Customer Reviews

Mermaid Avenue [Vinyl]

5 star:		(102)
4 star:		(22)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

Is this a concept album or a tribue album? Is this an album of cover tunes, or original songs? Working with the Woody Guthrie archives, Billy Bragg and Wilco craft music to lyrics written by Woody Guthrie for which he never had an opportunity to write music. As you listen to these songs, sometimes beautiful, sometimes raucus, you can't help but to wonder if these artists have channeled Woody Guthrie's spirit correctly.

Should "Walt Whitman's Niece" be the rock song that it is? Should "Ingrid Bergman" be this beautiful plea to the seemingly unattainable starlet, or should it be a sing-a-long? As the album progresses, you realize that correctness doesn't matter, and that whether they got it right or wrong, this album works. The songs are a wonderful representation of the variety of different types of songs heard from Woody Guthrie throughout his career, and the collaboration between the long gone Woody, the Billy Bragg and Wilco is inspired, energetic, creative and fun.

Thanks are due to Woody's daughter Nora and the Woody Guthrie archives for dreaming this project up, and for working with these musicians. Would this project have worked with a duo of Bruce Springsteen and Bob Dylan? Of course, but that may have been a little too safe, and a little too expected. Thanks are due to Billy Bragg and Wilco for realizing that working together would result in a much better, and more diverse album than if they insisted on working alone. Thanks are due to Woody Guthrie, for even if his body would not allow him the strength to write music, his mind could still create these wonderful lyrics.

Do not be scared off by the premise of the project: a vaguely country-rock band and a Scottish folksinger reviving ancient Woody Guthrie lyrics. First of all, none of those descriptions do their discriptee justice; Wilco's one of the strongest songwriting groups in America today with the musical skills to back it up, Billy Bragg's a gifted balladeer and a brilliant folk-rocker and Woody Guthrie...well, that name ought to speak for itself by belonging to one of the greatest songwriters ever, author of a vast catalogue of topical, witty and beautiful songs that celebrate people, life, children and America in a way that has rarely been matched. Apparently, Woody's daughter Nora approached Wilco and Bragg about the possibility of collaborating to write music and record some of the thousands of songs that Woody wrote but never recorded. The result is a very impressive album. Maybe the key is that the artists, while certainly aware of Guthrie's incredible contributions, don't spend the album revering Guthrie, wringing their hands over being worthy of such a project. Wilco and Bragg jump right in and immediately get their hands dirty, opening with a song that's confusing and ribald but playing and hollering along with so much energy it will literally make you smile. Most of the Woody Guthrie releases now in print tend to focus on his political ballads and protest songs, so its fortunate that Wilco and Bragg chose lyrics that reflected a more personal side of Guthrie: love songs, songs about his children, songs lusting after Ingrid Bergman...Woody would have been unlikely to record such autobiographical songs, and its fortunate that someone did, leaving no doubt that Woody was more than just a powerful voice for others but a brilliant, introspective artist as well. Musically, the album's much like Wilco's "Being There," heavy on organ and acoustic guitar, with many large swells of sound. This might sound a little offensive to some, but this isn't a Woody replica, it's a modern band making these songs their own. The arrangements are straightforward and layered, which results in a rich, warm sound. Bragg's brogue works perfectly as a vehicle for Guthrie's rough lyrics, and Jeff Tweedy's boyish drawl lends an innocence and charm to the love songs that couldn't even be achieved by Guthrie. Woody was known to pass his guitars along to aspiring musicians to help them along; even better that he should pass along some songs not only to Wilco and Bragg, but through them, to the rest of us as well. This is probably more of a Wilco album than anything else, but with even greater-than-normal lyrics, and it's apparent how much Tweedy has taken from the classic understatement of Guthrie. Cannot recommend this album enough.

. . . If you are a Wilco fan and you don't have this album (and Vol. II), you should feel very silly, and buy this right now. It is absolutely sublime.

I used to work at a coffee shop in Boston, and our boss there played this so much, that despite loving Wilco, Billy Bragg, and Woody Guthrie, I grew to loathe this album, and to regard it as the official CD of brief-case carrying, latte-drinking yuppies everywhere--music for the sort of people who would never listen to Billy Bragg's edgier lyrics, Wilco's more rocking garage tracks, or Woody Guthrie's more opinionated beliefs. It became a symbol to me of how an album's audience can ruin the music itself.
Then, a few years passed. I moved, travelled, and by the time I got back to this album, I had left its stigmas aside, and when I heard it again, I realized it really is an amazing album.
Woody Guthrie's daughter got the alt.country/indie-rock band Wilco and the collectivist British singer Billy Bragg to take some of 1940s American folksinger Woody Guthrie's lyrics, come together, and put music to them. (Though Woody Guthrie had his own music for the song "Hoodoo Voodoo" and it appeared on his kids' album.) She also got Natalie Merchant to help a little, and the resulting collaboration was incredibly succesful.
Billy Bragg uses Woody's more political lyrics, and Wilco uses his more emotional and visual stuff.
"California Stars" is a lovely Wilco number calling up images of a late night sky hanging far away. "Birds And Ships" is a love song to a sailor, sung by Natalie Merchant. "Hoodoo Voodoo" is a herky-jerky stop-start heap that rolls along like a car about to fall apart. "Ingrid Bergman" is sung by Billy Bragg, and is loaded with sexual innuendo. "One By One" and "Another Man's Done Gone" are heartbreaking reflections on growing old and dying--done perfectly by Wilco--and "Hesitating Beauty" is full of life and happy.
All the songs are beauftiful, though some of Billy Bragg's deal with obsolete political things that you'd have to research to understand. The songs hang together beautifully, and--played in moderation, with the right people--will probably last forever.

This collection of songs highlights what a visionary Woody Guthrie really was. With a set of lyrics that are both far ahead of their time and deeply perceptive into the human condition, the musicians had a lot to work with. And what they did with it is truly amazing. They bring Guthrie's works right into the modern day and show how potent they still are. We have songs about everything from politics to social interaction, much like we find in modern rock n roll, performed with honesty and plainspoken integrity. I am glad that these musicians didn't overdo the arrangements, because the simplicity really works here. Unlike some other reviewers, I think the Wilco material really works- it doesn't sound like it's stuck in the 90s- it truly seems timeless. My favorite track is "one by one," with its haunting slide guitar and fade-in intro. Perfect for autumn-- or any time really. "Ingrid Bergman" is great too- hey they're all great, you can't go wrong with this collection!

For those of us who were young and passionate about social issues in the 50's, 60's or 70's, this fantastic album lets us know that the concerns of activists of the 20th century are alive and well in the 21st century.

My own 20-something son turned me on to the music of Wilco, playing it during our Sunday dinners. "Is that...who are you listening to?" He smiled smugly as I tried to figure out who this was.

Dylan-like lyrics sung with by a Dylan-who-could-sing? Springsteen? Arlo Guthrie? Or someone entirely different? He grinned as he shared with me his favorite group (Wilco) and their best ever album.

I've listened to other Wilco albums - this one is absolutely the best to me - perhaps I'm more of a Bragg fan than I'd ever have known, or maybe its just the bleeding heart liberal still kicking within me. The messages are clear, the music consistently good. On his other albums, some songs take a bit of getting used to - the present mixes with the past in ways that are sometimes refreshing, uplifting, promising - sometimes grating (even my son says so, but he doesn't care!)

But this album rocks, in a folk music with message kind of way. This is because, of course, the lyrics are Woody Guthrie's, scribblings written on scraps of paper, about times that evidently haven't changed. Guthrie's daughter Nora gave permission for the words to be turned into song - British songwriter/musician Billie Bragg explains this in the amazon interview shown in the sidebar to your left.

"Every year we waste enough to feed the ones who starve," Tweedy shouts in Guthrie's "Christ for President," maybe the greatest campaign song ever written. In the remarkable "Unwelcome Guest," via Guthrie's words, Bragg adopts the persona of a rider on his way to rob a rich man who has earned his wealth by "stealing and lying and gambling," and he ends with this steely-eyed prediction:

"They'll take the money and spread it out equal / Just like the Bible and prophets suggest / But the men who go riding to help these poor workers / The rich will cut down like an unwelcome guest.'

"Has there ever been a vision of social justice so moral, or so clear about its price?" (read the whole article, its good!)

I liked this album because the music is wonderful to hear, the lyrics have thought and meaning still - a wedding of what was then, with what is still now, the album takes something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue - and turns it into a timely, cross-generational piece of art.

I think everything has been said already in the previous reviews so there's not much - or rather nothing - I can add.

All I wanted to say is that this is a very special record for me. I listen to a lot of music and own several hundred CDs but this one is really outstanding. I think that this record is really emotional but in a pleasent kind of way. A lot of songs on the album bring tears to my eyes everytime I hear them. The whole project was a great idea and one can feel that the participators put all their heart and love into it.

In short: Mermaid Avenue is one of the records that makes live worth living for me.

I'm a fan of Wilco but I love this one better than any of their studio-albums.