Mermaid Avenue

Billy Bragg, Wilco | Format: Audio Cassette

Product Details

• Audio Cassette (June 23, 1998)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Elektra / Wea
• ASIN: B000007NC1
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (133 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #754,689 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Walt Whitman's Niece

2. California Stars

3. Way over Yonder in the Minor Key

4. Birds and Ships

5. Hoodoo Voodoo

6. She Came Along to Me

7. At My Window Sad and Lonely

8. Ingrid Bergman

9. Christ for President

10. I Guess I Planted

11. One by One

12. Eisler on the Go

13. Hesitating Beauty

14. Another Man's Done Gone

15. The Unwelcome Guest

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Deserving of Ten Thousand Stars, May 4, 2000

By 

Gianmarco Manzione (Tampa, FL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Mermaid Avenue (Audio CD)

Every once in a while and usually out of the blue, we are graced with an album that defies time and genre, the type of music that we will be listening to when Mars is terraformed; Mermaid Avenue is just such an album. It is the diamond in the careers of both Bragg and Wilco. Whether it's the boisterous "Walt Whitman's Neice," the thumping drums of "California Stars," or the country folk of "Minor Key," this album offers a richness of sound that will have listeners licking their chops. The innocence of tracks like "Hoodoo Voodoo" or "Ingrid Bergman" creates a fragile balance with the spate of darker songs, like "One by One," which sounds as if pulled from a deep burrow of desire in Woody Guthrie's soul and recalls the sweet yearning of Bob Dylan's "Lay Lady Lay." While the album delivers consistently good music, each song is so different from its predecessor that even the most casual listener's attention is unlikely to wander. Nominated for a Best Contemporary Folk Album Grammy, "Mermaid Avenue" is a priceless example of Guthrie's achievement at the dawn of a new century.

33 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars 4.5 Stars.... Masterful Mix of Guthrie Lyrics and New Music, May 10, 2004

By 

Paul Allaer (Cincinnati) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Mermaid Avenue (Audio CD)

Nora Guthrie, Woody's daughter, thought it might be fun to have new music set to Woody's "lost songs" (lyrics to which Woody had music set in his head, but he never published the music). Billy Bragg and Wilco may make a curious, or at least not a very obvious, choice for the task, but boy, are they up for it!

"Mermaid Avenue" (15 tracks, 49 min.) is a true collaboration between the artists. Some songs find Wilco's Jeff Tweedy at lead vocal, Bragg on others. Music on some tracks is written by Bragg, others by Tweedy/Bennett, yet others by Bragg/Wilco. While I'm a huge Wilco fan, I must admit that the Bragg-written songs are more coherent within the Guthrie legacy. Check out for example the sparse "Eisler On the Go", and "Another Man's Done Done" (with Tweedy on lead vocal). The best is "Way Over Yonder in the Minor Key" (with Natalie Merchant on back vocals). Natalie also sings lead on "Birds and Ships". (So you really shouldn't be surprised by Natalie's fab collection of folk tunes "The House Carpenter's Daugther", issued independently last year).

In all, this is a terrific collection, which deservedly received a second volume as well. Recommended for fans of Billy Bragg, Wilco, Woddy Guthrie, and of course Bob Dylan.

22 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Refreshing and Literate, May 9, 2000

By 

dev1 (Baltimore) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mermaid Avenue (Audio CD)

The first time I listened to Mermaid Avenue, I was certain that I had heard this music before. After combing my collection, I discovered that Mermaid Avenue was a collection of new songs - and I hadn't heard them before. The sound of Billy Bragg and Wilco is comfortable; as comfortable as Bob Dylan, The Band circa Big Pink, Bruce Springsteen and the Cowboy Junkies' Trinity Session. The combination of 50-year old lyrics (compliments of folkie/socialist Woody Guthrie), the bare-bones sound of Wilco and the recording atmosphere of Dublin make for a cozy and perceptive 46-minutes.

Whether you consider Guthrie a socialist or an anti-capitalist, his political commentaries (Christ For President, The Unwelcome Guest) fit neatly in today's social climate. His love songs are sensitive and poetic (Way Off Yonder In The Minor Key, At My Window Sad and Lonely, One By One). Instead of the vulgar and dehumanizing lyrics of much of today's music towards women, Guthrie's sexual double entendres (Walt Whitman's Niece) are refreshing and literate. In fact, refreshing and literate is as good as any summary of Mermaid Avenue. Outside of public high schools, thinking is still considered acceptable social behavior.