Mermaid Avenue

For the Woody Guthrie song, see Mermaid's Avenue.

Mermaid Avenue
Studio album by
Billy Bragg and Wilco
ReleasedJune 23, 1998 (1998-06-23)
StudioTotally Wired Studios, Dublin; Windmill Lane Studios, Dublin; King Size Sound Laboratories, Chicago; Boston
Genre
Length49:20
LabelElektra
ProducerWilco, Billy Bragg, Grant Showbiz
Billy Bragg chronology
Bloke on Bloke
(1997) 		Mermaid Avenue
(1998) 		Reaching to the Converted
(1999)
Wilco chronology
Being There
(1996) 		Mermaid Avenue
(1998) 		Summerteeth
(1999)
Billy Bragg & Wilco chronology
Mermaid Avenue
(1998) 		Mermaid Avenue Vol. II
(2000)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[3]
Chicago Sun-Times[4]
Entertainment WeeklyB+[5]
The Guardian[6]
Los Angeles Times[7]
Pitchfork7.8/10[8]
Rolling Stone[9]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[10]
Spin8/10[11]
The Village VoiceA[12]

Mermaid Avenue is a 1998 album of previously unheard lyrics written by American folk singer Woody Guthrie, put to music written and performed by British singer Billy Bragg and the American band Wilco. The project was the first of several such projects organized by Guthrie's daughter, Nora Guthrie, original director of the Woody Guthrie Foundation and archives. Mermaid Avenue was released on the Elektra Records label on June 23, 1998. A second volume of recordings, Mermaid Avenue Vol. II, followed in 2000 and both were collected in a box set alongside volume three in 2012 as Mermaid Avenue: The Complete Sessions. The projects are named after the song "Mermaid's Avenue", written by Guthrie. This was also the name of the street in Coney Island, New York, on which Guthrie lived. According to American Songwriter Magazine, "The Mermaid Avenue project is essential for showing that Woody Guthrie could illuminate what was going on inside of him as well as he could detail the plight of his fellow man".[13] It was voted number 939 in Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums 3rd Edition (2000). [14]

  1. ^ Jackson, Josh (22 June 2023). "The 70 Best Alt-Country Albums of All Time". Paste. Retrieved 31 May 2024.
  2. ^ Milward, John (3 August 2021). Americanaland: Where Country & Western Met Rock 'n' Roll. Illinois: University of Illinois Press. p. 199. ISBN 9780252052811.
  3. ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Mermaid Avenue – Billy Bragg / Wilco". AllMusic. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
  4. ^ DeRogatis, Jim (21 June 1998). "Billy Bragg & Wilco, 'Mermaid Avenue' (Elektra)". Chicago Sun-Times. Archived from the original on 19 November 2018. Retrieved 17 October 2016.
  5. ^ Browne, David (4 September 1998). "Mermaid Avenue". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 31 May 2013.
  6. ^ Sweeting, Adam (26 June 1998). "Billy Bragg & Wilco: Mermaid Avenue (Elektra)". The Guardian.
  7. ^ Cromelin, Richard (21 June 1998). "Woody Guthrie's Land Is Theirs Too". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 23 March 2017. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
  8. ^ Mohan, Aparna (July 1998). "Billy Bragg & Wilco: Mermaid Avenue". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on 27 December 2005. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
  9. ^ Marcus, Greil (1 June 1998). "Mermaid Avenue". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 31 May 2013.
  10. ^ Kot, Greg (2004). "Wilco". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. pp. 873–74. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
  11. ^ Berrett, Jesse (September 1998). "Billy Bragg & Wilco: Mermaid Avenue". Spin. 14 (9): 184. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
  12. ^ Christgau, Robert (30 June 1998). "Consumer Guide". The Village Voice. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
  13. ^ "Billy Bragg & Wilco: Mermaid Avenue: The Complete Sessions". American Songwriter. Retrieved 19 April 2012.
  14. ^ Colin Larkin, ed. (2000). All Time Top 1000 Albums (3rd ed.). Virgin Books. p. 285. ISBN 0-7535-0493-6.