Reaching to the Converted

Reaching to the Converted
Compilation album by Billy Bragg
Released	August 1999
Genre	Rock folk
Billy Bragg chronology
Mermaid Avenue (1998)Mermaid Avenue1998 Reaching To The Converted (1999) Mermaid Avenue Vol. II (2000)Mermaid Avenue Vol. II2000

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic
BBC	(positive)
NME	(8/10)
The Rolling Stone Album Guide

Reaching to the Converted is an album by Billy Bragg released in August 1999. It is a collection of B-sides and rarities that spans Billy's entire career. It includes variations on old favorites, such as "Greetings to the New Brunette" (retitled "Shirley") and "Walk Away Renee".

The original album cover has the subtitle "(Minding The Gaps)".

Track listing

1. "Shirley" (Billy Bragg)
2. "Sulk" (Words by Billy Bragg, Music by Billy Bragg & Cara Tivey)
3. "Accident Waiting to Happen" (Red Star Version) (Billy Bragg)
4. "The Boy Done Good" (Words by Billy Bragg, Music by Johnny Marr)
5. "Heart Like a Wheel" (Anna McGarrigle)
6. "Bad Penny" (Billy Bragg)
7. "Ontario, Quebec and Me" (Billy Bragg)
8. "Walk Away Renee" (Version) (Music by Mike Lookofsky, Toby Sansome, Bob Calilli, Monologue: Billy Bragg)
9. "Rule Nor Reason" (Billy Bragg)
10. "Days Like These" (UK Version) (Billy Bragg)
11. "Think Again" (Dick Gaughan)
12. "Scholarship Is the Enemy of Romance" (Billy Bragg)
13. "Wishing the Days Away" (Ballad Version) (Billy Bragg)
14. "The Tatler" (Ry Cooder, Russ Titleman)
15. "Jeane" (Steven Morrissey & Johnny Marr)
16. "She's Leaving Home" (John Lennon & Paul McCartney)
17. "I Don't Need This Pressure Ron" (Billy Bragg)

Song details

"Shirley" - Previously unreleased version of "Greetings to the New Brunette", recorded in 1992.

• Billy Bragg - Vocals
• Johnny Marr - Everything else

"Sulk" & "Accident Waiting to Happen" - B & A-side GO! Discs [U.K.] #67 (2/92).

• Billy Bragg - vocal, guitar
• Wiggy - lead guitar
• Cara Tivey - vocal, keyboards
• Nigel Frydman - bass
• Rob Allum - drums

"The Boy Done Good" - A-side of Cooking Vinyl [U.K.] #064 (5/97)

• Billy Bragg - vocal
• Cara Tivey - keyboards
• Jody Linscott - percussion
• Lorrain Bowen - backing vocal
• Johnny Marr - everything else

"Heart Like a Wheel" - B-side of "You Woke Up My Neighbourhood" GO! Discs [U.K.] #60 (8/91)

• Billy Bragg - vocal
• Cara Tivey - vocal, keyboards

"Bad Penny" - B-side of "Sexuality" GO! Discs [U.K.] #56 (6/91)

• Billy Bragg - vocal, guitar
• Wiggy - Guitar
• Amanda Vincent - piano
• Andy Hobson - bass
• J.F.T. Hood - drums
• Kirsty MacColl - backing vocal

"Ontario, Quebec and Me" - B-side of "You Woke Up My Neighbourhood" GO! Discs [U.K.] #60 (8/91)

• Billy Bragg - vocal, guitar

"Walk Away Renee" - B-side of "Levi Stubbs' Tears" GO! Discs [U.K.] #12 (6/86)

• Billy Bragg - monologue
• Johnny Marr - acoustic guitar

"Rule Nor Reason" - B-Side of "Upfield" Cooking Vinyl [U.K.] #051 (9/96)

• Billy Bragg - vocal, guitar
• Cara Tivey - harmonium

"Days Like These" (UK Version) - A-side GO! Discs [U.K.] #8 (12/85)

• Billy Bragg - vocal, guitar

"Think Again" - B-side of "Levi Stubbs' Tears" GO! Discs [U.K.] #12 (6/86)

• Billy Bragg - vocal, acoustic & electric guitars
• Kenny Jones - guitar
• John Porter - mandolin

"Scholarship Is the Enemy of Romance" - B-side of "Days Like These" GO! Discs [U.K.] #8 (12/85)

• Billy Bragg - guitar, vocal

"Wishing the Days Away" (Ballad Version) - B-side of "Waiting for the Great Leap Forwards" GO! Discs [U.K.] #23 (8/88)

• Billy Bragg - vocal
• Cara Tivey - keyboards

"The Tatler" & "Jeane" - B-side of "Greetings to the New Brunette" GO! Discs [U.K.] #15 (11/86)

• Billy Bragg - vocal, guitar

"She's Leaving Home" - A-side of ChildLine [U.K.] #1 (5/88)

• Billy Bragg - Vocal
• Cara Tivey - vocal, piano, recorders

"I Don't Need This Pressure Ron" (Billy Bragg) - B-side of "Days Like These" GO! Discs [U.K.] #8 (12/85)

• Billy Bragg - vocal
• Robert Handley - vocal

References

All information is from album liner notes unless otherwise noted.