“Way over Yonder in the Minor Key”, Billy Bragg, Wilco, Natalie Merchant

This way: Way over Yonder in the Minor Key

This is an album that really shouldn't work. If it did work it would be almost like an academic exercise. Instead it is a fantastic Album bringing words to life from days long ago. The whole LP is brilliant. 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. 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 “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”.  


[Spotify] Way over Yonder in the Minor Key