Mermaid Avenue: The Complete Sessions

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Mermaid Avenue: The Complete Sessions
Billy Bragg and Wilco - Mermaid Avenue - The Complete Sessions.jpg
Box set by
ReleasedApril 21, 2012 (2012-04-21)
Recorded1997–1998
StudioBoston, Chicago, and Dublin
LanguageEnglish
Label Nonesuch
Producer Wilco, Billy Bragg, Grant Showbiz
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)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [1]
American Songwriter Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svg [2]
The A.V. Club A− [3]
Consequence of Sound Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [4]
Drowned in Sound 9/10 [5]
The Phoenix Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [6]
Pitchfork Media 8.1/10 [7]
PopMatters Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [8]
Rolling Stone Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [9]
Uncut 7/10 [10]

On Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the set has an average score of 85 based on 12 reviews, which indicates "universal acclaim". [11] The A.V. Club gave it an A−. [3]

Track listing

All lyrics are written by Woody Guthrie, except those of "When the Roses Bloom Again" (see note)

Disc 1: Mermaid Avenue
No.TitleMusicLength
1."Walt Whitman's Niece" (Words: 1946; Music: 1997) Billy Bragg 3:53
2."California Stars" (Music: 1997) Jay Bennett/Jeff Tweedy 4:57
3."Way Over Yonder in the Minor Key" (Words: 1946; Music: 1997)Bragg4:06
4."Birds and Ships" (Music: 1997)Bragg2:13
5."Hoodoo Voodoo" Wilco (Tweedy/Bennett/John Stirratt/Ken Coomer)/Bragg/Corey Harris 3:12
6."She Came Along to Me" (Words: 1942; Music: 1998)Bragg/Tweedy/Bennett3:26
7."At My Window Sad and Lonely" (Words: 1939; Music: 1997)Tweedy3:27
8."Ingrid Bergman" (Words: 1950; Music: 1996)Bragg1:50
9."Christ for President" (Music: 1997)Tweedy/Bennett2:39
10."I Guess I Planted" (Music: 1997)Bragg3:32
11."One by One" (Words: 1939; Music: 1997)Tweedy3:22
12."Eisler on the Go" (Music: 1997)Bragg2:56
13."Hesitating Beauty" (Words: 1949; Music: 1997)Tweedy3:04
14."Another Man's Done Gone" (Music: 1998)Bragg1:34
15."The Unwelcome Guest" (Words: 1940; Music: 1996)Bragg5:09
Disc 2: Mermaid Avenue Vol. II
No.TitleMusicLength
1."Airline to Heaven" (Words: 1939; Music: 1997) Jay Bennett/Jeff Tweedy 4:50
2."My Flying Saucer" (Words: 1950; Music: 1995) Billy Bragg 1:45
3."Feed of Man" (Music: 1998)Tweedy4:08
4."Hot Rod Hotel" (Words: 1949; Music: 1996)Bragg3:17
5."I Was Born" (Words: 1950; Music: 1996)Bragg1:50
6."Secret of the Sea" (Words: 1939; Music: 1999)Bennett/Tweedy2:42
7."Stetson Kennedy" (Words: 1950; Music: 1997)Bragg2:39
8."Remember the Mountain Bed" (Words: 1944; Music: 1999)Tweedy/Bennett6:26
9."Blood of the Lamb" (Words: 1955; Music: 1997)Bennett/Tweedy4:16
10."Aginst th' Law" (Words: 1947; Music: 1995)Bragg3:03
11."All You Fascists" (Words: 1942; Music: 1997)Bragg2:43
12."Joe DiMaggio Done It Again" (Words: 1949; Music: 1995)Bragg2:31
13."Meanest Man" (Words: 1945; Music: 1997)Bragg3:46
14."Black Wind Blowing" (Music: 1997)Bragg3:00
15."Someday Some Morning Sometime" (Words: 1948; Music: 2000)Tweedy2:53
Disc 3: Mermaid Avenue Vol. III
No.TitleMusicLength
1."Bugeye Jim" (Lyrics: 1946) Billy Bragg 3:18
2."When the Roses Bloom Again" (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 a new melody, [12] with only Cobb and Tweedy receiving writing credit.) Jeff Tweedy 4:11
3."Gotta Work" (Lyrics: 1949) Corey Harris 2:16
4."My Thirty Thousand" (Lyrics: 1949)Bragg2:40
5."Ought to Be Satisfied Now" (Lyrics: 1939)Bragg3:34
6."Listening to the Wind That Blows" (Lyrics: 1939)Tweedy5:07
7."Go Down to the Water" (Lyrics: 1945)Bragg4:36
8."Chain of Broken Hearts" (Lyrics: 1939)Tweedy3:31
9."Jailcell Blues" (Lyrics: 1953)Bragg2:28
10."Don't You Marry"Bragg3:18
11."Give Me a Nail" (Lyrics: 1943)Bragg1:42
12."The Jolly Banker"Guthrie3:31
13."Union Prayer" (Lyrics: 1949)Bragg4:12
14."Be Kind to the Boy on the Road"Bragg3:46
15."Ain'ta Gonna Grieve"Tweedy/Jay Bennett 4:52
16."Tea Bag Blues"Harris4:03
17."I'm Out to Get" (Lyrics: 1946)Bragg3:58

Disc 4: Man in the Sand (DVD)

Personnel

Additional musicians

See also

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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. 1 2 Hyden, Steven (17 April 2012). "Billy Bragg and Wilco: Mermaid Avenue: The Complete Sessions | Music | Music Review". 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.[ permanent dead link ]
  11. "Critic Reviews for Mermaid Avenue: The Complete Sessions". Metacritic. Retrieved on 2012-09-20.
  12. "I'll Be With You When The Roses Bloom Again". UMaine.edu. Retrieved 3 February 2022.