Don't Try This at Home (Billy Bragg album)

Don't Try This at Home
Studio album by Billy Bragg
Released	17 September 1991 (1991-09-17)
Genre	Rock, Folk
Length	56:37
Label	Elektra
Producer	Grant Showbiz
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Billy Bragg chronology
The Peel Sessions Album (1991) Don't Try This at Home (1991) William Bloke (1996)

Don't Try This at Home is the fourth album by urban folk artist Billy Bragg.

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.^[1]

R.E.M.'s Michael Stipe and Peter Buck contribute to "You Woke Up My Neighbourhood."

Johnny Marr of The Smiths co-wrote one song, "Sexuality", and helped produce two tracks.

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. ^[2]

Track listing

1. "Accident Waiting to Happen"
2. "Moving The Goalposts"
3. "Everywhere"
4. "Cindy of a Thousand Lives"
5. "You Woke Up My Neighbourhood"
6. "Trust"
7. "God's Footballer"
8. "The Few"
9. "Sexuality"
10. "Mother of the Bride"
11. "Tank Park Salute"
12. "Dolphins"
13. "North Sea Bubble"
14. "Rumours of War"
15. "Wish You Were Her"
16. "Body of Water"

Along with a remastered album, a second bonus disc was released by Yep Roc (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.

Bonus disc track listing

1. "Party of God"
2. "North Sea Bubble"
3. "Sexuality"
4. "Just One Victory"
5. "Everywhere"
6. "Trust"
7. "Bread & Circuses"
8. "Cindy of a Thousand Lives"
9. "The Few"
10. "Revolution"
11. "Tighten up your Wig"
12. "MBH"
13. "This Gulf Between Us"
14. "Picadilly Rambler"

Personnel

• Grant Showbiz – production
• Johnny Marr – production
• Danny Thompson
• 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
• Stephen Lewis
• J.F.T. Hood – drums, percussion
• Kristy MacColl
• Cara Tivey – piano
• James Eller – bass
• Wiggy – electric guitar, bass
• Julia Palmer – cello
• Amanda Vincent – keyboards
• Andy Szabo
• Caroline Hall – trombone
• Elliet Mackrell – violin
• Lorraine Brown – clarinet, background vocals
• Victoria Taylor Roberts – background vocals
• Michael Stipe – background vocals on "You Woke Up My Neighbourhood"

References

1. ^ Ross.P (2006) 'Best of British' The Herald, 2006-11-25. Retrieved 2009-11-13.
2. ^ God's Footballer