The Peel Sessions Album

I was hoping to catch up on the new sounds out there prior to Leeds Festival, Aston Villa distracted me last night though and so I didn’t download anything, in that case, better make it Billy Bragg’s Peel Sessions.
I have probably played this album in its entirety less than 10 times, maybe more but I only recalled 2 or 3 tracks on it that I thought were at the time exclusive to this, A13 Trunk Road to The Sea, Jeanne and Lovers Town.
A13 is a reinterpretation of Route 66, taking us through the highways and byways of Essex.

If you ever have to go to Shoeburyness
Take the A road, the okay road that's the best
Go motorin' on the A13

Lovers Town, I assume is a precursor to Lovers Town Revisited, or maybe that came first. Jeanne is The Smiths cover and anything that has a connection to Johnny Marr, Andrew Ridgely with a better haircut, is a bad thing.
This album is not a bad thing though, so far it has been my favourite Billy Bragg album, songs I had forgotten about in lovers Town, versions that were notably different, rare songs that haven’t appeared on the many live and compilation albums that I have heard whilst listening alphabetically to my CD’s.
All of this made The Peel Sessions Album, enjoyable, different, exciting and not predictable, its bereft of jokes that have got tiresome and as they were Peel sessions, they are songs that may have got their first outing and therefore there is a freshness to the songs that possibly is lost if not when recorded, certainly by the time I have listened to Victim Of Geography for the 50th time.
The only real downside to this is his cover of Jeanne, and that in itself is a superior version to the original and for that it’s a commendable album and one that easily hits 10 out of 10.



Greetings to The New Brunette by Billy Bragg