Don't Try This at Home (Billy Bragg album)

Don't Try This at Home
Studio album by
Billy Bragg
Released16 September 1991 (1991-09-16)
RecordedOctober 1990–July 1991
StudioPavillion Studios, London W10; Cathouse Studios, Streatham; Sonet Studio, London; Clear, Manchester; John Keane Studios, Athens, Georgia; Jester House, Athens, Georgia
GenreAlternative rock, folk rock, folk punk
Length56:37
LabelElektra (US), Go! Discs (UK), Cooking Vinyl (UK)
ProducerGrant Showbiz, Johnny Marr
Billy Bragg chronology
The Peel Sessions Album
(1991) 		Don't Try This at Home
(1991) 		William Bloke
(1996)
Singles from Don't Try This at Home
  1. "Sexuality"
    Released: 1 June 1991[1]
  2. "You Woke Up My Neighbourhood"
    Released: 7 September 1991[2]
  3. "Accident Waiting to Happen (Red Star Version)"
    Released: 23 February 1992[3]

Don't Try This at Home is the sixth album by urban folk artist Billy Bragg, released on 16 September 1991 by Go! Discs.[4][5] It reached #8 on the UK Albums Chart.[6]

"Sexuality" was released as a single which reached #27 on the UK charts and #2 on the U.S. Modern Rock charts. Johnny Marr of the Smiths co-wrote "Sexuality" and helped to produce three tracks.

The song "Cindy of a Thousand Lives" is about photographer Cindy Sherman.

"Tank Park Salute" is about his father, Dennis Bragg, who died of lung cancer when Bragg was 18. He said that for a show in Barking, where he grew up, he was so moved by the presence of his mother and brother in the audience that he kept a copy of the lyrics in case he forgot them while performing.[7]

R.E.M.'s Michael Stipe and Peter Buck contribute to "You Woke Up My Neighbourhood." The song was named after a drawing by Woody Guthrie, whose unpublished lyrics were set to music by Bragg and Wilco on the Mermaid Avenue albums a few years later.[8]

"Dolphins" is a cover of the Fred Neil song.

The song "God's Footballer" is about former professional football player Peter Knowles who spent his career at Wolverhampton Wanderers before voluntarily ending his football career to become a Jehovah's Witness.[9]

  1. ^ "Singles – Sexuality". billybragg.co.uk. Retrieved 12 September 2023.
  2. ^ "Singles – You Woke Up My Neighbourhood". billybragg.co.uk. Retrieved 12 September 2023.
  3. ^ "Singles – Accident Waiting to Happen (Red Star Version)". billybragg.co.uk. Retrieved 12 September 2023.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference Collins was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Don't Try This at Home (press advertisement). Go! Discs. 1991. Archived from the original on 24 May 2024. Retrieved 24 May 2024.
  6. ^ "Billy Bragg full Official Chart History". Official Charts. Retrieved 12 September 2023.
  7. ^ Ross.P (2006)"Best of British", The Herald, 2006-11-25. Retrieved 2009-11-13.
  8. ^ "Patriot games". Record Collector. No. 345. 4 February 2008. Retrieved 21 August 2021.
  9. ^ God's Footballer