Craft Recordings to Release Expanded Mermaid Avenue Box Set, goldminemag.com reports

Craft Recordings will release an expanded box set titled Mermaid Avenue: The Complete Sessions on December 11, gathering all three volumes of the historic collaboration between Wilco and English folksinger Billy Bragg alongside a disc of alternates and demos, goldminemag.com reported.

Collection Features Vinyl Box Sets and Digital Release

The upcoming collection will be available in multiple formats, including a seven-LP vinyl box set with a bonus 7-inch, a four-CD edition, and an expanded digital release, goldminemag.com reported. Both physical box sets include new liner notes authored by journalist and author Bob Mehr. The vinyl edition is pressed on 180-gram vinyl and includes a single-sided 7-inch featuring a newly discovered 1951 home recording of Woody Guthrie performing Hesitating Beauty. Additionally, all three original volumes of the project will be made available separately as 180-gram double-LP sets.

The Collaborative Origins of Mermaid Avenue

The project began when Woody Guthrie’s daughter, Nora Guthrie, invited Billy Bragg to write original music for a collection of her late father’s unpublished lyrics. Bragg subsequently brought in Chicago alternative rock band Wilco, fronted by Jeff Tweedy. That initial partnership yielded the first Mermaid Avenue album in June 1998, which featured the enduring live staple California Stars and guest contributions from Natalie Merchant. The collaborators followed up with Mermaid Avenue Vol. II in 2000, and later assembled Mermaid Avenue Vol. III as part of a 2012 compilation titled Mermaid Avenue: The Complete Sessions.

New Additions to the Complete Sessions Tracklist

The December 11 reissue builds directly upon the 2012 collection by incorporating an entire disc dedicated to alternates and demos. This new material brings 18 additional tracks to the package, bringing previously unreleased recordings into circulation. According to uncut.co.uk, the newly unveiled tracks feature alternate versions of Aginst Th’ Law, All You Fascists, I Guess I Planted, and She Came Along To Me, alongside demos for Joe DiMaggio Done It Again, Hot Rod Hotel, Birds And Ships, and The Unwelcome Guest.

Track Listings

The box set and digital editions present the complete Mermaid Avenue series across multiple discs. Disc 1 comprises Walt Whitman’s Niece, California Stars, Way Over Yonder In The Minor Key, Birds And Ships, Hoodoo Voodoo, She Came Along To Me, At My Window Sad And Lonely, Ingrid Bergman, Christ For President, I Guess I Planted, One By One, Eisler On The Go, Hesitating Beauty, Another Man’s Done Gone, and The Unwelcome Guest. Disc 2 features Airline To Heaven, My Flying Saucer, Feed Of Man, Hot Rod Hotel, I Was Born, Secret Of The Sea, Stetson Kennedy, Remember The Mountain Bed, Blood Of The Lamb, Aginst Th’ Law, All You Fascists, Joe DiMaggio Done It Again, Meanest Man, Black Wind Blowing, and Someday Some Morning Sometime. Disc 3 contains Bugeye Jim, When The Roses Bloom Again, Gotta Work, My Thirty Thousand, Ought To Be Satisfied Now, Listening To The Wind That Blows, Go Down To The Water, Chain Of Broken Hearts, Jailcell Blues, Don’t You Marry, Give Me A Nail, The Jolly Banker, Union Prayer, Be Kind To The Boy On The Road, Ain’ta Gonna Grieve, Tea Bag Blues, and I’m Out To Get. Disc 4 includes California Stars (Live), Aginst Th’ Law (Alternate Version), All You Fascists (Alternate Version), I Guess I Planted (Alternate Version), She Came Along To Me (Alternate Version), Hesitating Beauty (Solo Version), Joe DiMaggio Done It Again (Demo), Psalm (Demo), Hot Rod Hotel (Demo), Christ For President (Solo Version), Give Me A Nail (Demo), Long & Hard (Demo), I Was Born (Demo), At My Window Sad And Lonely (Solo Version), Birds And Ships (Demo), The Unwelcome Guest (Demo), Airline To Heaven (Solo Version), and Hesitating Beauty (Woody’s Home Tape).

Billy Bragg Reflects on Thirty Year Project Longevity

Reflecting on the longevity of the endeavor, Bragg noted to uncut.co.uk:

It’s been over thirty years since Nora first asked me to look at some unpublished lyrics of her father’s.

Billy Bragg