13th Floor New Song Of The Day: Wilco – Myrna Lee

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Myrna Lee is a previously-unreleased track taken from the sessions of Wilco’s first album, A.M.

That 1995 album, along with 1996’s Being There, will be reissued on December 1st by Rhino Records. These Deluxe Editions will feature a clutch of previously unheard tracks, of which Myrna Lee, sung by bassist John Strirratt, is just one.

Here’s the record company blurb:

Wilco continues to make excellent records and play shows that stir the soul, but the group invented the terrain it continues to explore more than 20 years ago with its first two albums – A.M. (1995) and BEING THERE (1996). On December 1, Rhino Records will revisit those landmark albums with remastered versions of the originals expanded with rare and unreleased music that will be new to even the most dedicated fans.

A.M.: DELUXE EDITION includes the original album plus eight unreleased bonus tracks and will be available on CD and double-LP. BEING THERE: DELUXE EDITION features never-before-heard songs, alternate takes and live performances and will be available as a five-CD collection and a four-LP set.

After his former band Uncle Tupelo broke up, singer/songwriter Jeff Tweedy took the bulk of the band—most notably bassist John Stirratt and drummer Ken Coomer—and quickly recorded Wilco’s 1995 debut, A.M. The album includes several fan favourites like ‘Casino Queen’ and the funny-sad ode to drunk driving and unrequited love, ‘Passenger Side.’

The new A.M.: DELUXE EDITION offers up eight unreleased bonus tracks that feature an early version of ‘Outtasite (Outta Mind)’ and ‘When You Find Trouble,’ which is the last studio recording made by Uncle Tupelo. In the album’s liner note, Stirratt writes ‘Listening back to records 15 to 20 years later, I’m always taken with the confident but guileless quality of bands in their 20s, that strange mixture of innocence and conviction, and this is one of those records—we were barely a band at that point, just trying to make some noise.’

With its sophomore effort, the double album BEING THERE, Wilco maintained the gravitas of roots music it established on A.M. without being hemmed in by it, creating the 21st century version of folk music it later perfected on records like YANKEE HOTEL FOXTROT and THE WHOLE LOVE. BEING THERE mixes happy-go-lucky rockers (‘Monday’) and ballads (‘Red-Eyed And Blue’), with two signature songs from the Wilco canon – ‘Misunderstood’ and ‘Sunken Treasure.’

BEING THERE: DELUXE EDITION builds on the original with 15 bonus tracks released for the first time, including alternate versions of tracks ‘I Got You’ and ‘Say You Miss Me.’ The CD and digital version also features Wilco’s 20-song performance at the Troubadour from November 12, 1996, combining songs from A.M. (‘I Must Be High’ and a full-throttle punk version of ‘Passenger Side,’) BEING THERE (‘Kingpin’ and ‘Forget The Flowers’) and a few Uncle Tupelo tracks (‘The Long Cut’ and ‘Gun.’)

Pre-order A.M.: DELUXE EDITION here: https://wmnz.link/wilcoampr

Pre-order BEING THERE: DELUXE EDITION here: https://wmnz.link/wilcobeingtherepr

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