A Ghost Is Born No doubt, this was an album that I was incredibly anticipating at the time. And I wasn't disappointed. With the departure of Jay Bennett, the band's sound seems to tighten up, getting away from certain spurious sonic diversions. Not that there was anything wrong with that, but I couldn't help wonder how much further they could have gone in that direction. Was it played out? I dunno. (Seemingly out of place at times on Summerteeth, but brilliantly executed on YHF.) This album definitely sounds like a fresh start, while at the same time one can't help to imagine, in retrospect, that there were some demons to exorcise. Another difficult endeavor for the band to produce, particularly for Tweedy, and yet the results were, once again, fascinating.
One of the great things about this album is how adventurous it comes across, even considering their previous work. It's one of those situations where you think you know this band...but you really don't. There's a always a new, fresh twist that they bring into each track.
"At Least That's What You Said" Soft start, with a dash of a false sense of security. A song that lulls you into the proceedings, and then ramps things up with a jagged and intense workout. Yup, didn't see that coming...great stuff. "Hell Is Chrome" Moody and introspective, and at the same time cozy yet anguished, it just has a captivating vibe. Looking back, one can't help but wonder if this is a kind of buffer between the opening track and the next. In any case, this is a song that's quite easy to get into and get comfortable.
"Spiders (Kidsmoke)" Yup, one of my all time favorites from Wilco, and thankfully one I got to see and hear at a live performance. Terrific track. It starts out all jagged and quirky, almost like it doesn't know itself which direction it's going, but then it finds a purpose. I just love that riff. I remember first hearing this and waiting for the resolve which I almost thought was never going to come. To me, Jeff's lyric seems to evoke a sense of chaos, but I really don't think it matters. It's always great to hear a song like this that just lays things out flat. Killer guitar shenanigans too.
"Muzzle Of Bees" The one thing that strikes me right off of the bat is how stark and open this sounds, almost reminiscent of the Being There period, but it quickly shifts into a new, more sophisticated exploration of melody and lyric. Jeff seems to be finding a new voice of expression. The electric guitar adds an intense undertone to it all, particularly at the outro.
Next: Hummingbird Jeff Tweedy: vocals John Stirratt: electric rhythm guitar, background vocals Gleen Kotche: drums Mikael Jorgensen: piano Jim O'Rourke: bass, electric led guitar Frankie Montouro: hammer dulcimer Karen Waltuch: viola 'Hummingbird' is one of the most purely delightful and wonderful songs in the Wilco catalog. It was also Jeff's father's favorite Wilco song. I thought it was sweet that he asked Jeff why he couldn't just write more songs like 'Hummingbird,' as if it is really easy to come up with something like this. It's interesting that Jeff only sings on this track without playing a single instrument. Everyone who does play does so gorgeously. Mikael's piano work is superb, the dulcimer is an interesting new addition and major shout out to Karen Waltuch. Her viola work on this song is just plain splendid and lifts it from a great song into the stratosphere of extraordinary songs. That final minute of the song, with the vocals going falsetto and the viola just soaring has got to be one of my favorite moments of anything Wilco has ever recorded. The lyrics are quite interesting in this one, recounting the life of a touring musician trying to stay close to his loved ones when he is away all the time but told in quite a poetic way. I love this verse: So he slept on a mountain In a sleeping bag underneath the stars He would lie awake and count them And the gray fountain spray of the great Milky Way Would never let him Die alone As if the universe itself will be there as his companion. Very strong words but the real sell of 'Hummingbird' is the melody, arrangement, build and feel of it. I can't listen to Hummingbird and not be cheered up by the end of it. It's one of the best songs on the album and one of the best Wilco songs.
I think the version on Kicking Television is just okay. It's definitely weaker than the studio version. It does have the same feeling of satisfaction in that final minute...
Here they are doing it on Letterman. I've got to say--it is super weird to see Jeff performing without a guitar. This is actually a really good performance. I like this better than the Kicking Television version. The climax is great and I can forgive it not having the viola because Nels does a does job of replicating it.
I'm enjoying their recent albums more.....removed from the antici-pointment of hearing them with the loaded expectations that followed their first three. YHF always kinda let me down but I had unreasonable expectations.
I’m like Jeff’s dad and like you, @Parachute Woman. On any given day, this could be my absolute favorite Wilco song, a supremely melodic masterpiece, worthy of the best McCartney (I’d put it on Ram and rank it as one of the best songs), the best Beach Boys (I’d put it on Sunflower and make it a highlight), the best Nilsson (it would sit proudly at the top of Aerial Ballet or Harry), the best Steely Dan (don't look further for the best tune on Pretzel Logic !) etc. Hummingbird is a rush of pure melody, never looking back, not even for a chorus. it just charges along, with stops and goes, twists and turns, hooks, exuberance, exaltation and incredible musicianship. I have to say I needed this song, this side of Wilco’s career. I needed to be reassured that the melodic genius that I’d associated with this band since falling in love with Being There and Summerteeth had not disappeared with Jay’s departure. And there it was, the best and most inspired melodic tune in their whole cannon, on the so called “most difficult” and “darkest” record of their career. Yes, I’m like Jeff’s dad, I wish he’d done more songs in that style (and I love Capitol City because of that). But at the same time, why bother? He’s already made the perfect one! Live, it’s always one of my favorite Tweedy moments, precisely because it’s one of the two songs (with the crazy bridge in You Are My Face) where he lets go of the guitar and just stands there microphone in hand, with a grin, like an old-style entertainer. And most times, he does it BRILLIANTLY, like he’s Tom Jones or Smokey Robinson or something. And boy, can he sing those cascading alliterative words with ease and grace! Every time in concert, this is pure joy and fun, and you can tell that they’re having a blast going through those wonderful chord progressions and irresistibly hooky instrumental parts. What a fantastic, fantastic track !!
I’m now learning to just wait patiently then say, yep and yep to @Parachute Woman and @Fortuleo and save myself from having to peck away at my phone. Some Beatles-like piano and shades of the Tweedy vocals of old.
This (although I do have a little bluetooth keyboard hooked up). Hummingbird's a wonderful, melodic little masterpiece. What's not to love?
I've noticed nobody ever says "yep" to my Genesis comparisons ! Still, here's another one for today ! I'm almost certain Hummingbird owes a hidden debt to the ebullient Willow Farm section in Supper’s Ready from their 1972 LP… Foxtrot! Hear it here : . Disclaimer : I’m not obsessed by Genesis, but Jim O’Rourke most definitely is (Jim O'Rourke on Genesis, Prog Rock and 'Simple Songs' ), and it sure seems to me he embarked Tweedy on that trip at some point.
I think I mentioned somewhere above some thoughts on Hell is Chrome having a little early Genesis vibe ... I have seen that O'Rourke blurb as well
Also - I was gone a bit and won't elaborate on songs i missed, except to say that Muzzle of Bees is beautiful and one of my favorites Hummingbird I see as a pleasant nice tune but not a lot more than that
I am obsessed with Genesis! They are one of my favorite bands, so I appreciate the comparison. Very interesting. Not something I had thought of before...
just FYI - my two favorite adventures on this forum are tied at your thread here on Wilco and markwinstanley's Genesis album/song thread
This performance was my intro to Ghost and I was not particularly impressed. By this point I had all the albums except Being There and still didn’t know the story of Yankee. I just thought that Summerteeth and Yankee were two amazingly creative albums from a band outgrowing Americana. My only live exposure was a pbs special I happened upon once. I could tell Jay was an important figure in the band from that performance. Now I turn on Letterman and here’s my impression: -where’s the guy with the dreads? -why isn’t the main guy playing guitar? -what’s with all the session musicians? -why do they have this cheesy keyboard and guitar but at the end? When I bought the album a couple of months later I was floored with how good it was. I would then see them live for the first time that Fall and must admit I was still biased against Nels going in because I thought he was some pro session guy hired for the tour. In retrospect I was wrong on all counts but one. Hummingbird is a brilliantly wacky pop tune, and good for Jeff for getting on national tv and just singing. Plus what a lyric! As a road song we have come a long way from the straightforward confessionalism of Being There (one reason I still can’t rank that album as one of their best). And Nels and Pat have proven they aren’t just session musicians. Where I still agree with my initial assessment, though, is that the ending isn’t as good live as in the studio. As adept as Nels is, it always feels like a lesser substitute without that doubling of Jeff’s fuzz guitar and the viola. But the fun factor of the live version makes up for that loss. Also, if Summerteeth was the mellotron album, this is the fuzz guitar album. No matter how clean a Sony is, Jeff finds a way to sneak it in everywhere.
"Muzzle of Bees" is just lovely. Did anyone watch the TV series Friday Night Lights? I seem to remember it being played during a frantic hospital scene, to great effect. I first learned of "Muzzle of Bees" when Jeff's solo show from Martyr's in Chicago, 2003/05/16, hit the torrent trackers. There were tons of new songs at that show: "My Words," which has only been performed twice since; "At Least That's What You Said"; "Panthers," which fans took to calling "Proving Death Again"; "Muzzle of Bees"; "Bob Dylan's 49th Beard"; "Millionaire," a rarely played solo song; "Dear Employer" from Down with Wilco; one of the few solo performances of "More Like the Moon"; "Theologians"; "Company in My Back," which had already been played by the band a few times; "Hummingbird"; a song that has since been mislabeled as the Golden Smog song "Long Time Ago," which Jeff said dated back to the Being There era; "Kicking Television"; and "I'm a Wheel." There was even the first-ever performance of "Hate It Here," which wouldn't show up again until Sky Blue Sky! Jeff said he found it on a tape dating back to the Anodyne era. "It's not very much of a song, but I thought I'd play it." Not knowing the title, fans labeled it "You're Really Gone." The full band performances of Muzzle of Bees would start in June, 2003. I first heard it 2003/06/30. In those days, it had a different arrangement, and this was another one I was disappointed had been tinkered with for the album version. However, today I can't really remember why; the album version is masterful. I've seen Jeff do it live, and I was actually disappointed with not only this one on Together At Last, but almost the whole record. See him solo enough times, or hear enough recordings, and you miss the magic when he's by himself in the studio.
You can catch a glimpse of Jeff doing the little jogging-in-place thing that I saw him do during "Hummingbird" at one of the first few post-rehab shows. He really was in a great mood. That said, the lyrics to this one take the self-loathing to its logical conclusion. But Susie's sticking by his side, even if he is a fixed bayonet through the great southwest to forget her; a cheap sunset on a television set could upset her, but he never could. Still, he manages to find wonder in the gray fountain spray of the great Milky Way, which would never let him die alone. His family won't end up having to remember to remember him, because as we know ultimately he makes it back, healthy. Since "Hummingbird" was introduced to Wilco's live repertoire at the AGIB warm-up shows at Otto's in Dekalb, it's been a staple; I've seen it at 8/10 shows. This one shares Summerteeth's tendency to pair dark lyrics with melodic pop arrangements. It's the jauntiest suicide note I've ever read.
You go me to click and watch. Hmm, at first Tweedy is kinda doing the crooner thing but it works out okay. I still like to see him with a guitar, though, even if it’s a prop.
People have talked about 'Hummingbird' live and how Jeff ends up running in place for a bit when he's not singing but the best version I saw was Halloween 2004 when Jeff (dressed as a priest) ended up "blessing" his bandmates with his microphone. This is also the show where Wilco opened with 'Theologians' revealing the rest of the band dressed as ghosts as the curtain raised and Glenn ended up in a Mustard costume during the encore ('Don't Fear the Reaper'). I remember seeing some photos online of it all back in the day but can't seem to find any now. Who said the band doesn't have a sense of humor??
I probably would have been wondering/thinking along the same lines. I will admit to thinking the entire new group looked, on occasion, like hotel front desk clerks rather than members of an elite rock band. But I would’ve been impressed if they’d whipped out a guitar or a keyboard and tore down the lobby. Which they could have.
This may be of interest to those following this thread... Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy Announces New Book How to Write One Song “The feeling I get when I write… that I’m simultaneously more me and also free of me—is the main reason I wanted to put my thoughts on songwriting down in book form to share with everyone so inclined”
On this track, I'm really hearing Harry Nilsson, who patented that playing pattern on a piano (maybe based on McCartney's portion of "A Day in the Life" although it's fair to point out both of them influenced each other over the following few years). I do hear Genesis and prog in some of the instrumentation, arrangements and time changes. Never sure where to place Paul Williams in regards to Nilsson, but I get a similar vibe with tracks like this.
