I love those first five tunes, but that’s a terrible running order. What I love about Jeff is that he has the wherewithal to look at great songs like Magazine and say, “that doesn’t fit what I’m trying to do here”, and drop it. And with that, five songs were gone and they went in search of new material.
I wasn't thinking of that song, but now that you mention it, yeah, it does make sense. For the riff I mentioned earlier that runs through the track - more likely a vibraphone played by Leroy - it put me in the mind of "You've Got Your Troubles" by The Fortunes. (I always think Jay and the Americans did that track!) If I'm being really honest, "Easy Come, Easy Go" by Bobby Sherman is what comes most readily to mind. That's why I love this track, pulling cues from 60s, 70s and 80s Top 40 while trying to move things in a new direction. I don't even know what to make of that of that wavering guitar solo.
That’s not a running order. I listed the five songs that Kot said were finished. Then I listed the five songs that he wrote key songs that Jeff wasn’t happy with (but wanted on the album). And then I arbitrarily offered it up as a one-time possibility. Not sequenced!
"A Magazine Called Sunset", despite the promising title (I grew up reading Sunset), suffers from the same overkill as so much of Summerteeth. It sounds more like a reject from those sessions than anything surrounding YHF. Tweedy's vocal is demo quality rather than anything he'd likely consider finished. There's a decent hook here to the melody but it almost gets lost under all of the instrumentation. The lyrics are hard to figure any meaning from and might be another one of Tweedy's gibberish lyrics. I think this one would be much better live, and I'm pretty sure that I've heard a few live versions of it on some of the Roadcase releases. This is one where Wilco strays too far from their strengths.
“A Magazine Called Sunset”- I love this one. Like others have stated, it would have fit perfectly on Sunmerteeth. I understand why it was left off YHF. Jeff clearly wanted to go in a different direction. I didn’t comment on the last couple songs. Nothing really to say. The only songs I listen to off this EP are Magazine and Moon. I wonder why “Venus Stop the Train” didn’t make it on this EP? That’s my favorite out of all of the left over songs. I love his rough and raspy vocal on that! I was just on a long road trip and listened in order to all the remaining Wilco albums. I can’t wait to comment on both the good and the bad. As we go along I suspect there will be much more of a clash of opinions.
Gotcha! Thanks for clarifying. The stylistic break - 5 pop songs, 5 noise songs - reminded me of those old Rod Stewart albums with a slow side and a fast side. Now it makes more sense!
I know! Oh well, Wilco store shipping outside of the US is always crazy anyways. So many times I’ve put stuff in the cart but then can’t pull the plug when I think about shipping and exchange.
I looked at the Wilco store and the 7” has a studio version on the Aside, with this exact live version on the Bside:
Exactlioso! I remember all the talk with my friends about these fabled songs that were left off of YHF. Magazine Called Sunset is the one I liked the most. It reminds me of the discussion round about Tom Petty's Hard Promises LP. He had a very cool little overlooked gem on there called Letting You Go. He evidently had several in that vein that he left off the finished record. Hardcore Petty fans will talk about the album that Hard Promises might've turned into. Fun stuff!
Next: Bob Dylan's 49th Beard Based on the title, I expected this song to be more of a joke song. It plays on Bob's penchant for titles like this in the '60s (Bob Dylan's 115th Dream). It's really just a gentle acoustic number from Jeff and reflects again on his sadness and idea that his loved ones would be better off without him. It's an okay song, I suppose, but it doesn't say anything we haven't heard in better songs and the melody is...is there a melody? This is so stripped down and sung in that patented Jeff mumble it's hard for me to really grasp on to any strong structure. In the end, it doesn't make much of an impression. But this is the kind of song I can see being a strong favorite of some particular listener who connects with it on a deeper level. I'm not that listener, but I bet someone is. Definitely EP material for me. Sidenote: Our friend Bobby hasn't had a beard very often in his career has he? The Nashville Skyline/New Morning era springs to mind...
Compared to "Woodgrain," this sounds like "Visions of Johanna." I like it: quiet, unassuming, wistful. Like Bob Dylan's beard on the cover of Infidels.
Bob Dylan’s 49th Beard Lyrics: You'll be happier when I'm gone Much too busy to worry I'll be sad and you'll feel bad But I know you won't be sorry And as I turn to go Please don't wave goodbye I refuse to cry On roads that are paved With men who behave Like they know where they're goin' And I'll stop along the way And it's then I'll think of you And I'll wonder if you knew When I got blue And things got weird And I started growing Bob Dylan's beard We all remember that time we got depressed and grew a “Bob Dylan beard” amiright? Atmospheric little tune, marked by some rising sound effects in the 2nd half, culminating in the Morse Code type sounds again. The commitment to linking all the tracks on this EP with sound effects and guitar noises is intriguing to me, and clearly something that Jeff Tweedy was very much into at the time.
The soft stylized singing here is key. Just compare it to an earlier Tupeloesque solo version like this one, that some may prefer : In its Wilco studio incarnation, this becomes another of the ethereal dreamy haiku songs that Jeff seems to be able to not only write but sing in his sleep. Ray Davies may’ve been a “Sleepwalker”, Jeff is a “sleepsinger” or a “sleepsingersongwriter”. In his best pieces in that style, he manages to reach a state of hyper-real awareness, and brings the good willed listener into the same kind of daze, where things tend to be evocative and elusive at the same time. For once, I forcefully disagree with our thread leader (maybe I am that listener): the melody is a thing of wonder. In his writing at that time, immediate post-YHF, Jeff tended to refrain from relying too much on sophisticated pop chords progressions to anchor his melodies. This one is a tremendous example of that approach. It would stand on its own without a guitar in hand, just whispered as a gentle lullaby (try it, it really works). I’m really impressed by the fact he was able, thanks to the “beeps and bloops” of Mikael Jorgensen, to transform this solo miniature into a Wilco subdued lost classic. Could be one of his finest folk ballads ever, as far as I’m concerned.
I like Bob Dylan's 49th Beard for what it is - a quiet, sad little tune. To me (a non-musician) the acoustic guitar sounds very much in the style of early Dylan. I could see this fitting on a Wilco album, but I haven't figured out exactly where. One day I should take my favorte tracks of this type and program the "great lost Wilco album" because there are certainly enough.
All the previously unreleased songs on the deluxe Being There reissue were pretty much Jeff Tweedy solo numbers too weren’t they? He just churns these out effortlessly.
Bob Dylan’s Beard: straight out of the early 70s, singer-songwriter’s heyday. I liked it from the get-go though can see that it might be difficult to figure out where it might fit into an album. Maybe on Sky Blue Sky? But he wasn’t that far along yet.
Bob Dylan’s 49th Beard - I will admit, I had kind of forgotten about this one, but just re-listened a few times and it came back to me in full. I always liked it in earlier days. I am going to re-introduce it to a folkier playlist I keep!
I’m another one who finds this one to be a beautiful tune. Mention the song title to me and the melody starts dancing in my head. It’s a great pointer to future Wilco. He’s taking that old folk style strumming with the melody picked out - previously used on things like Someone Else’s Song and Mountainbed - and begins drawing them into a more modern context. The lyric is personal yet a bit abstract. And far more minimal than something like Mountainbed. And the electronic elements add to the sense of depression and alienation given by the lyric. I’m never keen on the Radiohead comparison, but it could be used again to highlight the transition Wilco were beginning. I’d argue Kid A wasn’t really about Radiohead turning into Aphex Twin. It was about taking the time to develop a new set of sonic tools that would be fully integrated into their rock sound a few albums later with In Rainbows. Likewise, Wilco wasn’t really abandoning folk/Americana in this era. They were just buildings a broader sonic palette that I’ll argue in a few weeks gets fully realized when they start bringing it back into their folk sounds a few albums later. 49th Beard starts us in that direction. Hilarious but very true description!
Kids were home yesterday because of Isaias, so I'm playing a little catch-up. "A Magazine Called Sunset." I always liked this one, both in the docu and on the bonus EP. It's a nice little intentional pop tune, with synths out the wazoo. I first heard it live 2008/02/26, at the 9:30 Club with the Total Pros, though they didn't play on this one. "Bob Dylan's 49th Beard." This has always been better in a live solo setting, to my mind. Better picking, better singing. I've seen him do it once, and I have a bunch of recordings, too; again, the 2003/01/06 through 01/09 shows at the Vic are highly recommended. I do think there's a joke in the title, and I think the last line of the lyrics is an implied joke, as well. It's a nice little turn at the end of a fairly maudlin, self-pitying song.
I agree with this. I have seen him do it a couple times before it was released on the EP. A fun song in a live setting. An homage to early Bob Dylan songs and a lyric that always brings a smile. I like it, and I am glad it got a proper release, but the live version is when the song comes to life.
