Way back in the 1900s, Woody Guthrie’s daughter, Nora, invited British singer/songwriter/activist Billy Bragg access to a treasure trove of her father’s previously unheard lyrics that had yet to be married to music.
Nora’s wish was that a contemporary musician could turn some of the thousands of lyrics into songs that weren’t imitations of her father’s “This Land Is Your Land” style, but something different.
After Bragg saw the unmined gold, he called up Jeff Tweedy and Wilco and together they put together 50 songs from the lyrics.
Fifteen of those tunes made it into 1998’s Mermaid Avenue (named for the Coney Island street where the Guthries lived) including “California Stars” which Wilco has performed nearly 1,000 times and “Way Over Yonder in the Minor Key” which Bragg has rocked 275 times.
read more at: Setlist.fm