As much as I would love to say every physical piece of music in Villain Towers is on vinyl, the reality is that substantial amounts are on CD. It’s no real surprise given that CDs were the preferred, and indeed, often the only format for most of the 90s and a substantial part of the 00s.
Given that I’ve been offering up some singles that I own on 7″ and 12″, it would be foolish not to acknowledge those that I have on CD which is why this particular feature is being launched.
Ideally, the singles in this series would only have been released on CD but it won’t be the case. However, it will likely be that the CD single was the only one at that time which was widely available, with very few record stores at the time stocking vinyl. As in the case of the first in the series.
June 1998 saw the release of Mermaid Avenue, an album in which Billy Bragg and Wilco came together to write and record music for previously unheard lyrics written by Woody Guthrie that had long been in the trust of Woody’s daughter, Nora.
There were more than a thousand sets of lyrics that had never been put to music, and Nora asked Billy if he’d be interested in doing so. Slightly daunted and unnerved by the scale of the task, Billy approached Wilco, and the band got on board.It was decided, at an early stage, that, rather than trying to come up with tunes that were totally in keeping with Woody Guthrie’s style, a contemporary approach should be taken.
In some cases, Billy went off and wrote the tune, while in others it fell to Jeff Tweedy and/or Jay Bennett and there was the occasional joint collaboration. The sole single lifted from the album was one of Billy’s tunes, but very much a sound that was delivered by the four members of Wilco.
mp3: Billy Bragg and Wilco – Way Over Yonder In The Minor Key
The addition of a violin and accordion make this just about the most folk-like of all the songs on the album, and the song is really enhanced by a guest vocal from Natalie Merchant. I had no idea the single had been released on 7″ vinyl, but there’s one for sale via Discogs from a seller in Canada.
Turns out the vinyl version has the same two tracks on its b-side as were made available on the CD single, neither of which had been included on the album, and both of which have Billy on lead vocal.
mp3: Billy Bragg & Wilco – My Thirty Thousand
mp3: Billy Bragg & Wilco – Bugeye Jim
In an era where the UK charts extended into a Top 100, Way Over Yonder In The Minor Key made it in, for one week only, at #89 on 21 November 1998.
THE NEW VINYL VILLAIN 