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Man in the Sand

Man in the Sand is a 1999 documentary that functions as both a biography of American folk singer-songwriter Woody Guthrie and a chronicle of the creation of the Billy Bragg & Wilco Mermaid Avenue albums (Vol. I (1998), Vol. II (2000), and Vol. III (2012)), which feature songs consisting of previously-unheard Woody Guthrie lyrics set to newly-created music.[1][2]

Man in the Sand
Directed byKim Hopkins
Produced byJuliet De Valero Wills
Christopher Frederick
StarringBilly Bragg
Peter Jenner
Nora Guthrie
Jeff Tweedy
Jay Bennett
John Stirratt
Ken Coomer
Corey Harris
Natalie Merchant
Grant Showbiz
Narrated byNora Guthrie
CinematographyKim Hopkins
Edited bySimon Ardizzone
Distributed byBBC
Release date
  • 1999 (1999)
Running time
89 min.
LanguageEnglish

Synopsis

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In 1995, Nora Guthrie asked English singer-songwriter Billy Bragg to create music to accompany lyrics written by her father, Woody Guthrie, decades earlier, and record an album. Bragg invited American band Wilco to back him on the recordings, and Jeff Tweedy and Jay Bennett from the band wrote music for additional Guthrie lyrics.

Throughout the film, Nora narrates the story of her father's life, while Bragg is seen traveling to various locations relevant to Woody Guthrie's life, such as Okemah, Oklahoma (his hometown), Pampa, Texas (where he met his first wife), and New York City (where he made his home after leaving California). Much time is also spent at the recording sessions with Bragg and Wilco in Chicago (December 1997) and Dublin (January 1998), and with Bragg and Natalie Merchant in Boston (March 1998), that produced most of the tracks for all three albums. Corey Harris also participated in the recording.

Music

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The following songs are featured in the film (in order of appearance):

  • "Way Over Yonder in the Minor Key" – Words: Woody Guthrie (1946); Music: Billy Bragg (1997)
  • "California Stars" – Words: Guthrie; Music: Jay Bennett/Jeff Tweedy (1997)
  • "This Land Is Your Land" – Words & Music: Guthrie
  • "Pastures of Plenty" – Words & Music: Guthrie
  • "I Ain't Got No Home" – Words & Music: Guthrie
  • "Here Comes the Train" – Words & Music: Corey Harris (1998)
  • "Ingrid Bergman" – Words: Guthrie (1950); Music: Bragg (1996)
  • "Ideology" – Words & Music: Bragg (1986)
  • "Between the Wars" – Words & Music: Bragg (1985)
  • "She Came Along to Me" – Words: Guthrie (1942); Music: Bragg/Tweedy/Bennett (1998)
  • "Go Down to the Water" – Words: Guthrie (1945); Music: Bragg (1997)
  • "Feed of Man" – Words: Guthrie; Music: Tweedy (1998)
  • "Birds and Ships" – Words: Guthrie; Music: Bragg (1997)
  • "Birds and Ships" – Words: Guthrie; Music: Tweedy (1997)
  • "All You Fascists" – Words: Guthrie (1942); Music: Bragg (1997)
  • "When the Roses Bloom Again" – Words: Will D. Cobb (1901); Music: Tweedy
  • "The Unwelcome Guest" – Words: Guthrie (1940); Music: Bragg (1996)
  • "I Was Born" – Words: Guthrie (1950); Music: Bragg (1996)
  • "At My Window Sad and Lonely" – Words: Guthrie (1939); Music: Tweedy (1997)
  • "Another Man's Done Gone" – Words: Guthrie; Music: Bragg (1998)
  • "Hoodoo Voodoo" – Words: Guthrie; Music: Wilco/Bragg/Harris

The VHS release of the film came with a CD titled 'Mermaid Avenue' Demo's, which consisted of five of Bragg's demo recordings for the project (these recordings were also included on the DVD release of the film):

  1. "Birds and Ships"
  2. "She Came Along to Me"
  3. "I Guess I Planted"
  4. "Eisler on the Go"
  5. "The Unwelcome Guest"

(All songs: words by Guthrie & music by Bragg)

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Myers, Mitch (2018-12-18). "As Wilco's 'Mermaid' Turns 20, an Original Woody Guthrie Tape Is Found (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved 2023-04-28.
  2. ^ Edgmon, Mary Jo Guthrie (2015-11-17). Woody's Road: Woody Guthrie's Letters Home, Drawings, Photos, and Other Unburied Treasures. Routledge. p. 151. ISBN 978-1-317-24879-8.
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