Billy Bragg & Wilco - Mermaid Avenue Vol. III [Indie Exclusive]

For more than a decade, Mermaid Avenue Vol. III was the record fans knew existed but could not hear. Billy Bragg and Wilco had recorded dozens of songs built on Woody Guthrie's unrecorded lyrics, and two albums only accounted for some of them. The rest stayed in the vault until 2012, when 17 previously unreleased recordings from the original sessions finally surfaced as part of Mermaid Avenue: The Complete Sessions.

These are not leftovers. "When the Roses Bloom Again" is as lovely as anything on the first two volumes, "Listening to the Wind That Blows" drifts in on a slow country sway, and "The Jolly Banker" delivers Guthrie's sarcasm with a smile. Elsewhere the mood swings from the workingman's stomp of "Gotta Work" to the gospel plea of "Union Prayer," with both bands sounding relaxed and fully inside the material.

Heard on its own, Vol. III shows how deep the original sessions ran, and how much of Guthrie's range Bragg and Wilco captured the first time around. It completes the picture the earlier albums began.

This limited indie exclusive edition presses the standalone 2LP set on white eco-mix vinyl, with all 17 tracks across four sides. It is available only through independent record stores, and it will not be around for long.