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Various Artists - March 16-20, 1992 (1992)

Track listing:
  1. Grindstone Uncle Tupelo 3:16
  2. Coalminers Uncle Tupelo 2:33
  3. Wait Up uncle tupelo 2:09
  4. Criminals Uncle Tupelo 2:20
  5. Shaky Ground Uncle Tupelo 2:49
  6. Black Eye Uncle Tupelo 2:19
  7. Moonshiner Uncle Tupelo 4:24
  8. I Wish My Baby Was Born Uncle Tupelo 1:39
  9. Atomic Power Uncle Tupelo 1:51
  10. Lilli Schull Uncle Tupelo 4:23
  11. Warfare Uncle Tupelo 3:43
  12. Fatal Wound Uncle Tupelo 4:09
  13. Sandusky Uncle Tupelo 9:18

Notes


Produced by R.E.M.'s Peter Buck, March 16-20, 1992 represents Uncle Tupelo's full evolution into a true country unit; with the exception of the eerie squalls of guitar feedback which haunt Jeff Tweedy's mesmerizing "Wait Up," there's virtually no evidence of the trio's punk heritage. Instead, the all-acoustic album — a combination of Tupelo originals and well-chosen traditional songs — taps into the very essence of backwoods culture, its music rooted in the darkest corners of Appalachian life. An inescapable sense of dread grips this collection, from the large-scale threat depicted in the stunning rendition of the Louvin Brothers' "The Great Atomic Power" to the fatalism of the worker anthems "Grindstone" and "Coalminers"; even the character studies, including a revelatory "Moonshiner," are relentlessly grim. A vivid glimpse at the harsh realities of rural existence, March 16-20, 1992 is a brilliant resurrection of a bygone era of American folk artistry.