Guthrie’s Lyrics Give Bragg a Measurable Assist

Lucky for Billy Bragg that he found a partner who won’t let up on topical writing, providing him lyrics dissecting everything from the current White House scandal to the arrest of former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet. Never mind that the partner died more than 30 years ago.

But when Bragg joked Friday at the House of Blues that Woody Guthrie had been faxing him lyrics about “Ally McBeal,” you could almost believe it. Or at least you could after hearing how current the songs Bragg created from “lost” Guthrie lyrics made available to him by the Dust Bowl balladeer’s family sound.

The upshot is that the Guthrie lyrics, featured on Bragg’s “Mermaid Ave.” album with the band Wilco, provided a colorful thread and invigorated sense of purpose for the English troubadour on Friday. At turns righteous, irreverent, playful and even scatological, it accented the best of Bragg’s own pointed and/or sentimental barbs.

The real revelation was the musical invention and power, thanks to the band Bragg has assembled. Billed as the Blokes, the five-piece combo includes former Faces keyboardist Ian McLagan and two members of English global-music adventurists 3 Mustaphas 3, who took Bragg down unexpected alleys where rollicking rock ‘n’ roll rumbles with Balkan bouzouki lines and South African beats. Bragg simply has good taste in partners--living or dead.