Eric Bogle "Scraps Of Paper" (Flying Fish, 1981)
Australian singer-songwriter Eric Bogle is the author of several stunning antiwar ballads, notably "No Man's Land" and "And The Band Played Waltzing Matilda," which are both on the original version of this fine folk album. These songs deal with the horrors of the First World War; "Matilda" is certainly Bogle's best-known song, having been covered by June Tabor, Makem & Clancy, and most famously by the Irish punk-roots band, The Pogues. Bogle's version was the first I heard, and I still find it profoundly moving. The image of a generation sacrificed, with resounding hollowness, on the altar of war, is powerfully conveyed in both songs, capturing in deft strokes, the catastrophic disillusionment of the so-called Great War. Profound, and tremendously emotional material. Highly recommended. (More information about Bogle can be found on his his home page and through his booking agency, Stoneyport Agency.

Billy Bragg "Back To Basics" (Go Disc/Elektra, 1987)
England's '80s working class hero, rough-hewn Leftie troubadour Billy Bragg combined the electrified abrasiveness of punk rock with the stripped-down melodicism of folk-oriented buskers... He plugged into a funky, small-sounding amp to thrash out standard-issue CDG chords in a choppy, functional style that highlighted the heartfelt urgency of his lyrics. In the long run, I guess I liked his forlorn, boy-wants-girl love songs more than his United Front leftie lyrics, but Bragg's political material was admirable and effective as well. This disc collects several of his early EPs, and includes many of Bragg's best tunes, painting little pictures of working class romance and affairs won and lost in the modern-day trenches of love. This album doesn't contain "war songs," per se, but it is the perfect introduction to Billy Bragg's work, and provides the proper context for his later, more polished material.

Billy Bragg "Talking With The Taxman About Poetry" (Go Disc/Elektra, 1987)
Again, war is used as an allegory for love, but the pacifism Bragg espouses in governmental affairs doesn't quite translate into the battles on the home front. As much as he'd like to remain a conscientious objector, he always finds himself drawn into the fray. This has several of his best songs on it, including "Greetings To The New Brunette," a propulsive pop song buoyed by Johnny Marr's guitar work, and "Levi Stubbs' Tears," which is as grim a look at love as you're likely to hear. American labor anthems such as "There Is Power In A Union" fall flat, however, despite Bragg's solidarity with the British miner's strike and all... But on balance this is certainly one of Billy's best. Recommended!

Billy Bragg "Worker's Playtime" (Go Disc/Elektra, 1988)
Bragg's faceatious (?) evocation of Chinese Communist iconography frames his best album of romantic materials... Political material is most explicit on the closing track, "Waiting For The Great Leap Forwards," which lampoons Maoist millennialism with a "yeah, right" kind of puckishness; yet, you can't help but feel that Bragg is actually drawn to the utopianism still lingering in the Communist mythos... Keep in mind that the Cold War was still on, and the act of giving "the other side" its due still had a sort of naughty flavor to it... But the real strengths of this album are its whiny, vulnerable love songs, such as "She's Got A New Spell," "Must I Paint You A Picture" and "The Only One..." Sure, Bragg risked mockery for his painfully strained croonings, but that's what endeared him to us, his stagey loyalty to the trappings of DIY punk, and the persistence that brought great art out of admittedly limited resources. I still love this record.

Dick Gaughan "Sail On" (Greentrax/Appleseed, 1996)
This also has its moments, though there are several lamentably arranged tunes, and some overly didactic politics as well. Gaughan's social conscience remains undiminished as he resurrects Pete Seeger's warning to LBJ, "Waist Deep In The Big Muddy", refashioning it from a Vietnam parable into a broadside about the complacency in the Clinton era. The highlight here is Hamish Henderson's "The 51st (Highland) Division's Farewell To Sicily," written in honor of the Scottish soldiers who had helped conquer the island in WWII, only to be sent off to another bloody battle -- Gaughan's guitar mournfully evokes (but doesn't just mimick) the regimental bagpipes, providing one of the album's most soulful and effective moments.

Ewan MacColl "Bless 'Em All ...and Other British Army Songs" (Riverside)
Those Brits are so great with words... so it's little surprise that during the wars the lads broke out their guitars, and wrote clever, biting songs to pass the time and relieve the pressure of barracks life. Two things make this a great album; first there's MacColl's lively, boisterously funny performance, second, there are the songs themselves, which are surprisingly and bluntly subversive. As far as I know, this isn't in print on CD, but it would be lovely if it were.

Country Joe McDonald "War War War" (Vanguard, 1971)
In the mid-1960s, Berkeley, California's own Country Joe McDonald sang the famed "Fixin' To Die Rag," as popular an anthem as the American antiwar movement could ever hope for. An icon of the pinko commie Left, McDonald later campaigned for the politcal rights and rehabilitation of returning Vietnam veterans, helping bridge the gap between the protestniks and the soldiers they had once reviled. This is an impressive album that he made during the height of the Vietnam War, hearkening all the way back to the First World War, and the poetry of Robert W. Service, a Canadian poet who served as a war correspondent in the Balkan wars and later as an ambulance driver on the French front in WWI. Service was generally patriotic throughout the conflict, but as he witnessed so much the unceasing carnage, he was overcome by disillusionment and disgust. Although many of the poems on here may be a bit too epic and belaboured, the opening tracks, "Foreward" and "The Call," are quite compelling, and certainly rank as some of the best work McDonald has ever done. He deserves credit for recording this album, which showed a surprising measure of maturity and artistic depth within a rather polarized and often glib political clime. Definitely worth tracking down. (For more info, check out Country Joe's website, Art Damage and the Robert W. service home page.)

Phil Ochs "All The News That's Fit To Sing" (Elektra, 1964)
Phil Ochs "I Ain't Marching Anymore" (Elektra, 1965)
Of the Greenwich Village leftie troubadours, Phil Ochs was unquestionably the angriest, most direct, and most effective. He opposed the Vietnam War (and American interventionism in general) far earlier than most folks on the Left (the Bay of Pigs and the Cuban Missile Crisis were his flashpoints), and he wrote one scathing broadside after another, only much later shifting his work towards the introspective, poetic style of the singer-songwriters. I personally find his propaganda songs quite effective, and quite moving. "I Ain't A-Marching Anymore" includes a war-by-war catalog of American intervention abroad; "The Draft Dodger Rag" provided a witty, satirical anthem for the budding student movement of the 'Sixties, while "One More Parade" was a more straightforward condemnation of militarism and the general glamorization of war. Perhaps some of his most resonant material were his civil rights-related songs, such as "Too Many Martyrs" and "Here's To The State Of Mississippi," which reached into emotional reservoirs untouched by the more distant Asian conflict. Ochs's stuff is frequently reissued, which is great, although each new version tends not to stay in print long. But if you check out these two albums, you'll definitely be on the right track. (Note of great ironic interest: arch-rightwinger Anita Bryant actually recorded one of Ochs's best songs, the anthemic but socialistic "Power And Glory," on a collection of patriotic songs she did in the late '60s. Apparently her organization didn't "vet" their composers properly... or maybe she just liked the song. Either way, his version is better.)

The Zombies "Odyssey And Oracle" (CBS/Date, 1968)
Although this psychedelic pop masterpiece isn't about the war per se, it does contain one of the spookiest WWI-related compositions I've ever heard -- "The Butcher's Tale" -- which follows in the tradition of the pacifist-tinged horrific realism of the best WWI-era poets. Besides this chilling sketch of shell-shock, this disc is packed with one great song after another, making it one of my favorite old pop albums. If you've never heard this disc, you really should track a copy down and check it out.

Various Artists "BRITAIN CAN TAKE IT!" (EMI World Records, 1974)
The Battle of Britain, an aerial firefight over the English Channel, and the ongoing Blitz of London and the countryside that lasted the length of the war, were Great Britain's trials by fire in World War Two. British musicians addressed the war with characteristic wit and aplomb, and this collection is packed with great material, including nuggets such as Harry Roy's lament over wartime rationing ("When Can I Have A Banana Again?"), numerous songs about air raids and their humorous consequences, a lampoon of German propaganda efforts ("Lord Haw-Haw And The Humbug Of Hamburg") and even some patently offensive, racist material such as "The Jap And The Wop And The Hun," by Ronald Frankau. Not all of these songs are top-flight, but the ones that are certainly tip the scale, particularly gems such as Noel Coward's brilliant "Don't Let Us Be Beastly To The Germans," which satirically suggests a soft line on reparation talks after the war is over. What's notable about these British songs, as opposed to the American feelgood jingoism, is their specificity and willingness to address unpleasant topics head-on. The English method seems to be to diffuse hardship through wit and good old-fashioned complaining and blowing off steam. As a result, although their songs are always as well crafted as the Yanks, they often hold more historical detail, and are quite fascinating. Definitely a disc worth looking for.

Various Artists "HITLER AND HELL: AMERICAN WAR SONGS - 1933-1947" (Trikont, 2001)
This German import zeros in on political themes, and is jam-packed with incredible material from the worlds of big band, blues and country. The title track is a preach-and-shout gospel tune which likens Hitler to the devil; also included are classics such as "Stalin Wasn't Stallin'," sung in praise of our noble Russian allies, and Texas Jim Robertson's strident "Last Page Of Mein Kampf" (we write it, not the Nazis). Racism also played a huge role in wartime propaganda, as heard on the catchy-but-creepy "Goodbye Mama, I'm Off To Yokohama," where a gleeful bomber pilot declares: "A million fighting sons of Uncle Sam, if you please/will soon have all those Japs right down on their Japan knees"... On the flipside, this disc also includes a lone example of Goebbels's house band, the "big band" group of Charlie and His Orchestra, whose crudely concieved English-language broadcasts aimed at demoralizing the Allies and creating friction between the American and British troops. Not for the faint-of-heart or overly-PC listener, but a real treasure trove for anyone interested in seriously researching wartime propaganda songs. Highly recommended.

Various Artists "OH, WHAT A LOVELY WAR: SONGS AND SKETCHES OF THE GREAT WAR, v. 1" (CD41, 2001)
An historically impressive collection of archival British recordings made during and right after World War I... This includes many famous songs like the title track (and others featured in the play by the same name), as well as other, odder recordings such as staged reenactments of wartime combat (which were represented at the time as actual documentary recordings, despite the patently inauthentic clatter of kettle drums, as opposed to the dull thud of explosive charges), and the macabre recitations of Sgt. Edward Dwyer, a war hero who went on the homefront recruitment circuit after getting wounded in 1915, then went back to the front and was killed the following year. The immediacy of these mens' experience is compelling, as is their verve for life -- despite the horrors of a particularly horrible war -- and the richness of the music they embraced. The sound quality is pretty good, especially considering that many of these recordings were pre-electric, and a few are even from old cylinder recordings. If you're into the historical aspects of the war, this is an invaluable resource. The label can be emailed, courtesy of the album's editor, James Nice.

Various Artists "Remember Pearl Harbor: Songs That Won The War" (Varese Sarabande, 2001)
A great set of WWII rah-rah songs, including many of the more-obscure recordings of the itme. A few were mere feelgood anthems, like "Praise The Lord and Pass The Ammunition", or simpleminded knockoffs like Bing Crosby's "Buy, Buy, Buy War Bonds." Other songs actually chronicled their times, including the darkness as well as the light. The real historical gem on this collection is Horace Heidt's "There Ain't Gonna Be No War," which perfectly captures the smug isolationism of prewar America as regards the rest of the world: "We're gonna have peace and quiet/and if they start a riot/we'll sit right back and keep score./The only place you you'll go marching to/will be the corner grocery store..." Plenty of other great material as well... an admirable collection, edited, oddly enough, by writer Rod McEuen, who is apparently a serious warsong-oldies buff himself. Definitely worth checking out.

Various Artists "SONGS THAT GOT US THROUGH WWII, v.I" (Rhino, 1990)
Various Artists "SONGS THAT GOT US THROUGH WWII, v.2" (Rhino, 1994)
These two discs are so-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o sweet! These really are the big hits of the wartime years... And you know why they were big hits? Because they were such great songs! If your appetite for the swing era extends further than the last Gap ad, then you owe it to yourself to check these CDs out. Not all of these songs were overtly war-related, but the ones that were (such as "Coming In On A Wing And A Prayer," "G.I. Jive" and "When The Lights Go On Again" are great. And "It's Been A Long, Long Time," a song about a soldier coming home to his sweetie's eager arms, is one of the most frankly erotic tunes of the era, sung in a whisper by the young Kitty Kallen. Both volumes of this series are highly, highly recommended.

Various Artists "THE WORD AND MUSIC OF WORLD WAR II" (Columbia Legacy, 1991/2001)
Issued on the 40th anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor (and reissued on the 50th), this 2-CD set is an interesting mix of archival audio -- presidential speeches, radio broadcasts, governmental announcements -- and one great war-related song after another. The only downer is that many of the songs are shortened, or compacted into iffy medleys. I see the strength of this approach -- this way they get to include more eye-opening material, enhancing the documentary structure of the set. But for connoisseurs of propaganda songs, having only truncated versions of stunners like "Atom And Evil," "Ma, I Miss Your Apple Pie" and "You're A Sap, Mr. Jap" is tragic. It's especially unfortunate when many of the songs that do appear in complete form, such as "It's Been A Long, Long Time" and "Don't Sit Under The Apple Tree," are readily available elsewhere. Still, it's a great document, and the inclusion of the original "Stalin Wasn't Stallin'," by the Golden Gate Quartet, is worth the price alone. Recommended!

Various Artists "SONGS OF THE DEPRESSION" (Book-Of-The-Month Records/CBS, 1980)
Well, okay... sure, this isn't really about the war, per se, but many leading experts agree that the Great Depression stoked the fires for future global conflict -- hyperinflation in Germany, boredom and malaise everywhere else. At any rate, where else was I going to review this wonderful collection of economically-oriented jazz-era oldies? And it is really top-notch stuff, including hits you'd expect, such as "Happy Days Are Here Again" and "We're In The Money," along with a slew of lesser-known but no less wonderful tunes. I'm afraid this particular edition is out of print, but when I get a chance, I'll do some research on other, comparable collections.

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• Roots & Rhythm mailorder has a nice selection of raunchy pre-war oldies available for sale. Good way to find some of these hard-to-find indie releases...

• Africana.Com has a good article about gospel pioneer Thomas A. Dorsey, who is also credited as a co-creator of hokum blues. The essay describes, in slightly clinical terms, what the hokum blues were all about...

• The Blue Pages has a truly encyclopedic overview of the "party record" genre, with copious information about many hokum blues and jazz artists as well... great resource!

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