I went to school at Southern Illinois University in the early 90's. I became friends with some of the locals (I was from the Chicago area) and they turned me on to Uncle Tupelo. Had plenty times to see the them in St. Louis (including their last show) but never did. I moved to the north side of Chicago after graduation and was able to see Jeff Tweedy at Lounge AX numerous times. My 1st time seeing the whole band was in 97 at the Riv. Up to the most recent tour, I don't think my wife and I have missed a tour since 97.
I started out as a big Uncle Tupelo fan in the early 90's & was crestfallen when the band split. AM left me cold (still does) but, as others have said, Trace was a stone masterpiece. I enjoyed Being There & Mermaid Avenue but absolutely loved Summerteeth. I got off the bus with Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. It's not that I don't like it, per se, just that I wasn't as enamoured as most others seemed to be. After that, I lost the thread with Wilco. I still believe their pinnacle was the early "YHF demos" that are floating around. Those tracks are a natural extension of Summerteeth & I personally wish the band had kept moving in that direction along with Jay Bennett (RIP). I never saw Uncle Tupelo live but have caught Wilco (as well as Son Volt) a few times including a memorable show in the fall of '99 that my wife & I left early. It was someone's birthday (Ken Coomer?). The band got really drunk & went on for far too long (IMHO) so we split before our opinion of Wilco was too battered to recover. I also once hung out with Jeff & a very young Spencer at an industry show for the Jayhawks release of Smile ca. 2000. But that's a long story & an odd experience all-around.
Cool thread, I will look forward to chiming in! Like a lot of folks my age, I came to Wilco through Yankee Hotel Foxtrot and the inescapable buzz surrounding it at the time, though I certainly remember the videos for "Outtasite" and such appearing on 120 Minutes and various music video programs throughout the '90's. I don't think they've ever made a poor record, though I tend to find Uncle Tupelo, AM, and a lot of Being There if I'm being honest to be relatively generic country-rock that I don't find myself jonesing to revisit very often.
Really excited to take part in this thread, especially since I just finished reading Tweedy's book. I discovered A.M. right at the beginning. I went to college in central Illinois, starting in 1994, so while I never got to see them I heard plenty about the legend of Uncle Tupelo. A.M. was the first post-Tupelo album I got, picked up shortly after the week it came out. It was fine, but missing something that I was hoping to hear based on the things I'd read about Tupelo (remember, at that time I still hadn't been actually able to hear UT). Anyway, when Trace came out, I was blown away by that one. I was all in, or so I thought, with Son Volt being my post-Tupelo band. Well, they were until Being There came out and cracked my brain wide open. Summerteeth and YHF both even moreso. I still like Farrar and Son Volt, but nothing since has matched up to what Wilco does.
This should be fun. I realize I'm pretty terrible at these kinds of threads but I'll see what I can contribute as we go along... Anyway, my first experience with Uncle Tupelo was through the Still Feel Gone / March 16-20 1992 double LP that my local record store owner recommended back in the day. When the band broke up I gravitated more towards Son Volt (Trace is a great debut). I tried to get into AM but the singles didn't really do anything for me and I lost interest in Wilco for awhile until someone recommended seeing the I Am Trying to Break Your Heart documentary (we may have been the only people in the theater, it was sparsely attended at best). I guess that's when I got hooked and I've been just a fan ever since. As for Uncle Tupelo, I think my favorite song of their's is Watch My Fall from Still Feel Gone although Gun and New Madrid come pretty close...
My favorite compendium of early-era Wilco is the first disc of the Alpha Mike Foxtrot box set -- some live versions with a little more nip, some acoustic versions that put the emphasis squarely on Jeff's voice, and some rarities that find them a little looser-limbed. My favorite track from this period is "Don't You Honey Me," with that infectious lead guitar lick. I seek out that stuff over AM the same way I seek out the Bootleg Series and other unreleased material over Bob Dylan's first record -- it just feels like a more satisfying representation of the time period.
I also came late to the Wilco party. I grew up with the music of the 60s, 70s and 80s. When grunge came along in the 90s I never quite got it and kind of distanced myself from any knew music coming out and fell back on my old school music. I do remember giving them a listen but just didn’t do it for me at the time. As 2k rolled around I started finding new music and expanding my musical repertoire. Probably about 10 years ago I relistened to Being There, partly because I thought it had the coolest album cover(one of my favorites and musically now one of my favorites as well). It was one of those “it just clicked” moments and now consider Wilco one of my favorite bands. Interested in seeing where this thread heads.
One of my goals with this thread it to dedicate a lot more listening time to that box set. I finally got it last year for a fantastic price on eBay and I've just given it one quick listen. I have not given it the attention it deserves!
I want to add at this time that I find the AM album to be a better listen than anything Uncle Tupelo ever did, as far as a listenable album from start to finish. I expect this is going to be a minority view here but so be it. I tried to get into UT after the fact but Jay Farrar's voice grinds on me after a few songs. It was striking to read in Tweedy's book how he was so impressed with Farrar's voice in the UT days, because I find Tweedy to be far more accessible.
I have this hardcore music nerd theory that if Farrar and Tweedy remained copacetic and together, Uncle Tupelo would have evolved into and been recognized as one of the greatest American rock bands ever. A totally missed opportunity, in my view. Beyond that, "Whiskey Bottle" and "Grindstone" just kill.
Before this really gets going chronologically... let me just say that "Remember the Mountain Bed" is one of the most moving songs I know, and criminally under recognized. What they did with those lyrics is just fantastic.
I'm with you on this -- I feel like Farrar has a weird sense of diction that tends to obscure the structures of his songs, which always seem kind of tentatively formed to begin with. Maybe that's a strength for some, but I always feel like I'm looking for something to latch onto in his songs that just isn't there -- not a strength in this type of music. "New Madrid" is probably my favorite Uncle Tupelo song, but I don't really find myself itching to revisit any of their stuff that often.
Maybe for Farrar, but it seems like this more or less happened for Wilco, who are almost certainly one of the most revered and iconic American rock bands of the past 25 years.
I guess I disagree. I mean I love Wilco, but, you know, 30K people are never going to mob Solid Sound. Wilco will never play stadiums. And I'm not saying I want those things to happen, and reading Jeff's book, that was never the goal. He states he hated seeing The Who in a stadium (I don't get that. I guess my tastes can be a lot more mainstream than Jeff's.) But I believe had the two stayed together, the band would have eventually become HUGE. You and others can disagree with me, but I mean The Eagles huge. Or maybe a more palatable statement for some here would be "R.E.M. huge." No. 1 album and single huge.
An interesting theory. I haven't listened extensively enough to Uncle Tupelo to really know whether to agree or disagree with it, though I suppose I can envision a sort of alternate-universe past where some sanitized version of Uncle Tupelo managed to capitalize on the market share soon after wooed by Hootie and the Blowfish and Blues Traveler, though those bands weren't playing stadiums for long and certainly wouldn't land on many "greatest American bands ever" lists. It seems like the combination of widespread reverence, longevity, and size/popularity that you see from bands like U2, REM, etc. is pretty rare these days -- a lot of bands fall into 1 or 2 of those buckets, but then miss the other(s) completely. Wilco's position seems like the most successful combination of those things one could expect in the last 25 years, unless you go a little further back and include Pearl Jam. Maybe UT would have bucked the trend, but it doesn't seem like there's been a cultural moment over the past couple decades when the public has really gone all in on the kind of thing they were inclined to provide. Pure speculation of course!
I suppose I take your meaning. Huge in the sense of being a lock for first ballot induction in the Hall of Fame (whereas I'm not sure if or when Wilco will get inducted, for all their accomplishments). But with hugeness comes hatred. Eagles, U2...gigantic bands like that often have proportionally large bases of people who cannot stand them. I like the size Wilco reached with their audience. Larger than a cult act, but not enormous. Even R.E.M. was only massive for a short period in the middle of their career before reverting to being just plain popular. I don't think I agree that Uncle Tupelo could have achieved the level you speak of or would have even wanted to. Farrar and Tweedy are both pretty private, shy guys. Some rock stars thrive on hugeness, but lots of them hate it and it is bad for them and their psyches. Even in the band that shall not be named. McCartney loved (and still loves) being famous. Harrison loathed it. Maybe the money is good, but is it worth all the rest?
Thanks Parachute Woman for starting this thread. I am so, so stoked about it as Wilco has been my favorite band for about the past 15 or so years. Love them. Can't wait to read about everyone's thoughts on them. But I came to them in a pretty strange and drawn out fashion. Around the time of Being There, Rolling Stone magazine had a feature on Winona Ryder who was extremely popular at the time and a lot of the article featured music she was listening to. One of the bands she praised extremely highly was Wilco. I am sure I had heard of them but nothing really stood out - I couldn't have named a Wilco song if my life depended on it. So I went to a local record store (Sounds Familiar, RIP) and bought Being There, which I immediately did not like. It did absolutely nothing for me. So much so that I think I sold my copy during a CD purge... Fast forward a few years later and Summerteeth comes out. I think that read some good reviews and decided to give the band "another try." I liked it, did not love it, but did not get rid of my copy and even bought Yankee Hotel Foxtrot when it came out. But up to that point I would not say I was a fan, really. They were just another band whose music I bought. I could take them or leave them at that point. When A Ghost is Born, I did not buy it immediately but saw that they were playing Ovens Auditorium in Charlotte on the tour and just sort of on a whim decided to get a ticket and go. I remember that night so vividly. Left work, it was pouring down rain, ate at a Subway on the way out of town (strange the things one remembers) and drove up to Charlotte for the show. I was by myself so I had gotten a pretty good seat a little to the left of the stage but no further back than row 5-10. Anyway, they came out and opened with "One by One." They were playing with a video screen behind them on that tour. The "film" for that song showed depression era men and women walking down a street. Since I had never heard anything off of Mermaid Avenue this was a totally new song for me. I was absolutely and totally blown away by it. By "At Least that What You Said" I was absolutely and totally gobsmacked. I cannot remember many other shows where I was that mesmerized. Every song was just incredible. Here is the setlist: One by One; Hell is Chrome; I am Trying to Break Your Heart; Hummingbird; Muzzle of Bees; At Least that's What you Said; Jesus, etc.; Theologians; Poor Places; Remember the Mountain Bed; Handshake Drugs; A Shot in the Arm; Via Chicago; Spiders (Kidsmoke); I am the Man Who Loves You; Candyfloss; Political Science; War on War; Kingpin; Outtasite (Outtamind). What show. I have a rather poor recording of it but even today 15 years later when I listen to it, it still gives me chills. Again, I can hardly remember any other shows (maybe my first Springsteen show) where I had such an immediate, absolute and total connection to the band I was seeing. I went to that show not even a casual fan and left it a fanatic. So 15 years, many shows and many dollars later, I still love them. So I am extremely excited about this thread.
But all of America would have eventually fell for Farrar's voice, how could it not? And his perspective, the things he wrote about in his music, was a harbinger of where the American zeitgeist was headed. In my view. And then Tweedy--maybe it was too much talent for one band to hold at the time.
It seems like bands hit a threshold where no matter how immediately popular they are at any given time, they will always be able to pack large venues (I'm thinking basketball arenas, if not stadiums). Pearl Jam, REM, U2, certainly legacy acts like Aerosmith, The Eagles, etc. -- these bands will be able to fill 10-thousand-seaters probably as long as they exist. I've never really been able to put my finger on that magic variable, but at some point it seems like what it is is (a) an initial surge of massive popularity, (b) enough of that initial wave sticking around and forming a more devoted, long-term fanbase, but (c) the band's "classic hits" remaining in circulation long and wide enough so that more passive listeners pony up the dough when the show comes to town. That's the only way I can objectively, in my mind, separate why Pearl Jam and Dave Matthews Band are playing ballparks while Hootie and the Blowfish are playing county fairs -- it's the crazies and the normals coming out together, where some bands never attract the crazies and others entirely shed the normals. My inclination is to say that that massive surge of popularity just isn't something that happens in UT/Wilco's milieu. Of course, one probably would have said the same thing about REM in 1983...
Oooh, this is tempting. I'm in two other long-running ABA threads right now and have sort of capped myself at two. I'll see how it goes. I think I saw one of Wilco's first ever concerts - at least outside of Chicago - back in around January or February 1995 at the late, lamented Club de Wash in Madison, Wisconsin. Uncle Tupelo had just broken up and the newly christened Wilco was billed as the new project by one of the two UT principals. It was a cheap ticket on a weeknight and we just showed up. There was a decent turnout of maybe 100 or so, just about all of them UT devotees like me. The band played maybe a dozen songs - they were loose and a little sloppy but I liked the sound. To be honest, it sounded a lot like Tweedy's songs from Anodyne - a few of which they played. I can't remember who was in the band at that early juncture - obviously Tweedy and Stirratt but don't recall the rest. Possibly Ken Coomer on drums? I don't know if they had even recorded A.M. at that point - I don't think they had. It had only been a few months since UT had called it quits. At any rate, the album wouldn't be out for another several months. Great memory! Thanks for getting this off the ground, PW! I hope I can participate.
It's one of my goals as well. I got it for Christmas right after it came out but have not really spent any time with it. My wife gave me the "Wilcopedia" book for Christmas this year and I just finished it. It does a really good job of putting those songs in context and reading it I realized I definitely needed to spend more time with this box.
I like your passion, but I don’t agree. I think Wilco became bigger than Uncle Tupelo could have ever become. Not many people these days even know who Uncle Tupelo are. I personally don’t care for Farrar or his vocals. All of my favorites on Uncle Tupelo records are the Tweedy songs. I’m guessing many people feel the same which is why Wilco blew past Son Volt. I enjoy a song here and there from Farrar, but I just don’t hear how he could have had mass appeal on the level of U2 or The Eagles.
I've been in since Uncle Tupelo - Anodyne. I loved that album when it came out. I also followed Son Volt for awhile after that but then drifted off (I've since come back). But it was Wilco that really grabbed me right from the beginning. But for me, Being There is just a masterpiece. I got that right as I moved away to go to grad school and it was one of the albums in my soudtrack from that time. I later took my now wife on a date to see them on the Sky Blue Sky tour with Califone opening. It was an incredible show, and the rest is history.
Oh, man. I'm still extremely self conscious about going to shows alone. I've never done it! And that has been to my own detriment because there are a lot of artists I would have seen (Wilco among them) if I could have just plucked up the courage to do it. Unfortunately, I don't have any friends that share my musical interests. Reading everyone's wonderful memories about seeing Wilco live at all different points in their history has really hammered this home for me. I just need to see them, whether I do it alone or not!
