When the written word is put to a melody, something magic happens. Whatever that magic might be has been the center of conversation for musicians and fanatics alike, attempting to describe the feeling of hearing words put to motion is a fool’s errand. In 1998, 25 years ago, singer/songwriter Billy Bragg was given a collection of words written decades prior with no melody to call home. With the help of the great and powerful Wilco, Bragg pieced together a group of arrangements that is as sprawling as it is focused and heartfelt. Mermaid Avenue was released on June 23, 1998 with the team of Bragg and Wilco bringing the words of the late Woody Guthrie to life. Overseen by Guthrie’s daughter herself, Mermaid Avenue is not only a diamond in both of the respective act’s discographies, it is a stamp of validation on Guthrie’s already established legacy.
Let’s take a quick trip through the history of Woody Guthrie, shall we? Born on July 14, 1912, and named after President Woodrow Wilson, Guthrie’s music told tales of the world around him. Like any good folk songwriter, his music was driven by the world’s politics with a strong focus on socialism and was labeled as “protest music” at the time. Guthrie’s father was involved in local politics and was rumored to be associated with the Ku Klux Klan, seemingly sparking Woody’s interests on the opposite side of politics. He grew up in Oklahoma and witnessed the historic Dust Bowl for himself which inspired his 1940 debut, Dust Bowl Ballads. Guthrie was prolific to say the least, after his death in 1967 due to Huntington’s disease, he left behind eight children and a large collection of notebooks containing unused lyrics he penned throughout his life.
The story goes that Woody’s daughter Nora Guthrie reached out to Bragg in 1995 to put some completed lyrics to music. Nora reached out after seeing Bragg perform a tribute to her dad, sourcing lyrics her dad completed between the years of 1939 and 1967. It was Bragg who recruited Wilco to round out this all-star Guthrie tribute band with Wilco receiving their own set of songs to work on in the States while Bragg toyed with his contributions over in Dublin. Nora’s goal was to have these lyrics put into a new light, a more modernized version of what her father was doing with the hopes that his legacy will carry on to the younger generation. Her hopes not only succeeded at the time with Mermaid Avenue being released to wide critical acclaim and garnering a Grammy nod for Best Contemporary Folk Album, but here I am at the ripe age of 24 finding myself fascinated with words written before my parents were even born. Nora’s wishes came to fruition through Bragg and Wilco, for 15 songs this dream team reimagined the words of Woody Guthrie and ushered them into a new generation.
For diehard fans of either Wilco or Bragg, their pairing couldn’t have gone better. The chemistry on Mermaid Avenue transformed these decades-old lyrics into exemplary examples of modern folk. The album’s intro, “Walt Whitman’s Niece”, features an infectious twangy bounce beneath harmonies that would make a church choir jealous. The album is filled with moments like this, incredibly powerful musicianship is set to lyrics written by a man who somehow avoided the concept of time through his art.
Mermaid Avenue sounds stronger than ever. 25 years have gone by since its initial release and even more time has passed since we lost Woody Guthrie, yet both entities have cemented themselves in the canon of folk music. The marriage of these two eras of the genre has been replicated ever since Mermaid Avenue entered the world, but none has done it quite like Wilco and Billy Bragg. Thanks to Nora Guthrie’s dedication to her father’s legacy, we received 15 songs that will continue to stir conversation for another 25 years and beyond.
