Deal ! It's gonna be fun to do, since I agree with the majority here: for me, Volume 2 is as good as the first, if not better – if only the Wilco songs are concerned. But as soon as we take the Bragg songs into account, it's a whole different story… Back to Someday, Some Morning, Sometimes. I think this was the best “closer” of any Wilco record up to that date. In a Future Age could’ve been a contender (and it's quite similar in spirit and tone) if not for the two bonus (?) songs on Summerteeth. And as much as I like Dreamer in My Dreams, it’s more of a joyful joke. In the whole Wilco canon, they proved themselves better with opening songs anyway, only a handful of their closing tracks being true highlights. But this is definitely one of them.
Listening to the playlist on shuffle. (I gotta say the person who put this together has good taste! )
"Someday Some Morning Sometime" is a nice little track. The bell/delay effect is pretty cool. The lyrics are simple and sweet. All in all, this is a good track, but there's nothing about it that really stands out to me. I suppose it's one of my least favorite on the album, but that's largely because the lyrics don't seem "important" or "significant" in comparison to most of the other songs. My favorite part of the song is right near the end when the acoustic guitar and the bells chime gorgeously together. It's a suitable way to end the album, although I can't help but think that "Remember the Mountain Bed" might have worked better as a lead in to this one, in the penultimate spot on the track list.
"Someday Some Morning Sometime" is a fantastic song and closing track. I don't have much more to add to what others have said. It's wonderful. I've seen the band do it once, 2010/03/26 at the National Theater in Richmond, VA. Looking now, I'm surprised to see this was the first time it was ever played live by the group. If memory serves, they did it as part of a mid-show all-acoustic set. They played a staggering 36 songs that night, including Big Star's "Thank You, Friends" and many deep cuts. It was the first time (and come to think of it, the only time) I took my wife and two younger brothers to a Wilco show. Jeff's played it more often at his solo shows, but I haven't seen one of those performances of it. I'll add that Loose Fur is a critical step in tracking the band's evolution from the quartet of Tweedy/Bennett/Stirratt/Koomer to what it became with YHF and beyond. Absolutely essential listening. The second Loose Fur record, less so, but still a fun diversion.
Yep. I'm still of the view that the next two Wilco albums have a lot more in common with Being There and even A.M. than they do with Summerteeth. That's probably why I like them so much.
Here's a first draft of a Jeff-sung-only playlist combining both of the first two volumes, with some deletions I wouldn't mind to lose. It would be a hell of a record. 01. Airline to Heaven 02. At My Window Sad and Lonely 03. Secret of the Sea 04. California Stars 05. One by One 06. Hoodoo Voodoo 07. Remember the Mountain Bed 08. Hesitating Beauty 09. Blood of the Lamb 10. Someday Some Morning Sometime 11. Another Man's Done Gone
We've been thinking along similar lines. I was just thinking the other day that, rare among most of the bands I enjoy, Wilco doesn't really do good album closers. Only the final tracks on Yankee Hotel Foxtrot and The Whole Love rank among their best material (again I haven't heard the three most recent Wilco albums) and most of their other closing tracks are among my least favorites on the respective albums.
As for Mermaid Avenue, Vol. II as a whole, I guess I'm the outlier here in that I prefer it over the first volume by a surprisingly wide margin. My personal "best of the MAs" playlist would feature most of this album but only about half of the first one. Even the weakest songs here are substantially better to me than the weakest songs on the first release. I will agree with most, however, that Wilco's songs are the strongest on this album. My ranking of the Mermaid Avenue, Vol. II songs in order of preference: Remember The Mountain Bed Secret Of The Sea Airline To Heaven Black Wind Blowing All You Fascists Feed Of Man My Flying Saucer Aginst Th' Law Stetson Kennedy Joe DiMaggio Done It Again Hot Rod Hotel Someday Some Morning Sometime Blood Of The Lamb Meanest Man I Was Born My ranking of Wilco albums (so far) in order of preference: 1. Being There 2. A.M. 3. Mermaid Avenue, Vol. II 4. Mermaid Avenue 5. Summerteeth
Tell me if I'm wrong, but it seems like the Billy Bragg & Wilco project, as a whole, began with Nora Guthrie contacting Bragg as a kind of rightful political heir to folklorist and communist Guthrie. And it was Bragg who hired Wilco as an Americana backing band but got way more than he bargained for. At the first volume, Wilco was an up and coming interesting contributor but Bragg was probably the main attraction to most. And it seems to me that, by the time the second volume was released, those roles had reversed, both commercially and artistically. That's my hot take, anyway.
There definitely are a lot of politics around the band, so much so that I left a Wilco Facebook group because it regularly got nasty. I feel fortunate that I got into Wilco around this time - Summerteeth, then Mermaid 1&2, then AM. With Yankee I became a diehard. Having Summerteeth as an entry point put me right on the fence between V1.0 and V2.0.
I think this is generally correct, with perhaps a few changes. I don't know if I would label either Guthrie or Bragg as "communists". I also don't think that Bragg approached Wilco with the idea that they would serve as his backing band as much as a collaborator - that they'd write songs together as well as separately for the project.
Well, I said I'd post it tomorrow, but what else are Saturdays for if not posting cat photos on Twitter, testing out music playlists and exploring one’s collection? Here are my picks for an album composed solely of Jeff Tweedy lead vocals from all three Mermaid Avenue volumes plus B-sides. These are not arranged in order of how much I like them. This a running order designed for flow. Songs that didn’t make the cut are not implied to be “bad” - they just didn’t fit the mood/theme that I settled on. Mostly I have kept the tunes with lyrics about relationships and ponderings about memory and mortality from the collection. Wilco’s Mermaid Avenue 1. Airline To Heaven - song that has both a long fade in and fade out. It serves as a “takeoff”. 2. California Stars 3. Feed Of Man 4. When The Roses Bloom Again 5. At My Window Sad And Lonely [alt. version] *** 6. Somebody Some Morning Sometime 7. Hesitating Beauty 8. Secret Of The Sea 9. One By One 10. Remember The Mountain Bed 11. Listening To The Wind That Blows 12. Another Man’s Done Gone Bonus Track: 13. Airline To Heaven [alt. version] *** *** these two tracks are on the Alpha Mike Foxtrot collection. They are not “Tweedy solo” as they are sometimes labeled, but they are alt. takes of the songs in which the band contributions are sparser. If Being There and Summerteeth can each have two versions of the same song then so can this album, and by the way: I love “Airline To Heaven”. If Wilco had released this album and no other information about the sessions then I’d rank it right next to Being There as their best album yet to that point.
As a matter of fact, their three most recent albums go against our shared theory, especially Ode to Joy, of which the last song (An Empty Corner) is most definitely a highlight (more so than the opener !). The sequencing of that record is nothing short of extraordinary. Here's my take on the Jeff sung best of. To keep things simple, sides are devolved to their respective Volumes (mostly in order), with my favorite vol 3. songs thrown in. Great flow. "Tweedy Avenues" (edit : or "Tweedy's Mermaids") Side 1 California Stars When the Roses Bloom Again Chain of Broken Hearts At My Window Sad and Lonely One By One Another Man’s Done Gone Side 2 Airline to Heaven Listening to the Wind That Blows Secrets of the Sea Joe Di Maggio Did it Again Remember the Mountain Bed Someday Some Morning Sometimes
I put a little playlist together after dirkster suggested it! Been messing around with the order and came up with this. I like the first song and last song sharing a melody. Opening with the gentle breeze of "When the Roses Bloom Again" and ending with the the darker sounding "Blood of the Lamb". Wilco Avenue Side 1 When the Roses Bloom Again California Stars Feed of Man At My Window Sad and Lonely Chain of Broken Hearts Another Man's Done Gone Side 2 Airline to Heaven Remember the Mountain Bed One By One Hesitating Beauty Someday Some Morning Sometime Blood of the Lamb
I tried but can’t whittle it down. A few reflections overall: You could make a very palatable, commercial 10-track Americana album out of this. Part of what I love about Wilco’s contributions to this project is their breadth. Making a greatest hits sacrifices little detours like Joe DiMaggio, which I really enjoy. Another part of the joy is that whatever conflict there was behind the scenes, I like the voices on these albums. Billy and Jeff trading back and forth makes for a good combo. And then Nathalie and Corey showing up here and there just adds to it. The overall concept really works for me. So as much as a Wilco-only playlist is top shelf stuff, I like the whole package. If you haven’t heard the real Jeff Tweedy solo version of At My Window (the unreleased version, not the band version used as a b-side), you should. It would make my top ten for these sessions and I love the full band versions to begin with. Surprised to see Chain of Broken Hearts making the cut for several of you. That’s definite leftover material for me, but I’ll discuss that tomorrow!
My list, not sequenced: California Stars Hoodoo Voodoo At My Window Sad And Lonely One By One Another Man’s Done Gone Secret Of The Sea Remember the Mountain Bed Blood of the Lamb Someday Some Morning Sometime When The Roses Bloom Again Listening To That Wind That Blows
I've greatly enjoyed discovering more about Vol. II. It's an album I listened to a couple of times and then filed away when it came out.
"Someday Some Morning Sometime" is like an addendum to "Hesitating Beauty." I like the dreamy, fragmentary quality of this take on the theme. "Hesitating Beauty" is kind of a lark; he may even be teasing Nora a bit. This sounds like he's actually sharing a quiet, intimate moment with his sweetheart, murmuring these words in her ear, or perhaps just thinking to himself while he watches her sleep. The bells and vibes are a nice touch, like a celeste. Lately, Jeff has been going for this kind of atmosphere for entire albums, which has been tough for me to get into, but for one album-closing track? Beautiful.
Mermaid Avenue, Volume III A third volume of Mermaid Avenue cuts was included in the Mermaid Avenue: The Complete Sessions box set from 2012. (This is actually the only way I own all three Mermaid Avenue discs. It's a beautiful set). I've never personally thought of the album as an actual 'official' release, seeing as it was not released individually. For me, it is just a disc of outtakes. There are 17 tracks on it, which makes it a bit of a doozy to sit through. I had only played it two times that I can remember before yesterday when I revisited it for this thread. My assessment is similar to Volume 2--simply amplified. The Wilco songs are good (though nothing here is better than anything selected for the first two volumes). The Bragg songs are often samey and not all that interesting to me. And the disc is mostly comprised of Bragg songs, as it seems he had more outtakes. There are also a couple of tracks with guest vocals on them, but those leave little to no impression on me. My two favorite Billy Bragg songs are "Give Me a Nail" (it has full band arrangement rather than just Billy and his resonator...) and "Union Prayer" (which is quite good and better than some of his stuff on Vol. 2). I absolutely cannot stand "Be Kind to the Boy on the Road." I think it is just dreadful and easily the worst track from the entire sessions. Billy Bragg should never ever attempt to sing in falsetto. Jeff Tweedy sings lead on the following tracks: When the Roses Bloom Again: Listening to the Wind That Blows Chain of Broken Hearts The Jolly Banker Aint'a Gonna Grieve The first two are the definite highlights of the disc for me. We've already discussed 'When the Roses Bloom Again' a bit when we talked about 'Blood of the Lamb.' They have a shared melody but they are still quite different from one another and equally enjoyable. I love the dark feeling of 'Blood of the Lamb,' but I'm a sucker for this more romantic, wistful side of Wilco so I probably favor 'Roses.' 'Listening to the Wind That Blows' is my favorite Volume III song. I've mentioned--piano is my favorite instrument and I just love songs like this that feature piano heavily. Jay's playing is beautiful here and the song itself is gorgeous. If anything on Volume III deserved to make one of the first two discs, it is this one. 'The Jolly Banker' is kind of a charming comedy number but nothing special. 'Chain of Broken Hearts' and 'Aint'a Gonna Grieve' are both definite 'outtake' material for me. Not bad, but not great either and both are kind of country-flavored. To play along with yesterday's game, here is my personal 'Jeff Songs' version of Mermaid Avenue featuring tracks from all three volumes: PW's Mermaid Avenue Airline to Heaven California Stars Listening to the Wind That Blows Secret of the Sea At My Window Sad and Lonely Someday Some Morning Sometime One by One Blood of the Lamb Hesitating Beauty Remember the Mountain Bed Another Man's Done Gone When the Roses Bloom Again I did not include: Hoodoo Voodoo, Christ for President, Feed of Man, Joe DiMaggio Done It Again, Chain of Broken Hearts, Jolly Banker, Aint'a Gonna Grieve Yes, this disc of 12 songs would rank as one of my favorite Wilco albums. Top 3 most likely! Please use today to discuss Mermaid Avenue Volume III.
In addition to the Vol. III outtakes, Jay Bennett released three more: No Church Tonite, Little White Cottage and Cajun Angel. The first two were on The Palace at 4 A.M. and the latter was on Bigger Than Blue. My favorite of the three is No Church Tonite and recommend seeking it out if you haven’t heard it. (I couldn’t find it on YouTube).
I think there’s much to love in the four vol.3 Wilco tracks dating from the original sessions. (I like The Jolly Banker just fine, but it was recorded by a completely different Wilco line-up, about 10 years after the sessions so it does not belong here in my opinion (plus it’s a cover, since the music was written by Woody Guthrie himself) Ain’ta Gonna Grieve is pure pastiche, its only flaw being that it’s almost too competent at mimicking 65 era Dylan, with nothing very interesting added to the proceedings. As already discussed, When the Roses Bloom Again is a classic, at least top 5 in these sessions. Everything about it is perfect, timeless, just plain extraordinary. The playing, singing, the warmth and mythical civil war atmosphere it conveys, its infinite regretful sadness, it may well be the most beautiful genuine “americana” song Wilco ever did, with the gentle touches of pedal steel, the Hammond solos, the wonderful instrumental breaks, it’s just exquisite, like a John Wesley Harding/Big Pink/Harvest Moon perfect mix. I have a real fondness for Chain of Broken Hearts, because it’s so catchy (I always like Jeff Tweedy in a catchy melodic mood) and easy flowing. It’s not a real highlight by any means, but it’s charming, and Jeff sings it like a Golden Smog Down by the Old Mainstream outtake, which I'm always in favor of. I agree with you, Madam @Parachute Woman : Listening to the Wind that Blows is the unsung masterpiece of the Mermaid Avenue project, and one of the best Tweedy tunes in his “early years” (Anodyne/A.M /Golden Smog) vein. I first got this song as part of a live Tweedy solo recording. For a long time, whenever a new Wilco LP was announced, I looked at the tracklisting hoping that song would be included, as I wasn’t aware it was a Mermaid Avenue outtake !! It’s so delicate and sad, thanks in part to Jay's touch on the piano, and I love how Jeff’s voice cracks in all the right places, as only young Tweedy’s voice could do. As a studio take, it’s not entirely successful, though, it may be the only Wilco song of the whole M.A. project that does not necessarily feel complete as a recording. But the Jeff Tweedy lead guitar is fascinating, as it clearly foreshadows his Ghost is Born sound. At least two of these "Vol.3" songs would make Vol.1 and Vol.2 even better records than they already are !
Mermaid Ave. Vol III I like all of these songs, with the exception (as noted by PW) of when Billy Bragg attempts a falsetto voice on “Be Kind To The Boy On The Road”. Boy does that one stand out and not work! Two of Bragg’s tracks on here were already released as Bsides on the “Way Over Yonder In A Minor Key” CD-single back when Vol. I was released: Bugeye Jim and My Thirty Thousand. As noted previously, Wilco’s “When The Roses Bloom Again” was previously issued on a CD-sampler that came free with a magazine and had been a much coveted song. It’s nice that all these were included here for people that missed them when they came out. However, it’s odd that two of the other Wilco outtakes were not included: Airline To Heaven (alt. version) from a 2000 movie Jesus’ Son and At My Window Sad And Lonely (Jeff Tweedy solo version) from a free promo CD that was given to customers who purchased the original Mermaid Ave. album in the stores. Both of these Wilco alternates are excellent and this is a curious omission since Vol. III is supposedly mopping up all the odd ends with this project. Luckily both can be found on Alpha Mike Foxtrot: This version of At My Window Sad and Lonely mostly features Tweedy on acoustic guitar with harmonica, but an organ is also mixed in the background as the song progresses. I like the sparse arrangement.
