The Internationale is a 1990 album by Billy Bragg. Originally released on Bragg's short-lived record label, Utility Records, it is a deliberately political album, consisting mainly of cover versions and rewrites of left-wing protest songs. Although Bragg is known for his association with left-wing causes, this release is unusual; most of Bragg's recordings balance overtly political songs with social observation and love songs.
| The Internationale | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 30 April 1990[1] | |||
| Recorded | January–March 1990 | |||
| Studio | Gateway Studios, London; Cathouse Studios, Streatham; Pier House Studios, Edinburgh | |||
| Genre | Folk | |||
| Length | 19:23 | |||
| Label | Liberation Records, Utility Records | |||
| Producer | Grant Showbiz, Wiggy | |||
| Billy Bragg chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |    [2] |
| Christgau's Consumer Guide |  [3] |
| Entertainment Weekly | A−[4] |
| New Musical Express | 6/10[5] |
| Orlando Sentinel | [6] |
| (The New) Rolling Stone Album Guide | [7] |
The album peaked at number 34 on the UK Albums Chart in May 1990.[8]
Versions
editThe album was originally released as a seven-track EP in 1990.
In 2006, as part of a planned series of reissues of albums in his back catalogue, The Internationale was remastered and reissued along with the seven tracks from 1988's Live & Dubious EP and five bonus tracks. Also included is a bonus DVD titled Here and There containing live concerts from East Berlin, Nicaragua and the Soviet Union.
Track listing
editOriginal album
- "The Internationale" (Pierre De Geyter, Billy Bragg) – 3:45
- "I Dreamed I Saw Phil Ochs Last Night" (Earl Robinson, Bragg) – 1:27
- "The Marching Song of the Covert Battalions" (Bragg) – 3:59
- "Blake's Jerusalem" (William Blake, Hubert Parry) – 2:30
- "Nicaragua Nicaraguita" (Carlos Mejía Godoy) – 1:06
- "The Red Flag" (Jim Connell, traditional) – 3:12
- "My Youngest Son Came Home Today" (Eric Bogle) – 3:04
2006 reissue bonus tracks
editLive and Dubious EP
- "Introduction" (live) – 0:57
- "Help Save the Youth of America" (live) (Bragg) – 2:36
- "Think Again" (live) (Dick Gaughan) – 4:21
- "Chile Your Waters Run Red Through Soweto" (live) (Bernice Johnson Reagon) – 3:09
- "Days Like These" (DC remix) (Bragg) – 2:40
- "To Have and to Have Not" (live) (Bragg) – 2:47
- "There Is Power in a Union" (with The Pattersons) (Bragg, George F. Root, traditional) – 3:27
Bonus tracks
- "Joe Hill" (Phil Ochs) (from Don't Mourn – Organize! Songs of Labor Songwriter Joe Hill, 1990) – 8:23
- "This Land Is Your Land" (with Heathens All) (Woody Guthrie) (from The Disagreement of the People, 1995) – 4:35
- "Never Cross a Picket Line" (Bragg) (from Rock the Dock, 1998) – 3:38
- "A Change Is Gonna Come" (Sam Cooke) (previously unreleased) – 3:58
- "A Miner's Life" (traditional) (previously unreleased) – 3:01
- Notes
- Tracks 8–14 recorded and compiled at Pavilion Studios, London.
- Tracks 15, 18 and 19 recorded during The Internationale sessions.
- Track 17 produced at Cathouse Studios.
Bonus DVD – Here and There
editEast Berlin DDR – February 1986
- "There Is Power in a Union" (live) (Bragg, Root, traditional) – 2:35
- "Between the Wars" (live) (Bragg) – 2:31
Nicaragua – July 1987
- "Nicaragua Nicaraguita" (live) (Godoy) – 1:07
Lithuania USSR – May 1988
- "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" (live) (Norman Whitfield, Barrett Strong) – 2:07
- "To Have and to Have Not" (live) (Bragg) – 2:21
- "The Milkman of Human Kindness" (live) (Bragg) – 2:29
- "Island of No Return" (live) (Bragg) – 3:24
- "Introduction to Between the Wars" (live) – 3:15
- "Between the Wars" (live) (Bragg) – 2:21
- "The World Turned Upside Down" (live) (Leon Rosselson) – 3:02
- "Levi Stubbs' Tears" (live) (Bragg) – 3:15
- "Help Save the Youth of America" (live) (Bragg) – 2:36
- "A New England" (Bragg) – 2:04
- "Wishing the Days Away" (Bragg) – 4:15
- "People Get Ready" (Curtis Mayfield) / "Tupelo Honey" (Van Morrison) – 3:02
- "Star" (David Bowie) – 1:56
- "A13, Trunk Road to The Sea" (Bobby Troup) – 2:17
Personnel
editMusicians
edit- Billy Bragg – acoustic guitar, electric guitar, vocals
- Cara Tivey – piano, vocals, shakuhachi
- Lorraine Bowen – clarinet, soprano recorder, piano, accordion, organ
- The Christie Tyler Cory Band – brass
- Côr Cochion Caerdydd – vocals
- Marc Duff – whistles
- Jim Sutherland – bodhran, percussion
- Dick Gaughan – vocals
- Wiggy – bass guitar, vocals
- Charlie Llewellin – drum, cymbal
- Grant Showbiz – vocals
- David Bedford – arrangement and conducting
Production
edit- Grant Showbiz – producer (1–7, 17), reissue producer, reissue compilation
- Wiggy – producer (1–7), DVD compilation
- Charlie Llewellin – engineer
- Derek Bolland – engineer (1–7)
- Peter Haigh – engineer (1–7)
- Step Parikian – engineer (1–7)
- Committee – design
- Kenny Jones – producer, engineer, compilation (8–14)
- Tim Young – remastering (tracks 1–14)
- Duncan Cowell – remastering (tracks 15–19)
References
edit- ^ Andy Strickland, ed. (21 April 1990). "This Week: The Next Seven Days in View – Releases". Record Mirror. p. 29. ISSN 0144-5804.
- ^ Cleary, David. "Billy Bragg – The Internationale". AllMusic. Retrieved 23 November 2018.
- ^ Christgau, Robert (15 October 2000). "Billy Bragg". Christgau's Consumer Guide: Albums of the '90s. Macmillan Publishing. ISBN 9780312245603.
- ^ Sandow, Greg (6 July 1990). "Notable music for the week of July 6, 1990". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 23 November 2018.
- ^ Dalton, Stephen (5 May 1990). "Long Play: Hot to Trotsky". NME. p. 32.
- ^ Fields, Curt (19 October 1990). "Billy Bragg". Orlando Sentinel.
- ^ Brackett, Nathan; Christian Hoard (2004). (The New) Rolling Stone Album Guide. New York City: Simon and Schuster. p. 101. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
rolling stone billy bragg album guide.
- ^ "Billy Bragg full Official Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 14 September 2023.