BRAGG,BILLY & WILCO - MERMAID AVENUE VOL. II White Eco-Mix Vinyl LP

Expected: 12/11/2026

Indie Exclusive 2LP on White Eco-Mix Vinyl

Two years after the first Mermaid Avenue, Billy Bragg and Wilco came back with a second set of Woody Guthrie lyrics that had never been sung. Elektra released Mermaid Avenue Vol. II on May 30, 2000. Guthrie wrote these words between 1939 and 1955. The music came from Bragg, Jeff Tweedy and Jay Bennett between 1995 and 2000, recorded in Boston, Chicago and Dublin.

Tweedy and Bennett wrote the music for "Airline to Heaven," which opens the record, and Tweedy alone wrote "Someday Some Morning Sometime," which closes it. Bragg set most of what sits between, including "All You Fascists," "Stetson Kennedy" and "Joe DiMaggio Done It Again."

"Blood of the Lamb" is Guthrie's rewrite of "Are You Washed in the Blood?", a gospel standard Elisha A. Hoffman wrote in 1878. Natalie Merchant sings lead on "I Was Born." Corey Harris sings and plays acoustic guitar on "Aginst Th' Law," Eliza Carthy plays violin on "Joe DiMaggio Done It Again," and Leroy Bach plays piano on "Remember the Mountain Bed," which at nearly six and a half minutes is the longest track here.

The album peaked at No. 88 on the Billboard 200, No. 45 in Australia, No. 54 in Canada and No. 61 in the UK.

Tracks:

Side A

1. Airline to Heaven
2. My Flying Saucer
3. Feed of Man

Side B

1. Hot Rod Hotel
2. I Was Born
3. Secret of the Sea
4. Stetson Kennedy

Side C

1. Remember the Mountain Bed
2. Blood of the Lamb
3. Aginst Th' Law

Side D

1. All You Fascists
2. Joe DiMaggio Done It Again
3. Meanest Man
4. Black Wind Blowing
5. Someday Some Morning Sometime

Label: Craft Recordings