xv, 431 pages : 24 cm

"Emerging from the jazz clubs of the early 1950s, skiffle -- a uniquely British take on American folk and blues -- caused a sensation among a generation of kids who had grown up during the dreary post-war years. These were Britain's first teenagers, looking for a music of their own in a culture dominated by crooners and mediated by a stuffy BBC. Sales of guitars rocketed from 5,000 to 250,000 a year, and -- as with the punk rock that would flourish two decades later -- all you needed to know were three guitar chords to form your own group, with your mates accompanying on tea-chest bass and washboard. Against a backdrop of Cold War politics, rock and roll riots and a newly assertive working-class youth, Billy Bragg charts -- for the first time in depth -- the history, impact and legacy of Britain's original pop movement. It's a story of jazz pilgrims and blues blowers, Teddy Boys and beatnik girls, coffee-bar bohemians and refugees from the McCarthyite witch-hunts, who between them sparked a revolution that shaped pop culture as we have come to know it"--Page 2 of dust jacket

Includes bibliographical references (pages 399-414) and index

The Rock Island Line -- Ration book jazz -- Blues in brass -- Pilgrimage to New Orleans -- Back to basics -- What kind of music are they playing? -- Stumbling towards a new dawn -- The new Edwardians -- The highbrow of swing -- Will TV kill the British Sunday? -- Sunshine on Soho -- Red scare refugees -- Skiffle artificial -- The adventures of an Irish hillbilly -- Youth in revolt -- The people's music -- Here's three chords -- Lonnie opens the door -- Going so fast -- This'll make you skiffle -- Country, bluegrass, and blues -- Expresso bongo -- For peace and harmony -- Skiffle on the skids -- Maximum R & B -- The British are coming

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