See It Loud #2: Bragg Behind Bars
Conceived by one of music’s great humanist troubadours, Billy Bragg, in homage to another, Joe Strummer, the Jail Guitar Doors project offers prisoners across Britain a means of self-expression and rehabilitation through the simple act of picking up a six-string. Telling the tale of Jail Guitars Doors – both the song (remade specially for the film by Bragg, Mick Jones, and Topper Headon) and the charity – Alan Miles’s documentary Breaking Rocks is gritty, sobering, uplifting, and full of great music from surprising sources.
With Bragg and Miles heading stateside to launch Jail Guitar Doors USA at this month’s South by Southwest Festival in Austin, we devote the latest installment of See It Loud to Breaking Rocks.
Word of warning: This podcast contains explicit language, one factual error (“Jail Guitar Doors” the song was released in 1978, not 1977), and mildly disparaging remarks about Johnny Cash. It’s also on the long side, which might seem indulgent for only our second show, but most of it is taken up with an interview with director Alan Miles and songs by Jail Guitar Doors “graduates” Jonny Neesom and Leon Walker, a pair of pretty happening musical finds. That stuff’s at 5:04, 10:42, 29:03, and 48:10 if you want to skip the banter, although if you do you’ll miss insights on Strummer docs, Polish innovation conferences, and whether an angel-voiced ex-con could be the next Susan Boyle.
Movies in this one:
Joe Strummer: The Future Is Unwritten
Follow us on Facebook and Twitter.
3 comments
