Roots, Radicals and Rockers: How Skiffle Changed the World

Sid Nuncius said Terrific stuff. This is a terrific book. Billy Bragg is immensely knowledgeable about the history of Skiffle and has done some meticulous research – and what's more he can really write.Roots, Radicals and Rockers is a detailed history of Skiffle, that uniquely British phenomenon which was the precursor to so much of the great British music which followed. For example, Bragg gives the full context of George Harrison's famous line "No Lead Belly, no Beatles." What Harrison actually said was, "If there was no Lead Belly, there would have been no Lonnie Donegan; no. John Plowright said 1950s Punk. Popular music is a house of many mansions. Consider not only the main rooms – jazz, blues, country, folk, hip hop, electronic, easy listening, Latin, R & B and soul, rock ‘n roll, and pop – but also all the myriad sub-divisions, ranging from rockabilly to reggaestep, from lounge to liquid funk, and salsa to shoegaze. All forms of music have their ardent champions and skiffle has found its most eloquent advocate in Billy Bragg whose ‘Roots, Radicals and Rockers’ is subtitled ‘How Skiffle Changed the World’.At f

The thing that troubles me is being dismissed as a political songwriter.". His music blends elements of folk music, punk rock and protest songs, with lyrics that mostly span political or romantic themes. Stephen William "Billy" Bragg is an English singer-songwriter and left-wing activist. Bragg said in an interview: "I don't mind bein

It would be hard to cite another historical book of such depth, quality and reasoned analysis by a working, nonacademic musician." - The Wall Street Journal"Superb account, by British folk-punker Bragg (A Lover Sings: Selected Lyrics, 2016, etc.), of the politically aware, working-class skiffle craze of the 1950s.The so-called British Invasion of the 1960s was a repurposing of American music, a mix of blues, jazz, and country, that young people on the other side of the pond were hearing over American Armed Forces Radio and on records brought by Yankee ships. Bragg impresses throughout with engaging prose and painstaking research. Bragg finds skiffle on what he calls the "

Like punk rock that would flourish two decades later, skiffle was home grown: all you needed were three guitar chords and you could form a group, with mates playing tea-chest bass and washboard as a rhythm section. He further enlivens the text with personal insights and witty asides that give the material a unique cast few professional writers would dare. an accomplished work."? Publishers Weekly (Starred Review) "Superb account of the politically aware, working-class skiffle craze of the 1950s. Bragg impresses throughout with engaging prose and painstaking research. "Nothing short of masterly."- The Wall Street Journal "A remarkable history of skiffle. Emerging from the trad-jazz clubs of the early ?50s, skiffle was adopted by the first generation of British ?teenagers? ? working class kids who grew up dur