for nearly ten years. This later work is much more professionally produced but maybe lacks the bite of his earlier compositions. It's still worth listening to and although my previous comments may sound like I don't like Dylan, I do - but I rate him primarily as a songwriter. This album gives a great introduction to his work and provides the moment of birth for many great tunes which were to meet their maturity with other artists. It's essential listening to anyone with an interest in the music of the 20th Century.