Mermaid Avenue

Mermaid Avenue is a 1998 album of previously unheard lyrics written by American folk singer Woody Guthrie, put to music written and performed by British singer Billy Bragg and the American band Wilco. The project was the first of several such projects organized by Guthrie's daughter, Nora Guthrie, original director of the Woody Guthrie Foundation and archives. Mermaid Avenue was released on the Elektra Records label on June 23, 1998. A second volume of recordings, Mermaid Avenue Vol. II, followed in 2000 and both were collected in a box set alongside volume three in 2012 as Mermaid Avenue: The Complete Sessions. The projects are named after the song "Mermaid's Avenue", written by Guthrie. This was also the name of the street in Coney Island, New York on which Guthrie lived. According to American Songwriter Magazine, "The Mermaid Avenue project is essential for showing that Woody Guthrie could illuminate what was going on inside of him as well as he could detail the plight of his fellow man".[11] It was voted number 939 in Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums 3rd Edition (2000). [12]

For the Woody Guthrie song, see Mermaid's Avenue.
Mermaid Avenue
Studio album by
Billy Bragg and Wilco
ReleasedJune 23, 1998 (1998-06-23)
StudioTotally Wired Studios, Dublin; Windmill Lane Studios, Dublin; King Size Sound Laboratories, Chicago; Boston
GenreFolk rock
Length49:20
LabelElektra
ProducerBilly Bragg,
Grant Showbiz,
Wilco
Billy Bragg chronology
Bloke on Bloke
(1997)		 Mermaid Avenue
(1998)		 Reaching to the Converted
(1999)
Wilco chronology
Being There
(1996)		 Mermaid Avenue
(1998)		 Summerteeth
(1999)
Billy Bragg & Wilco chronology
Mermaid Avenue
(1998)		 Mermaid Avenue Vol. II
(2000)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Chicago Sun-Times[2]
Entertainment WeeklyB+[3]
The Guardian[4]
Los Angeles Times[5]
Pitchfork7.8/10[6]
Rolling Stone[7]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[8]
Spin8/10[9]
The Village VoiceA[10]

Recording

During the spring of 1992, Woody Guthrie's daughter Nora contacted English singer-songwriter Billy Bragg about writing music for a selection of completed Guthrie lyrics after Bragg played a Guthrie tribute concert in New York City's Central Park.[13] Her father had left behind over a thousand sets of complete lyrics written between 1939 and 1967; as they had not been recorded by Guthrie, and he did not write music, none of these lyrics had any music other than a vague stylistic notation.

Nora Guthrie's liner notes in Mermaid Avenue indicate that it was her intention that the songs be given to a new generation of musicians who would be able to make the songs relevant to a younger generation. Nora Guthrie contacted Bragg, who in turn approached Wilco and asked them to participate in the project as well. Wilco agreed, and in addition to recording with Bragg in Ireland, they were given their own share of songs to finish.

Rather than recreating tunes in Guthrie's style, Bragg and Wilco created new, contemporary music for the lyrics. Released in 1998 as Mermaid Avenue, the results were met with critical success. The album received a Grammy nomination for Best Contemporary Folk Album, and went on to place fourth on the Pazz & Jop Critics Poll for 1998.

Since the release of the Mermaid Avenue albums, several other musicians have released recordings that similarly have drawn upon unpublished Guthrie material.

Man in the Sand, a documentary about the collaboration between Billy Bragg and Wilco, was released in 1999. A DVD of the film is included in Mermaid Avenue: The Complete Sessions.

Track listing

All lyrics written by Woody Guthrie; music composers are listed below.

  1. "Walt Whitman's Niece" (Billy Bragg) – 3:53
  2. "California Stars" (Jay Bennett, Jeff Tweedy)– 4:57
  3. "Way Over Yonder in the Minor Key" (Bragg) – 4:06
  4. "Birds and Ships" with Natalie Merchant (Bragg) – 2:13
  5. "Hoodoo Voodoo" (Tweedy, Bragg, Bennett, John Stirratt, Ken Coomer, Corey Harris) – 3:12
  6. "She Came Along to Me" (Bragg, Tweedy, Bennett) – 3:26
  7. "At My Window Sad and Lonely" (Tweedy) – 3:27
  8. "Ingrid Bergman" (Bragg) – 1:50
  9. "Christ for President" (Tweedy, Bennett) – 2:39
  10. "I Guess I Planted" (Bragg) – 3:32
  11. "One by One" (Tweedy) – 3:22
  12. "Eisler on the Go" (Bragg) – 2:56
  13. "Hesitating Beauty" (Tweedy) – 3:04
  14. "Another Man's Done Gone" (Bragg) – 1:34
  15. "The Unwelcome Guest" (Bragg) – 5:09

Personnel
  • Billy Bragg – acoustic guitar (1, 2, 3, 4, 8, 10, 15), electric guitar (5, 13), National guitar (9, 12), bouzouki (7), banjo (12), lead vocals (1, 3, 6, 8, 10, 12, 15), backing vocals (7), handclaps (10)
  • Jeff Tweedy – acoustic guitar (2, 6, 7, 9, 11, 15), electric guitar (1, 10), harmonica (1, 6, 15), lead vocals (2, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 14), backing vocals (1, 10), handclaps (10)
  • Jay Bennett – piano (1, 2, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13), Hammond B-3 organ (3, 5, 7, 10, 11), clavinet (1, 9), grand piano (14, 15), melodica (12, 15), Farfisa organ (1), Farfisa bass pedals (5), drums (1), percussion (12), bouzouki (3), dulcimer (7), banjo (9), acoustic guitar (6), electric guitar (13), slide guitar (6), electric bass (6), backing vocals (1, 2, 6, 7, 10, 13), handclaps (10)
  • Corey Harris – electric guitar (5), lap steel guitar (2), backing vocals (10), handclaps (10)
  • Ken Coomer – drums (1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 13, 15), percussion (1, 2, 3, 9, 12), backing vocals (1, 10), handclaps (10)
  • Natalie Merchant – lead vocals (4), backing vocals (3)
  • John Stirratt – electric bass (2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 10, 11, 13, 15), acoustic bass (1, 9), bass pedals (9), bass piano (5), Hammond B-3 organ (6), acoustic guitar (6), backing vocals (1, 2, 7, 10), handclaps (10)
  • Peter Yanowitz – chorus drums (3)
  • Bob Egan – pedal steel (11, 15), slide guitar (6)
  • Eliza Carthy – violin (2, 3)
  • Johnathan "JP" Parker - backing vocals (1)
  • Elizabeth Steen - accordion (3)

See also

Certifications
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[14] Gold 35,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[15] Silver 60,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References
  1. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Mermaid Avenue – Billy Bragg / Wilco". AllMusic. Retrieved March 6, 2016.
  2. DeRogatis, Jim (June 21, 1998). "Billy Bragg & Wilco, 'Mermaid Avenue' (Elektra)". Chicago Sun-Times. Archived from the original on November 19, 2018. Retrieved October 17, 2016.
  3. Browne, David (September 4, 1998). "Mermaid Avenue". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved May 31, 2013.
  4. Sweeting, Adam (June 26, 1998). "Billy Bragg & Wilco: Mermaid Avenue (Elektra)". The Guardian.
  5. Cromelin, Richard (June 21, 1998). "Woody Guthrie's Land Is Theirs Too". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on March 23, 2017. Retrieved March 6, 2016.
  6. Mohan, Aparna (July 1998). "Billy Bragg & Wilco: Mermaid Avenue". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on December 27, 2005. Retrieved March 6, 2016.
  7. Marcus, Greil (June 1, 1998). "Mermaid Avenue". Rolling Stone. Retrieved May 31, 2013.
  8. Kot, Greg (2004). "Wilco". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. pp. 873–74. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
  9. Berrett, Jesse (September 1998). "Billy Bragg & Wilco: Mermaid Avenue". Spin. 14 (9): 184. Retrieved March 6, 2016.
  10. Christgau, Robert (June 30, 1998). "Consumer Guide". The Village Voice. Retrieved March 6, 2016.
  11. "Billy Bragg & Wilco: Mermaid Avenue: The Complete Sessions". American Songwriter. Retrieved 2012-04-19.
  12. Colin Larkin, ed. (2000). All Time Top 1000 Albums (3rd ed.). Virgin Books. p. 285. ISBN 0-7535-0493-6.
  13. Flanary, Patrick (2012-03-09). "Exclusive: Billy Bragg on Woody Guthrie, 3rd 'Mermaid Avenue' Set". Billboard. Retrieved 2012-03-09.
  14. "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 1999 Albums". Australian Recording Industry Association. Archived from the original on 10 August 2020.
  15. "British album certifications – Billy Bragg & Wilco – Mermaid Avenue". British Phonographic Industry. Select albums in the Format field. Select Silver in the Certification field. Type Mermaid Avenue in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
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