Nonesuch Records Announces 20th Anniversary Deluxe Edition of Wilco’s A Ghost is Born

Today, Nonesuch Records has announced a deluxe edition of Wilco’s Grammy-winning 2004 album A Ghost is Born, due out February 7, 2025. The forthcoming box set will include either nine vinyl LPs and four CDs or nine CDs (including the album, alternate versions, outtakes and demos) that present the full making of the album, as well as a concert recording from Wilco’s show at the Wang Center in Boston and their “fundamentals” workshop sessions. The release will also include liner notes written by the great Bob Mehr and a 48-page hardcover book of previously unpublished photos.

To coincide with the announcement, an alternate version of “Handshake Drugs,” which was recorded during a studio session at Sear Sound 21 years ago this month, has been released. Earlier this year, Paste covered A Ghost is Born turning 20 years old:

“A Ghost is Born is a record about leaving made by somebody convinced he’d never be able to stay. It was never going to rip through the zeitgeist like Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (though, thanks to The Bear’s seventh episode of season one playing all 12 minutes of the ‘Spiders (Kidsmoke)’ live version from Kicking Television, more people have become privy to Wilco’s fifth album than ever before). It had no ‘Jesus, Etc.’ The buildings in A Ghost is Born had already collapsed by the time we encountered them. But, in the same breath, the album told us all that the sun will rise and we’ll all climb into our cars—because, in Jeff Tweedy’s world, ‘the future has a valley and a shortcut around.’ Telescopic poems and private beaches flow through the viaducts of melodies and our strung-out worries while winged birds fight over keys on the Lake Michigan shoreline. On A Ghost is Born, it’s good to be fooled by a kiss, so long as it’s delivered by the stone ‘that raises from the dead and carries us all home.'”

Read the full piece here, pre-order the A Ghost is Born box set here, and watch the visualizer for “Handshake Drugs” below.

A Ghost is Born:
1. At Least That’s What You Said
2. Hell Is Chrome
3. Spiders (Kidsmoke)
4. Muzzle of Bees
5. Hummingbird
6. Handshake Drugs
7. Wishful Thinking
8. Company in My Back
9. I’m a Wheel
10. Theologians
11. Less Than You Think
12. The Late Greats

dBpm: Outtakes/Alternates 1:
1. At Least That’s What You Said
(8/13/02 SOMA-Chicago)
2. Hell Is Chrome
(10/5/03 SOMA-Chicago)
3. Spiders (Kidsmoke)
(9/28/03 SOMA-Chicago)
4. Muzzle Of Bees
(7/15/03 SOMA-Chicago)
5. Hummingbird
(2/8/02 SOMA-Chicago)
6. Handshake Drugs
(11/13/03 Sear Sound-NYC)
7. Wishful Thinking
(11/1/03 Sear Sound-NYC)
8. Company In My Back
(2/8/03 Hothouse-St. Kilda, Melbourne, Australia)
9. I’m A Wheel
(August 2002 SOMA-Chicago)
10. Theologians
(3/19/03 SOMA-Chicago)
11. Less Than You Think
(11/11/03 Sear Sound-NYC)
12. The Late Greats
(7/19/03 SOMA-Chicago)
13. Kicking Television
(3/18/03 SOMA-Chicago)
14. The High Heat
(2/5/02 SOMA-Chicago. Panthers
(March 2003 SOMA-Chicago)
15. Diamond Claw
(3/21/03 SOMA-Chicago)
16. Bob Dylan’s 49th Beard
(June 2002 SOMA-Chicago)
17. More Like The Moon
18. Improbable Germany
(10/7/03 SOMA-Chicago)

Unstitched: Outtakes/Alternates 2:
1. Handshake Drugs (First Version)
(6/26/02 SOMA-Chicago)
2. Hummingbird
(February 2002 recorded live during tracking at
SOMA-Chicago)
3. The High Heat
(2/4/02 SOMA-Chicago)
4. Spiders (Kidsmoke)
(February 2002 SOMA-Chicago)
5. Diamond Claw
(March 2003 SOMA-Chicago)
6. Muzzle Of Bees
(October 2003 Sear Sound-NYC)
7. Like A Stone (11/10/03 Sear Sound-NYC)
8. Leave Me (Like You Found Me)
(6/26/02 SOMA-Chicago)
9. Losing Interest
(11/11/03 Sear Sound-NYC)
10. Old Maid
(6/26/02 SOMA-Chicago)
11. Spiders (Kidsmoke)
(August 2002 SOMA-Chicago)
12. Panthers
(October 2003 Sear Sound-NYC)
13. Muzzle Of Bees
(7/16/03 SOMA-Chicago)
14. Diamond Claw
(10/9/03 SOMA-Chicago.)
15. Losing Interest
(7/20/03 SOMA-Chicago)
16. Spiders (Kidsmoke)
(October 2003 SOMA-Chicago)
17. The Thanks I Get
(6/26/02 SOMA-Chicago)
18. Two Hat Blues
(March 2003 SOMA-Chicago)
19. Improbable Germany
(January 2002 Pre-Production Loft session-Chicago)

The Hook at The Wang:
(Live October 2, 2004 at the Wang Center in Boston, MA)
1. Muzzle Of Bees
2. Company In My Back
3. I Am Trying To Break Your Heart
4. A Shot In The Arm
5. Hell Is Chrome
6. Handshake Drugs
7. Jesus, Etc.
8. Hummingbird
9. I’m Always In Love
10. At Least That’s What You Said
11. Ashes Of American Flags
12. Theologians
13. I’m The Man Who Loves You
14. Poor Places
15. Spiders (Kidsmoke)
16. She’s A Jar
17. A Magazine Called Sunset
18. Kingpin
19. The Late Greats
20. I’m A Wheel
21. Via Chicago
22. California Stars
23. Christ For President

Fundamentals:
1. Fundamental 1
2. Fundamental 2
3. Fundamental 3
4. Fundamental 4
5. Fundamental 5
6. Fundamental 6
7. Fundamental 7

Read our 2023 cover story on Wilco here.