Billy Bragg and Mavis Staples at UCLA

FRIDAY night at Royce Hall saw an unlikely double bill, with British folk-punk hero Billy Bragg playing a full set mixing politics and pop before soul goddess Mavis Staples, who channels the spirit of the black church and the civil rights movement.

This incongruous pairing ended up being a blast, though the two may have more in common politically than musically. (Both artists have also, of, course, worked with Wilco's Jeff Tweedy.)

It's easy to love Billy Bragg's early music -- those rough songs from the '80s belted out with a thick British accent and an electric guitar. For a while in the early '90s it seemed like Bragg was going to ride the alt-rock boom into something like fame: He had a small hit with the jaunty "Sexuality," co-written with Johnny Marr.  But the music that's come since the early '90s with some exceptions like the Woody Guthrie records with Wilco, has seemed less urgent.

So it was a thrill to see Bragg set up solo on the Royce stage with just a stack of amps and Telecaster. His set leaned heavily on political songs, including a cover of Woody Guthrie's "I Don't Have a Home in This World Anymore," and some new numbers that sounded good. His political rants in between songs were about as engaging and persuasive in their common sense and compassion. The recent U.S. elections clearly inspired him.

And his love songs -- "Greetings to the New Brunette," "Milkman of Human Kindness," "A New England" -- still sound great. I'd forgotten how great Bragg could be live. My wife lamented that she could not vote for this British citizen for president.

The highs of Mavis Staples -- best know as part of the Staples Singers -- were high indeed even if she was less consistent than Bragg. Alongside gospel -- "Creep Along, Moses" -- and soul numbers, with stirring vocal harmonies, she sang CCR's "Wrote a Song For Everyone" and The Band's "The Weight."

At times in the set Staples seemed to get lost, and she's some of her voice's middle range sounded worn. But Staples gave off so much decency and positive energy it was hard to mind, and her band was spectacular.

A fuller review HERE by Steven Mirkin in the Orange Co Register.

Audrey Hepburn Vs. Wilco

This blog has held two recent polls, which i've been meaning to report back on.

the first was on "best audrey hepburn film." this idea was suggested by my old man, who introduced me to her movies way back when, and i was glad to have reason to include one of my favorite actresses of all time, who defined each film she was in with class, intelligence and self-possession. (i like her so much i even briefly went out with an absolutely crazy lass in the 90s largely because her name was audrey.)

so the winner, by a pretty big margin, was "breakfast at tiffany's" -- no surprise. this italian poster used to hang in my old apt. the runner up was "roman holiday" (anyone remember the LA opera staging in homage to the film?) tho several other films, including the now obscure/cult "two for the road," which i must admit i've never seen but which is in the mail to me, also drew support.

the torrent of wilco related events -- new album, tour, lots of press coverage, even an interview by yours truly -- led to a poll on best wilco album. the winner, of course, was the star-crossed but eventually triumphant, cryptic and forceful "yankee hotel foxtrot," drawing a large percentage (63%) of votes.

interestingly, the record i and many others discovered wilco with -- the rootsy double-cd "being there" -- drew about a third the votes as "yankee." that earlier record changed my life when i heard it as a 20-something new englander not yet persuaded by the alt-country revolution. (by coincidence, 3,000 miles away, a young lady much saner than my audrey was reviewing "being there" for the LA times and would go on to become my wife.)

so whichever phase you prefer, hats off to one of america's greatest bands and one of cinema's real class acts.

Jeff Tweedy Vs. Wilco

EXCITEMENT has burned across many email accounts since the band WILCO posted a streaming link to its new album, entitled just plain "wilco," on its website. the new record is harder to figure out or describe than most offerings by this esteemed american group -- it is not rootsy like "being there," poignant like "sky blue sky", etc -- but it's full of good, tuneful stuff.

this morning i spoke to jeff tweedy, the band's sometimes prickly frontman and singer, HERE. tweedy, who has suffered from migraines for most of his life and seen his share of adventures with alcohol and drugs, was in good humor as he talked about what he's aiming for with the group and how he regards the huge number of expectations piled on to the project. (and all the issues of "authenticity" which swirl around any band with roots in the alt-country movement.)

he even discussed, with evident sadness, former wilco member jay bennett, an important architect of the "yankee hotel foxtrot" LP, who died in may soon after suing tweedy.

my favorite line, regarding the band's many veers from style to style: "it's never been our intention not to sound like ourselves." (that line is nearly an entire mark strand poem. speaking of poetry, tweedy has just picked up a new anthology he was excited about called "american hybrids," and had also just completed a book on darwin's voyage.)

i also laughed out loud as he discussed the band's wearing "Nudie suits" onstage recently. but you'll have to see the whole thing for it to be funny.

wilco launches its US tour this week and lands in LA, at the wiltern, in late-july. see you there.

Photo credit: wilcoworld