2002/04/27. There’s a soundboard recording that circulates. Edit: maybe this link works: Wilco 20020427 SBD - Google Drive
Or, if you want early versions of both Spiders and Less Than You Think played at the same show, there’s a good audience recording of 2002/10/14.
2003/09/04 from Eugene OR is a favorite of mine. ALTWYS, Handshake Drugs, Spiders, Cars Can’t Escape, Kicking Television, and I’m A Wheel all make appearances, along with a lovely Less Than You Think sans drone. And it’s a great sounding recording.
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 May 2000 Mermaid Ave vol 2 Airline To Heaven My Flying Saucer Feed Of Man Hot Rod Hotel I Was Born Secret Of The Sea Stetson Kennedy Remembering the Mountain Bed Blood Of The Lamb Against Th' Law All You Fascists Joe Dimaggio Done It Again Meanest Man Black Wind Blowing Someday, Some Morning, Sometime Mermaid Ave vol 3 Loose Fur Laminated Cat Sept 2001 Yankee Hotel Foxtrot I Am Trying To Break Your Heart Kamera Radio Cure War On War Jesus Etc Ashes Of American Flags Heavy Metal Drummer I'm The Man Who Loves You - live b-side Pot Kettle Black Poor Places Reservations b-side The Good Part Blasting Fonda The Minus 5 2003 More Like The Moon ep Camera Handshake drugs Woodgrain A Magazine Called Sunset Bob Dylan's 49th Beard More Like The Moon June 2004 A Ghost Is Born At Least That's What You Said
I've got A Ghost Is Born lined up for rotation this weekend. I'm hoping to get into it a little more like I have with YHF. If you'd asked me before this thread started I'd have told you I always pair it up with YHF in my mind. Again, it's a record a DJ friend got me an advance on. I gravitated towards the songs with more discernible melodies. That said, I do like the At Least That's What You Said. It's another bold move for an opening cut. A slow and building reveal and I have always heard the Crazy Horse guitar tone but it never occurred to me about Television. I'm glad you all pointed that out! I'm actually a bigger Richard Lloyd solo fan than Television. Like @Gabe Walters I saw the 2003 show in Lexington, KY. It was a real shift from the last Wilco show I had seen on the Summerteeth tour. I came to appreciate Yankee more seeing it live and they did a few songs that would be on Ghost. My buddy and I joked about somebody playing a laptop. Things had changed.
Next up: Hell is Chrome This track is credited to Tweedy/Jorgensen, so Mikael obviously had a significant impact on the writing process and/or arrangement. 'Hell is Chrome' was a track that it took me a little time to warm up to. It was worth it though because discovering all the nuances of this track was really rewarding. Jim O'Rourke's piano work is excellent and definitely has a different 'feel' than the piano work we were getting from Jay. The guitar solo is another excellent one from Jeff. It really does sound like the guitar is crying out in desperation and pain. And the lyrics definitely deal with his addictions and the fact that he felt he was staring down the devil himself. Springtime yawning high in a haze The devil beckons repeatedly--come with me, come with me. And Jeff very nearly did or could have, but he went to rehab instead and thank goodness he did. This is a powerful song and the repetitious ending works for me as a kind of unending plea. I feel slightly bad enjoying this album so much when you consider the state that Jeff was in to make it.
By the way, I think it would work just fine if we want to fold in our discussions about Kicking Television with our discussions of A Ghost is Born. Nine of the tracks were featured in live versions on that album (with two more among the vinyl bonus tracks). In fact, the only AGIB track not featured in the Kicking Television set is 'Less Than You Think,' so you basically get an entire alternate version of the album. And I know several of you have already expressed the fact that you like these songs in their live incarnations. It makes sense to talk about this all at once and compare, rather than wait to do Kicking Television afterwards. Here's 'Hell is Chrome' from Kicking Television. This version is pretty similar to the album version though more intense, especially in the 'Come with me' chant (featuring lots of harmony vocals). Kicking Television is such a fantastic live album. This is another instance where I think, "If this were released in 1973, it would be considered a classic today." This also features the guy shouting out 'Kansas City!!' which Jeff has a little fun with. So please--if ya'll want to talk about Kicking Television along with A Ghost is Born, let's have at it!
Hell Is Chrome leads off my Post Jay Wilco playlist. Again, a gentle intro, very mellow sounding until a short guitar burst. Almost an A.M. throwback. My problem is I can never recall what this is from the title! But I like it once I start listening.
It just occurred to me that this is indeed Wilco’s piano album. I’d never thought of it this way ‘til now, but the piano is definitely a preeminent color on the whole LP, and the lead instrument in more than a third of the songs. Hell is Chrome is one of the best examples. The intro is a little masterpiece in itself. It takes the listener by surprise and brings him along to where Jeff is waiting for him. This is the Lucifer song with all three Loose Fur members playing on it. Which begs the question : is it Jim O’Rourke on the piano ? Or is it Leroy like on the first song ? Well, it appears that it is in fact Mikael Jorgensen (O’Rourke is on bass, Stirratt on rhythm guitar), who also gets a co-writing credit in the process, I guess because of those extraordinary gospely (but not quite) piano parts that get (and maybe got ?) the song started. Then they do the quiet/loud trick that is the big defining gimmick of the album, transforming most of the tracks (and the whole LP) into “pick & valleys” journeys, which keep the listeners on their toes. Even in the quietest moments, like a often-maligned band I love dearly used to say, there’s a sense of dread and violence looming over us. In this particular song, it fits the satanic theme perfectly. The guitar solo may be the best on the LP, once again carefully “written” and just as intensely melodic as it is expressive. But my favorite part is the way Jeff soulfully sings “and I feeelt /Like I belong / coooooome with me” before the majestic piano intro returns to set the guitar solo off. Every single time, it knocks me out.
Hell is Chrome. Another really cool opening piano theme. Tweedy's solo vocal is very effective, and it almost doesn't sound like him. It is very interesting to me the lyrics here. Tweedy states an actual obvious fact that seems to have been obliterated by fanciful artistic/media driven ideas of the devil... the red guy with the tail is a furphy. Lucifer was described as the most beautiful and powerful of God's Angel's, so the whole ugly, red, mean looking dude image is kinda silly. Lucifer was the shining one, so chrome is a nice poetic description of him really. The rest of the lyrics describe being seduced really, which is also on point. As Parachute Woman states, this really seems like an ode to the nature of addiction, and the song works on both levels, whether intentionally or not. Musically this is fairly straight forward, but perfect for what it is trying to say. The opening almost makes me think of the Kinks for some reason. The solo vocal, and the music coming back in on chrome is a perfect arrangement. The guitar and drums and such come in nicely, and intensity is raised ever so slightly. Tweedy's vocal sounds almost like a scared child, and that is also kind of perfect for the concept being put forth. Tweedy's lead break here is beautiful. Melodic and flowing it states exactly what it needs to, and moves on. The fade out "come with me" is almost taunting in its delivery, and again works perfectly for the song. A somewhat understated track that is exactly what it needs to be for what it has to say.
Hell is Chrome is a top Wilco tune for me. It’s this crazy mellow 70s easy listening (John’s wheelhouse) gospel thing that just gets darker and more abstract as it goes: The main piano part is gorgeous And then the vocal begins with so much space at points just vocals and bass, and even a few long rests When the guitar comes in it’s with classic Steve Cropper style soul hits on the off beats, except they are totally distorted Every part is masterfully restrained AND THEN THE GUITAR SOLO - it comes flying out of outer space at maximum volume. Yet again, it’s masterfully restrained and beautifully melodic. Whimpering and crying, extending the narrative of the devil lulling you into blissful surrender. And the last line of the solo is one of my favourite Wilco moments of all time, as the harmony guitar comes in with a stereo phased effect smearing the sound everywhere And then we’re back to quietude with a refrain that’s fitting of all those classic vamps - think Staples Singers’ I’ll Take You There or the end of Hey Jude - but instead of gospel inspiration it’s the devil beckoning you to destruction An immaculate piece of music that conveys in a very real way the deeper struggles of addiction - where we go there because even though it might kill us it seems like the only peaceful refuge we might find. Not red and burning, but gleaming, shiny chrome indeed. The live version stays true to the album. So in this case it’s evidence that Jeff has found a band able to realize his vision. There will be others where the band takes it to new places. If Nels Cline plays your solo, though, and doesn’t improvise just a little (even 15+ years later) you know you’re doing something right.
I've mentioned many times that I had my Wilco "epiphany" at a show at Ovens Auditorium in Charlotte, NC on a tour behind this album. Because I did not own this record, I knew absolutely none of the songs off of it. They opened with "Hell is Chrome." I think that at the time I had only spent really any considerable time with Summerteeth. Despite having listened to YHF several times (mostly on one out of town trip), Summerteeth was kind of my point of reference to what to the band I thought Wilco to be. That certainly was not the band that showed up to play Ovens that night and it was readily apparent from song one - this one. I would not say that it is in my list of "top 10" Wilco songs - maybe not "top 20," but it would probably be right outside of that. Still, its an incredibly memorable song and one I always enjoy hearing played. I love how Jeff sort of draws the listener in with the opening lines - "When the devil came, he was not red, he was chrome, and he said..." It so leads me into the rest of the song. The listener (me) is just dying to know what he's talking about and where he is going to go. The lyrics are some of my favorite - @Parachute Woman already quoted some of them, but the lines, "The air was crisp, like sunny late winter days, springtime yawning high up in the haze" is such an incredibly descriptive and evocative lines. While a lot of the lyrics on this record seem very "minimal," the economy of words is so good that Jeff can say (and describe) so much with so little. From those lines I know exactly the type of day he is talking about. I've mentioned before that I love to take records with me on trips in the car. A lot of times I can distinctly remember where I was and where I was going when I listened. I think I bought this album right after the show and took it with me on a trip to Durham, NC. I remember it was absolutely raining sideways on the trip up the Interstate from Columbia and this album was the perfect accompaniment to the rain. For that reason I've always thought of it as a "rainy day record."
I think I prefer the live versions... but I am still in the "kind the click" mode for this album, so it is difficult to say. I really like the live album though. An excellent live album in a time where live albums weren't really much of a thing.
I’m going to have to keep my eye on Jorgensen and songwriting. As said yesterday, I was burned out on band member turmoil and wasn’t interested in the new guys but this is a promising Wilco songwriting debut.
Much like Bruce Springsteen's Darkness on the Edge of Town, I feel like the songs on this record really shine in a live setting. I have never thought of this record as falling into the "cliche" of "recorded to play live" but it might. It just might. I love Kicking Television. I probably listen to it more than any other Wilco record. For many years I longingly gazed at the vinyl box set on sale at Wilcoworld with its extra side of songs. Unfortunately I never pulled the trigger - it is out of print and sells for ridiculous prices on the secondary market. I was very happy when Alpha Mike Foxtrot came out with those songs on it.
Hell is chrome Lucifer presents us with alluring things - things that tempt us to fall. We make the choice. sometimes it's a slow burn build up like addiction... the drawn out .."come with me" lines are perfect persuasion "I felt like I belonged" there is easy acceptance as you go in that direction a drug addict finds many others who sympathize. For an intriguing and satirical look at this I can't recommend highly enough The Screwtape Letters by C.S.Lewis (same author as The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe) The protagonist is a young demon being school by his uncle Screwtape in the craft of diversion and sin in dealing with a young man who is seeking out spirituality. They write letters back and forth to each other Uncle screwtape is constantly having to give him insight and a little light scolding on his lack of progress
Good song. That visual image of the devil being coated in chrome made me stop to visualize this, a good effect with the traditional 70s ballad piano backing. Even without Jay, the band taps into a skewed 70s pop vibe. The closest precedent I felt was Procol Harum, particularly this track with a similar theme:
Should have been find. I had three sentences running through my head and they amalgamated into the nonsensical lol
I probably have to cop to thinking at the time that Ghost wasn't as good as YHF, but I'm not sure if that's how I felt or if I'm making it up in hindsight. Ghost wasn't really a grower for me like some other Wilco albums because I liked much of it right away, and after a few subsequent listenings I found it pretty much unimpeachable. The noise experiment is what it is, it never distracted me from the rest of the album. I really like Hell Is Chrome, but can't comment much as I haven't relistened for purposes of this thread yet.
Clarification on my lack of interest in the new guys. I meant as individual band members. I was still following and enjoying the output.
I'm sure in the course of this thread we'll nail down if Nels was with the band on June 29, 2005. I hadn't seen the band since '99, and 2005 was only my second show. I guess I could do wikipedia ... Wiki says he was, so that was my first "new lineup" exposure. Great show as I remember it. At one point Pat started doing windmills, so Tweedy started running in place and twirling his microphone.
Hmm...well, diving into yet another rabbit hole. I duly checked out the BMI database for Hell Is Chrome and find: writers are Tweedy and Jorgensen. Jorgensen is ASCAP (on this song, he changes to BMI later) so it’s easy to see the split. 80% BMI/20% ASCAP. So...you’d think it would list only Tweedy’s BMI publishing company, Words Ampersand, right? But, no. Stirratt (Poeyfarre), Kotche (Pear Blossom) and whomever BMG Bumblebee is also gets a piece of the publishing (along with Jorgensen’s ASCAP piece). I checked another one. I’m A Wheel. Tweedy written song. Publishing shared by five (Jorgensen has now moved to BMI, Jorgensengaku. That’s a Japanese word tagged onto the end of his name). A big shift in things, eh? Edit: I think bumblebee is Bach.
An example, if it’ll let me post. Handshake Drugs. This is kinda interesting because we know this was written pre-current lineup. Or I thought it was. Maybe not: Writer: Tweedy Publishing: 5 of ‘em PUBLISHERSCURRENT AFFILIATIONCAE/IPI #BMG BUMBLEBEEBMI 722300987JORGENSENGAKU MUSICBMI 461897515PEAR BLOSSOM MUSICBMI 358220665POEYFARRE MUSICBMI 185731156WORDS AMPERSAND MUSICBMI 186260068
