Personnel: Billy Bragg (vocals, acoustic & electric guitars); Jay Bennett (12-string acoustic & slide guitars, banjo, mandolin, sitar, harmonica, piano, Farfisa & Hammond B-3 organs, acoustic bass, drums, shaker, tambourine, bells, background vocals); Jeff Tweedy (acoustic, electric & 12-string guitars, mandolin, synthesizer, cabasa, background vocals); Bob Egan (slide guitar); Eliza Carthy (violin); Ben Ivitsky (mandolin); Leroy Bach (piano); Mike Henry (background vocals).

Additional personnel: Natalie Merchant (vocals); Corey Harris (acoustic & electric guitars, background vocals).

Producers: Wilco, Billy Bragg, Showbiz.

Engineers: Jerry Boys, Dave Trumfio, Mike Hagler.

Recorded at Totally Wired Studios, Dublin, Ireland; King Size Sound Laboratories & The Loft, Chicago, Illinois; Fort Apache Studios, Boston, Massachussetts. Includes liner notes by Billy Bragg.

MERMAID AVENUE VOL. 2 was nominated for the 2001 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album.

Personnel: Billy Bragg (acoustic guitar); Jeff Tweedy (vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, mandolin, Mellotron); John Stirratt, Natalie Merchant (vocals); Jay Bennett (acoustic 12-string guitar, banjo, organ, shaker, musical saw); Ken Coomer (drums, tambourine, percussion).

Recording information: Totally Wired Studio, Dublin, Ireland.

Like many sequels, Mermaid Avenue, Vol. 2 isn't the equal of its predecessor -- that felt fully realized, where this feels a little patchwork -- yet it is still satisfying on many levels. As on the first, the Billy Bragg-written and sung music is the most convincing since he captures the cadences and spirit of Guthrie's music. They sound like classic, weathered folk songs whereas Wilco's numbers are modern inventions, splicing music that is clearly theirs with Guthrie's words. The chasm between the two artists was apparent on the first, but it's more evident this time around, largely due to the fact that several of Wilco's songs were recorded without Bragg after the release of Mermaid Avenue. This gives the record a strangely disjointed feel that isn't helped by the guest appearances by Natalie Merchant on "I Was Born" and Corey Harris whose vocals overpower "Aginst th' Law." Since Bragg and Wilco are pursuing slightly different directions in the first place, the guest artists only add to the patchwork quality of the record. Still, even with its weaknesses, there are plenty of worthwhile things here from both sides of the spectrum. If Wilco occasionally is a little too somber or introspective, they do have moments where everything aligns perfectly. But, as on the first, it's the Bragg-led numbers that truly catch fire, feeling every bit as warm, funny, and vibrant as Guthrie's best work. His contributions go a long way to making Mermaid Avenue, Vol. 2 a pleasing sequel. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

When Billy Bragg and Wilco completed 1998's MERMAID AVENUE, everyone involved recognized that this ambitious project's overflowing creative juices necessitated a follow-up. Like its predecessor, VOL. II has the aforementioned artists setting a batch of unfinished Woody Guthrie lyrics, provided by the legendary folk singer's daughter Nora, to music. This time out, the approach is harder-edged but once again rambles all over the musical map.

The lo-fi flavored nugget "Meanest Man" finds Bragg affecting a Tom Waits-like delivery, while the snarling rave-up "All You Fascists" indicates that Guthrie may have been folk's first punk. Elsewhere, Wilco flies solo in creating a gloriously Byrdsian aura around the chiming "Secret of the Sea" while Bragg provides music but no accompaniment on the all-American hillbilly hoedown "Joe DiMaggio's Done It Again." Natalie Merchant returns to provide a sweet vocal cameo on the lilting "I Was Born," and blues revivalist Corey Harris gives life to Guthrie's sarcasm on the rollicking "Aginst Th' Law." Other highlights include Jeff Tweedy's Dylanish inflection on the chugging "Airline to Heaven" and Bragg's Bobby Fuller Four-like arrangement of "My Flying Saucer."