Mermaid Avenue: The Complete Sessions

Mermaid Avenue: The Complete Sessions is a 2012 box set album featuring the lyrics of American folk musician Woody Guthrie set to music by English folk rock guitarist Billy Bragg and American alternative rock band Wilco. The set contains all the tracks from the previously released Mermaid Avenue (1998) and Mermaid Avenue Vol. II (2000) as well as a third disc of outtakes from the original album sessions.

Mermaid Avenue: The Complete Sessions
Box set by
Billy Bragg and Wilco
ReleasedApril 21, 2012 (2012-04-21)
RecordedBoston, Chicago, and Dublin
GenreFolk revival, folk rock
LanguageEnglish
LabelNonesuch
ProducerBilly Bragg, Grant Showbiz, Wilco
Billy Bragg chronology
Fight Songs
(2011)		 Mermaid Avenue: The Complete Sessions
(2012)		 Tooth & Nail
(2013)
Wilco chronology
The Whole Love
(2011)		 Mermaid Avenue: The Complete Sessions
(2012)		 Star Wars
(2015)
Billy Bragg & Wilco chronology
Mermaid Avenue Vol. II
(2000)		 Mermaid Avenue: The Complete Sessions
(2012)

Nonesuch Records released the album for Record Store Day to commemorate Guthrie's 100th birthday. In addition to the three albums, the box set includes the documentary Man in the Sand about the making of the Mermaid Avenue project.

Reception
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[1]
American Songwriter[2]
The A.V. ClubA−[3]
Consequence of Sound[4]
Drowned in Sound9/10[5]
The Phoenix[6]
Pitchfork Media8.1/10[7]
PopMatters[8]
Rolling Stone[9]
Uncut7/10[10]

At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 85, based on 12 reviews, which indicates "universal acclaim".[11]

The A.V. Club gave the box set an A−.[3]

Track listing

All lyrics written by Woody Guthrie, except where indicated. Music by Billy Bragg and Wilco.

Volume 1

  1. "Walt Whitman's Niece" (Bragg) – 3:53
  2. "California Stars" (Tweedy / Bennett) – 4:57
  3. "Way Over Yonder in the Minor Key" (Bragg) – 4:06
  4. "Birds and Ships" (feat. Natalie Merchant) (Tweedy) – 2:13
  5. "Hoodoo Voodoo" (Tweedy / Bennett / Bragg / 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" (Bragg) – 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" (Tweedy) – 1:34
  15. "The Unwelcome Guest" (Bragg) – 5:09

Volume 2

  1. "Airline to Heaven" – 4:50
  2. "My Flying Saucer" – 1:45
    • Words: Guthrie, 1950. Music: Billy Bragg, 1995.
  3. "Feed of Man" – 4:08
    • Words: Guthrie. Music: Tweedy, 1998
  4. "Hot Rod Hotel" – 3:17
    • Words: Guthrie, 1949. Music: Bragg, 1996.
  5. "I Was Born"  – 1:50
  6. "Secret of the Sea" – 2:42
    • Words: Guthrie, 1939. Music: Bennett/Tweedy, 1999.
  7. "Stetson Kennedy" – 2:39
    • Words: Guthrie, 1950. Music: Bragg, 1997.
  8. "Remember the Mountain Bed" – 6:26
    • Words: Guthrie, 1944. Music: Tweedy/Bennett, 1999.
  9. "Blood of the Lamb" – 4:16
    • Words: Guthrie, 1955. Music: Tweedy/Bennett, 1999.
  10. "Aginst th' Law" – 3:03
    • Words: Guthrie, 1947. Music: Bragg, 1995.
  11. "All You Fascists" – 2:43
    • Words: Guthrie, 1942. Music: Bragg, 1997.
  12. "Joe DiMaggio Done It Again" – 2:31
    • Words: Guthrie, 1949. Music: Bragg, 1995.
  13. "Meanest Man" – 3:46
    • Words: Guthrie, 1945. Music: Bragg, 1997.
  14. "Black Wind Blowing" – 3:00
    • Words: Guthrie. Music: Bragg, 1997.
  15. "Someday Some Morning Sometime" – 2:53
    • Words: Guthrie, 1948. Music: Tweedy, 2000.

Volume 3

  1. "Bugeye Jim" – 3:18
  2. "When the Roses Bloom Again" – 4:11 (This song was published in 1901 as "I'll Be With You When the Roses Bloom Again," credited to Gus Edwards, composer, and Will D. Cobb, lyricist. The version contained on this album has altered lyrics and melody.[12])
  3. "Gotta Work" – 2:16
  4. "My Thirty Thousand" – 2:40
  5. "Ought to Be Satisfied Now" – 3:34
  6. "Listening to the Wind That Blows" – 5:07
  7. "Go Down to the Water" – 4:36
  8. "Chain of Broken Hearts" – 3:31
  9. "Jailcell Blues" – 2:28
  10. "Don't You Marry" – 3:18
  11. "Give Me a Nail" – 1:42
  12. "The Jolly Banker" – 3:31
  13. "Union Prayer" – 4:12
  14. "Be Kind to the Boy on the Road" – 3:46
  15. "Ain'ta Gonna Grieve" – 4:52
  16. "Tea Bag Blues" – 4:03
  17. "I'm Out to Get" – 3:58

Volume 4

Personnel
Additional musicians

See also

References
  1. Allmusic link
  2. Beviglia, Jim (19 April 2012). "Billy Bragg & Wilco: Mermaid Avenue: The Complete Sessions". American Songwriter. Retrieved 5 June 2013.
  3. Hyden, Steven (17 April 2012). "Billy Bragg and Wilco: Mermaid Avenue: The Complete Sessions | Music | Music Review | The A.V. Club". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 17 April 2012.
  4. Gerber, Justin (27 April 2012). "Album Review: Billy Bragg & Wilco – Mermaid Avenue: The Complete Sessions". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved 5 June 2013.
  5. Lucas, Dan (23 April 2013). "Billy Bragg & Wilco – Mermaid Avenue: The Complete Sessions". Drowned in Sound. Archived from the original on 23 September 2013. Retrieved 5 June 2013.
  6. Lundy, Zeth (1 May 2012). "Billy Bragg + Wilco: Mermaid Avenue: The Complete Sessions". The Phoenix. Retrieved 5 June 2013.
  7. Deusner, Stephen M. (27 April 2012). "Billy Bragg / Wilco: Mermaid Avenue: The Complete Sessions". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved 5 June 2013.
  8. Franco, Michael (27 April 2012). "Billy Bragg and Wilco: Mermaid Avenue: The Complete Sessions". PopMatters. Retrieved 5 June 2013.
  9. Hermes, Will (24 April 2012). "Mermaid Avenue: The Complete Sessions". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 5 June 2013.
  10. McKay, Alistair (2012). "Billy Bragg & Wilco – Mermaid Avenue: The Complete Sessions". Uncut. Retrieved 5 June 2013.
  11. "Critic Reviews for Mermaid Avenue: The Complete Sessions". Metacritic. Retrieved on 2012-09-20.
  12. UMaine.edu https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=&httpsredir=1&article=1751&context=mmb-vp. Retrieved 3 February 2022. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
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