Mermaid Avenue, Vol. II

MERMAID AVENUE, VOL. II

Mermaid Avenue, Vol. II is a 2000 album of previously unheard lyrics written by American folk singer Woody Guthrie, put to music written and performed by British singer Billy Bragg and American band Wilco. It continues the project originally conceived by Guthrie’s daughter, Nora Guthrie which resulted in the release of Mermaid Avenue in 1998. Both volumes were collected in a 2012 box set along with volume three as Mermaid Avenue: The Complete Sessions. (More from Wikipedia)

Mermaid Avenue, Vol. II followed in 2000; “All You Fascists” was originally released on this album. In 2010, Nina Hagen released an album called Personal Jesus that includes “All You Fascists Bound to Lose”. A box set that collected the two earlier CD's with a third disc of additional music was released in 2012 and called Mermaid Avenue: The Complete Sessions.

(November 2014)

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I have already written about the wonderful Mermaid Avenue Series albums. Leftist English folksinger Billy Bragg and the American rock band Wilco put together music to accompany some of the complete lyric sheets that Woody Guthrie left behind that had no accompanying music – more than a thousand songs in all. In part, Billy Bragg’s liner notes on Mermaid Avenue, Vol. II state: “Woody Guthrie was the first alternative musician. While Hollywood and Tin Pan Alley were busy peddling escapism for the masses, Woody was out there writing songs from a different point of view with a lyrical poetry that captured the awesome majesty of America’s scenery and the dry-as-dust humor of its working folks.”

As terrific as they are, the dozens of songs on these albums only scratch the surface; Billy Bragg said in the liner notes that until these other songs can also be unearthed, “Woody Guthrie has so much more to say to us”.

(March 2015)