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Inside Tracks #6 - Billy Bragg & Wilco
As one of the UK's most exciting new folk talents, Jesse Quin is following quickly in the footsteps of Johnny Flynn, Mumford & Sons and Alessi's Ark in planting the folk revival flag firmly in the rain-soaked soil of London Town. Alongside his group The Mets, Quin's relentless gigging and unquestionable knack for penning sprightly, melodious chunks of nu-folk exuberance have earned him a reputation as folk music's 'most-likely-to'.
Before he lassoes the mainstream entirely Jesse kindly volunteered to pen a special edition of FDM.com's 'Inside Tracks' column, discussing the merit of one of his favourite album's lost tracks. With Inside Tracks #6 he talks us through the impact of 'One By One' from Billy Bragg & Wilco's album 'Mermaid Avenue Vol.1'.
Artist: Billy Bragg & Wilco
Album: Mermaid Avenue Vol. I
Song: 'One By One'
Background to the album: Well, I guess everybody knows this record. Everybody loves it. Sorry not to pick something more up to date and cool by the way but this was the first song that came to mind and I'm also crazy about it.
The way I heard it was that in 1995 Nora Guthrie got in touch with Billy Bragg with a big stack of lyrics that Woody Guthrie left behind after he died and asked him whether he might be able to use them to make into some new songs. Of course he accepted. Possibly knowing that he was a little too British to truly do them justice he in turn got in touch with Wilco to see if they would help by filling the role of backing band and co-writers. Jeff Tweedy sings on quite a few numbers on the final recordings as well. Billy Bragg ain't proud. You have to like that. Although, I really love some of the songs he sings just as much as the Tweedy ones. The album itself is like a Beatles record in the way that it jumps from loud to quiet and happy to sad. I guess that's like all great records. I think the album was named after the street Guthrie used to live on. It was released in 1998.
Legend has it that Woody himself asked a young Bob Dylan to take the lyrics and write songs with them but it wasn't to be. If you've read Dylan's Chronicles you might remember the story.
Why this song?:I guess it's one of those songs that sounds really simple and everything just fits so perfectly. It definitely takes a few pages from The Band's production book.
I love that because it has 'one by one' at the beginning of every line and because it fades in and out it feels like it's just been playing forever and it'll carry on forever. Like you're just driving past the band at the side of the road. It's got this great big Tom sound and the drumming is never too loud or too soft. The whole band are super dynamic, sounds like they played it together in the room rather than bit by bit and every time the drums push or pull so does everyone else. It also has some of the most beautiful and haunting pedal steel ever played. What else makes it great...um...obviously the lyrics are pretty much perfect. Someone once told me that Jeff Tweedy gets these completely paralysing migraines that just cripple him. I think it sounds a little bit like you can hear it in his singing. It's one of the most beautiful vocal performances I ever heard. 'One By One' also reminds me of when my girlfriend and I first got together. We listened to this record A LOT. Although that wasn't in 1998! Anyway, if you don't already own it you've really missed out. Go get it!
What the critics say:
Rolling Stone - Four Stars
"Mermaid Avenue is not the place to discover Woody Guthrie; it may not even be the place to discover Wilco or Billy Bragg. The record is a thing in itself, perhaps standing outside the stories told by the careers of its principals, as if already looking back on all their failures, saying this time you got it right".
Watch:
'Man In The Sand', the documentary of the making of the album. Although, I still haven't seen it myself.' http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhm27uXG6bg
Words: Jesse Quin
Before he lassoes the mainstream entirely Jesse kindly volunteered to pen a special edition of FDM.com's 'Inside Tracks' column, discussing the merit of one of his favourite album's lost tracks. With Inside Tracks #6 he talks us through the impact of 'One By One' from Billy Bragg & Wilco's album 'Mermaid Avenue Vol.1'.
Artist: Billy Bragg & Wilco
Album: Mermaid Avenue Vol. I
Song: 'One By One'
Background to the album: Well, I guess everybody knows this record. Everybody loves it. Sorry not to pick something more up to date and cool by the way but this was the first song that came to mind and I'm also crazy about it.
The way I heard it was that in 1995 Nora Guthrie got in touch with Billy Bragg with a big stack of lyrics that Woody Guthrie left behind after he died and asked him whether he might be able to use them to make into some new songs. Of course he accepted. Possibly knowing that he was a little too British to truly do them justice he in turn got in touch with Wilco to see if they would help by filling the role of backing band and co-writers. Jeff Tweedy sings on quite a few numbers on the final recordings as well. Billy Bragg ain't proud. You have to like that. Although, I really love some of the songs he sings just as much as the Tweedy ones. The album itself is like a Beatles record in the way that it jumps from loud to quiet and happy to sad. I guess that's like all great records. I think the album was named after the street Guthrie used to live on. It was released in 1998.
Legend has it that Woody himself asked a young Bob Dylan to take the lyrics and write songs with them but it wasn't to be. If you've read Dylan's Chronicles you might remember the story.
Why this song?:I guess it's one of those songs that sounds really simple and everything just fits so perfectly. It definitely takes a few pages from The Band's production book.
I love that because it has 'one by one' at the beginning of every line and because it fades in and out it feels like it's just been playing forever and it'll carry on forever. Like you're just driving past the band at the side of the road. It's got this great big Tom sound and the drumming is never too loud or too soft. The whole band are super dynamic, sounds like they played it together in the room rather than bit by bit and every time the drums push or pull so does everyone else. It also has some of the most beautiful and haunting pedal steel ever played. What else makes it great...um...obviously the lyrics are pretty much perfect. Someone once told me that Jeff Tweedy gets these completely paralysing migraines that just cripple him. I think it sounds a little bit like you can hear it in his singing. It's one of the most beautiful vocal performances I ever heard. 'One By One' also reminds me of when my girlfriend and I first got together. We listened to this record A LOT. Although that wasn't in 1998! Anyway, if you don't already own it you've really missed out. Go get it!
What the critics say:
Rolling Stone - Four Stars
"Mermaid Avenue is not the place to discover Woody Guthrie; it may not even be the place to discover Wilco or Billy Bragg. The record is a thing in itself, perhaps standing outside the stories told by the careers of its principals, as if already looking back on all their failures, saying this time you got it right".
Watch:
'Man In The Sand', the documentary of the making of the album. Although, I still haven't seen it myself.' http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhm27uXG6bg
Words: Jesse Quin
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