Jailhouse Rock: Casting the first stone, in the key of G

“If you are lonely, I will call.
I will leave an extra pint.”
– Billy Bragg, “The Milkman of Human Kindness”

Eastern Troubadour

English singer-songwriter Billy Bragg was born in Essex, in 1957. He taught himself to play the guitar, and with his neighbour friend, Phil Wigg, released his first record ‘Life’s a Riot’ in 1983.
Listening to BBC Radio One, he heard the legendary DJ John Peel say that he was hungry. Bragg left the five-a-side football match he was playing in, bought a mushroom biryani and rushed it to the BBC studios along with a copy of his first album. Peel played it – at the wrong speed, initially.
Thirty-eight years later, with 17 studio albums, and 31 singles, Bragg has become a national institution. And he still tours.
His biggest hit was “A New England”, as a cover version recorded by Kirsty McCall, getting to number 7 in the charts in 1985. McCall wanted a new verse for the song, so Bragg wrote one for her, in exchange for a cooked full English breakfast.

Social warrior

Jail Guitar Doors is an independent initiative which provides instruments for the rehabilitation of prisoners. Founded by Bragg, it takes its name from a song by The Clash.
Billy writes: “In 2007, I received a request from a Dorset jail. Malcolm Dudley, a drug and alcohol counsellor at Guys Marsh prison, was using his skills as a musician to set up guitar classes to engage prisoners. Malcolm made progress with the inmates. However, their development was held back by the lack of instruments on which to practise between sessions. He asked for help. I grasped it – I know that playing guitar and writing songs helps you to process problems in a non-confrontational way.”
Bragg delivered a dozen acoustic guitars and heard from the inmates themselves about the positive effects of Malcolm’s work.
It is when prisoners are outside their cells, when they go to eat, or walk, or meet visitors, that their levels of anxiety are increased. A tense time, when incidents can happen. This is when conflicts arise – disagreements, fights, verbal abuse and bullying.
When guitars were introduced, it dramatically reduced the number of punishable incidents. There was a calmer atmosphere. The wardens reported fewer stressful situations.

Musical therapy

Music has a similar effect on the human body as mindfulness and meditation: slowing the heart rate down, makes breathing slower and deeper, relaxes muscles, lowers blood pressure and increases the blood flow to the brain.
Since 2007, Jail Guitar Doors has donated instruments to more than 20 prisons. Sponsorship from Gibson Musical Instruments has extended the reach beyond the UK. There’s never been an incident in a British prison where someone has been attacked with a guitar.
These guitars allow the prisoners to develop their skills and do peer to peer work. Prison staff have said that sitting down together, playing music and learning, has had an impact on prisoners – incentivising them to engage in their own outcomes.
In 2009, the enterprise went stateside, with the help of guitarist Wayne Kramer. They’ve now delivered guitars to 50 prisons in the USA and maintain a waiting list of 60 more. They also provide song-writing sessions, lectures and concerts, with local musicians.

The guitars are not gifts. They’re a message from the people who donated them, that they believe in the inmates – that they can re-join the rest of us. Prison tells people that they have no value in the world. The act of creativity is an argument against that negativity.

James Neophytou