As I wrote earlier, compared with Being There there are higher highs and lower lows on Summerteeth. The highs for me are: Can’t Stand It She’s A Jar A Shot In The Arms We’re Just Friends I’m Always In Love Via Chicago How To Fight Loneliness. I love Summerteeth for it’s unique sound and production. It’s so beautifully recorded with all Jay’s sonic embellishments. I think it’s a small sonic masterpiece. Another highlight are Jeff’s vocals. His voice still has it’s youthfulness and can sound so fragile. However, I am underwhelmed with many of the other songs. It’s a burden to give it a grade as a whole. Because of it’s sound in my view it stands isolated in it’s own place in the Wilco catalog. I cannot see it as a bridge between BT and YHF. It’s too poppy.
Candyfloss There's too much repitition of the melody of the verse. But it's gloriously saved by it's sparkling, joyfull sound. A shot in the arms (remix) It has no flow. The instrumentation is too heavy, too ponderous. Jeff's vocals are much less distinctive and are too much buried in the backing. It perfectly shows how great the original is. I've just read from a Gabe Walters post and the Uncut interview. This remix was done by David Kahne, the man who "disliked it (YHF) so much he allowed the band to buy the album from the label".
It's a big part of why the band refused to play ball with him on YHF. They had already played ball on Summerteeth and weren't happy with his results and weren't willing to compromise their music again.
Summerteeth is a great album and cemented Wilco (if there was any doubt) as a force to be reckoned with. These 3 albums (Being There, Mermaid Ave., and Summerteeth) created a huge buzz around the band. The apex of the Bennett era.
I know that the comparison was brought up earlier, but "Candyfloss" is the most Elvis Costello-ish track Wilco has ever done. The overall sound, particularly that Farfisa organ, screams 1978 EC & The Attractions. This is a good song that is only harmed by the weird spot it occupies in the album's track list. I suppose it was shunted to the post-23 seconds of silence portion of the album because the lyrics don't really jibe with the mood of the first 14 tracks. I like it quite a bit. As for the remix version of "A Shot in the Arm", it's a bizarre way to close out the album. That said, I like this remix version better than the earlier version we heard as Track 3 on the album. It doesn't have quite as many of the extraneous sonic elements and the strummed acoustic guitar that anchors the song gives it more of a "real Wilco" sound and feel. The song still suffers from some of the same embellishments as the earlier version, but they don't seem as intrusive here. I suppose it's appropriate that "what you once were isn't what you want to be anymore" is the last thing we hear Tweedy sing on Summerteeth.
As for Summerteeth as a whole, I've pretty much already voiced my feelings about the album. Going through the album track-by-track has only reinforced those thoughts. I'm glad to see others reaching the same conclusion that, whether you like the album a lot or only a little, it's a definite outlier in the Wilco catalog from a stylistic and sonic standpoint. For me, the album starts out poorly but hits a winning streak at the midpoint, only to tail off again to the ending ("Candyfloss" excepted). My ranking of the Summerteeth songs in order of preference: Nothing'severgonnastandinmyway(Again) How To Fight Loneliness Candyfloss Pieholden Suite ELT In A Future Age Via Chicago I'm Always In Love When You Wake Up Feeling Old A Shot In The Arm (Remix) Can't Stand It We're Just Friends My Darling Summer Teeth A Shot In The Arm She's A Jar My ranking of Wilco albums (so far) in order of preference: 1. Being There 2. A.M. 3. Mermaid Avenue 4. Summerteeth Onward and, for me, upward...
I can't really rate songs... so I won't try. So far as albums go Being There/Summerteeth - they sit about level for me. Beautifully different. For me in both instances the first half of each is moderately stronger than the second half of each, but that is a terrible generalisation. A.M. - it is a very nice album, but somewhat seems like a band looking for their sound, to a degree.
Candy Floss sounds like one of those local fairs you went to in high school. It's a fun little track, but it would have been hard to sequence in the middle of the album. The remixed Shot is inferior in every way IMO.
I was in the 2nd row for that show! Agree it was awesome. I was thrilled to get Candyfloss, which is one of my favorites. One of the guys standing behind me was singing along (as was I) and when it came to the end he did a perfect impression of that final vocoded “Ohhhhhh.” Still cracks me up every time I listen to that show.
That’s awesome! I wasn’t initially planning to go but then a few days before I decided, what the heck, I’ll see what seats I pull. I guess Wolf Trap had just released some good ones.
Candyfloss is such a great tune, wish it wasn’t hidden! My rankings thus far, though I like all 4 albums very much: Summerteeth Being There Mermaid Ave A.M.
Ok in listening and looking back tonight, I found this video recording of my favorite Summerteeth song, My Darling. I had not seen it before, apologies if someone had posted it. Looks like Leroy Bach is playing with them My Darling KBTC - ferocious at the end!
Btw, here is their performance of "Can't Stand It" on The Tonight Show w/ Jay Leno. Earlier, I think someone posted their 1999 appearance on Conan, with Winona Ryder introducing them as her favorite band, and I posted clips of them on Jools Holland. If they played on Letterman in 1999, I can't find it.
Totally agree. I love Summerteeth top to bottom. It’s better than Being There in my books. But True Love... is probably better than anything on Summerteeth. I like complex, layered Wilco, but they’re also masters of hammering out a straight up country rock tune in a way that hits you right in the chest.
A few other b-sides to note: - solo acoustic versions of Sunken Treasure and I’m Always in Love from the Can’t Stand It - acoustic duet versions (Jeff and Jay) of Red Eyed & Blue, Box Full or Letters, and Don’t Forget the Flowers, Sunken Treasure From ... And Some Aren’t. -several solid live tracks from various compilations: She’s a Jar, Can’t Stand It Also, I can’t remember if we covered it, but prior to Summerteeth, Jeff also contributed to a second Golden Smog record, the excellent Weird Tales.
Thread guide Introduction and Uncle Tupelo Mar 1995 AM I Must Be High Casino Queen Box Full Of Letters Shouldn't Be Ashamed Pick Up The Change I Thought I Held You That's Not The Issue It's Just That Simple - live Should've Been In Love - live 1995 Passenger Side - live 1996 Dash 7 - live 2010 Blue Eyed Soul Too Far Apart Outtakes Oct 1996 Being There Misunderstood Far Far Away Monday Outtasite (outta mind) Forget The Flowers Red Eyed and Blue I Got You What's The World Got In Store Hotel Arizona Say You Miss Me Sunken Treasure Someday Soon Outta Mind (Outtasite) Someone Else's Song Kingpin (Was I) In Your Dreams Why Would You Wanna Live The Lonely 1 Dreamer In My Dreams Blasting Fonda (outtake?) Live 1996 - televised version Snow Job 97 June 1998 Mermaid Ave (with Billy Bragg) California Stars Way Over Yonder In The Minor Key Birds And Ships Hoodoo Voodoo She Came Along to Me At My Window Sad And Lonely Ingrid Bergman Christ For President I Guess I Planted One By One Eisler On The Go Hesitating Beauty Another Man's Done Gone The Unwelcome Guest March 1999 Summerteeth I Can't Stand It She's A Jar A Shot In The Arm We're Just Friends I'm Always In Love Nothing'severgonnastandinmyway (Again) Pieholden Suite How To Fight Lonliness Via Chicago ELT My Darling When You Wake Up Feeling Old Summer Teeth In A Future Age Candyfloss Interview 1999
Before we move on to the magnum opus, or what have you, or one of them (and people here will disagree with my other choice for magnum opus at a later date), I just wanted to post that "The ashtray says you were up all night" is one of my favorite, maybe my most favorite, Wilco lyric. Oh, wait, I guess we're doing Mermaid Ave. Vol. II first? Edit: But back to that lyric—it's something an artistic detective would say. Like if Angela Lansbury in Murder, She Wrote and Vincent Van Gogh were Tweedy's parents.
Mermaid Avenue, Vol. II (Thumbs up for the kitty!) Released on May 30, 2000, Mermaid Avenue, Vol. II was a companion to the very well-received first volume. We talked on those pages about which tracks specifically were leftover from the sessions for the first album and which ones were recorded newly for this volume. I believe (someone correct me if I'm wrong) that the new songs were Secret of the Sea, Remember the Mountain Bed, Blood of the Lamb and Someday Some Morning Sometime. This album again received a Grammy nomination for Best Contemporary Folk Album (it lost to Emmylou Harris' Red Dirt Girl) and it sold well. Our friend Greg Kot gave the album four stars in Rolling Stone, writing that the album "plays down Guthrie’s playful leer in favor of his snarl." Spin gave it a complimentary review as well, saying that it did a great job at "humanizing history," though it was less surprising than the original album. Sequels will always suffer in comparison to that which they follow, but I think Mermaid Avenue Vol. II is a fine extension of the first album. I don't go into raptures about it, but I always enjoy it when I play it. Mermaid Avenue is one of my top favorites and a record I adore and have listened to zillions of times. Vol. II is a little bit more political, a little bit darker and a little bit sadder than the first. It does, however, contain several huge highlights that are among the best songs on any of the Mermaid Avenue projects. It was well-worth releasing and it is a nice gentle bridge into the 21st century and a hold-over until the next major project. For Vol. II, we will be covering two songs per day (similarly to how we went through the first record). The sequencing lends itself well to this as it does bounce back and forth pretty reliably between Wilco and Bragg songs (apart from a curious sequence of five Bragg songs in a row in the second half...). We begin: Airline to Heaven An energetic, strummy folk rocker that has always reminded me of acoustic Zeppelin (Wilcopedia makes this same comparison I see...it does remind me of 'Bron-Yr-Aur Stomp'). I wonder if this was one of the songs banned from radio play following 9/11? This whole song is just Jeff, Jay and John making a cacophony with claps and backing vocals and shakers and a "saw" credited to Jay Bennett. I find it to be an immensely likeable opener with a nice sleepy vocal from Jeff and that catchy chorus. "Turn your eyes to the lord of the skies." It makes me feel good, listening to this one. It became a reliable live track as well. Good lyrics from Woody Guthrie, but I think Wilco really made a classic 'Wilco' song out of them.
Today's second song: My Flying Saucer I absolutely love many of Billy Bragg's contributions to Mermaid Avenue (my favorite song on that album is one of Bragg's). I like his contributions to Vol. II less and it is on this project that I'm really here for Wilco and not 'down' so much with Bragg's stuff, who has a lot more angry, political stuff here. 'My Flying Saucer' is one of his best on the album for me. It's brief (not even two minutes) but jaunty and sweet. It just kind of makes me grin thinking about Woody Guthrie writing a song about flying saucers. It's such an early 20th century idea of science fiction or aliens. Apparently on the lyrics sheet, Woody had written "supersonic boogie" in the margin as an idea of how the music should go. This is just a fun little folk song with more strummy guitars.
Yes, except for Blood of the Lamb. That’s 1997. Edit! Unless they re-did it later? (Copyright would still remain the same.)
Mermaid Avenue Vol. II Purchased upon release, I did the same as I had done with Vol. I and made a separate cd of just the Tweedy sung tracks. Meaning I’m essentially unfamiliar with the Bragg material. I look forward to going track by track as I have decided to accept this as a Wilco record. If Jeff Tweedy considers it to be “the record that sounded the most like we imagined people think we sound like,” then I’ll go along with inserting it into the discography. In fact, I see that four songs on the record are performed entirely by Wilco (or the Tweedy-Bennett duo). My favorites have been Remember The Mountain Bed, Someday Some Morning Sometime and Blood of the Lamb but I’ll see where I end up. I skimmed through yesterday and found myself really intrigued by All You Fascists (Bragg penned song), so am looking forward to the deep dive. Vol. II songs span 1995 through 2000 (the latter being Tweedy’s ‘Someday...’). Jay Bennett remains as integral as he’s been (notice the Bennett/Tweedy order on three out of four of the shared credits) and is all over the record (playing up a storm).
