Down at the Old Mainstream is such a great album. I need to pull it out and listen to it. I've always felt that the Tweedy contributions looked back on A.M. as opposed to forward to Being There, especially "Pecan Pie." But I could be totally wrong about this though.
I’ve always been curious to know where this band came from. Seems to me Jeff would have been trying to build his own band for the first time, transitioning to working with Jay as lead guitarist, touring out the album, and prepping some monster material for the second album. Where does he have time to fit this in? Was it just a fun side project among friends or was Jeff thinking about a backup plan if Wilco were dropped? Also, he’s such a solo songwriter, so it’s interesting to see the co-write here.
I need to listen to this album again. Pecan Pie is my favorite Tweedy on that one. It's nothing major, but a fun song. I prefer the album Weird Tales. I don't even think I have heard their last two albums.
Missed a few days so didn't get to comment on the last few songs but I will say that I like "Too Far Apart" as an album closer even though it ends a little too abruptly for my taste. The triple guitar coda is nice but doesn't really go anywhere and feels like padding to stretch the song out to 3 minutes. Here's a live version of the song from Colorodo in 1995. I find it interesting that AM starts and finishes with the most rocking songs to the point that they almost seem out of place. I'm sure it's no coincidence that the singles are all at the beginning as anyone who bought AM from hearing "I Must Be High" / "Casino Queen" / "Box Full of Letters" on the radio wouldn't be expecting the country tinged influences of the rest of the album and may not of been excited to hear the other songs like someone who followed the band from Uncle Tupelo. It's like they were catering to two different sets of audiences. Perhaps that's one of the reasons why Being There ended up a double album as I think it's pretty obvious they were still struggling with this dichotomy throughout the recording. I don't think this split fully resolves itself until the Mermaid Avenue albums satisfies Wilco's itch for county folk allowing them to record more rocking albums like Summerteeth / Yankee Hotel Foxtrot before finally blending everything together with A Ghost Is Born / Sky Blue Sky and beyond. I may have over simplified things a bit here but it'll be interesting to see how this all this plays out over the next few weeks...
I think most people are with you that the best tracks made it to AM. I was a little startled to see that many of the AM extra tracks only had 300-500 views in the past 2 1/2 years from the official Wilco account on YouTube. That number seems staggeringly low for such a popular band but maybe it's just that Wilco fans skew older and don't stream albums through YouTube or something
Yes, the Tweedy contributions to Down By The Old Mainstream are very much cut from the same cloth as A.M. I actually don't think his songs are even close to being the strongest on the Golden Smog album. Mark Olson/Gary Louris of The Jayhawks and Dave Pirner of Soul Asylum contributed better material to the GS album than Tweedy did.
Fun side project with musical compatriots. Mostly guys from Minneapolis bands (Soul Asylum, The Jayhawks, Run Westy Run, The Honeydogs) aside from Tweedy. Golden Smog had actually already put out a debut EP (On Golden Smog) a couple of years before their first full length album Down By The Old Mainstream. Tweedy wasn't a part of the EP but he joined for the first LP. A lot of these same guys used to show up under the name "NEIL" at a Minneapolis cafe/bar called the Uptown and play sets of Neil Diamond covers.
I just wanted to end by posting Robert Chistgau's Pazz & Jop critic poll from 1995 which compiled ballots from 278 critics across the country. It's interesting to contrast this poll to the WXRT Chicago Rock poll earlier as it helps reinforce just how localized music scenes could be in 1995 before the internet made everything accessible to everyone... 01. PJ Harvey: To Bring You My Love (Island) 02. Tricky: Maxinquaye (Island) 03. Moby: Everything Is Wrong (Elektra) 04. Elastica: Elastica (DGC) 05. Neil Young: Mirror Ball (Reprise) 06. Foo Fighters: Foo Fighters (Roswell/Capitol) 07. Bjork: Post (4AD/Elektra) 08. Bruce Springsteen: The Ghost of Tom Joad (Columbia) 09. Yo La Tengo: Electr-O-Pura (Matador) 10. Oasis: (What's the Story) Morning Glory? (Epic) 11. Joan Osborne: Relish (Blue Gorilla/Mercury) 12. Emmylou Harris: Wrecking Ball (Elektra) 13. Son Volt: Trace (Warner Bros.) 14. Smashing Pumpkins: Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness (Virgin) 15. Raekwon: Only Built 4 Cuban Linx . . . (RCA) 16. Rancid: . . . And Out Come the Wolves (Epitaph) 17. Pavement: Wowee Zowee (Matador) 18. Sonic Youth: Washing Machine (DGC) 19. Garbage: Garbage (Almo Sounds) 20. Matthew Sweet: 100% Fun (Zoo) 21. D'Angelo: Brown Sugar (EMI) 22. PM Dawn: Jesus Wept (Gee Street) 23. Goldie: Timeless (FFRR) 24. The Chemical Brothers: Exit Planet Dust (Astralwerks) 25. The 6ths: Wasps' Nests (London) 26. The Geraldine Fibbers: Lost Somewhere Between the Earth and My Home (Virgin) 27. Buju Banton: 'Til Shiloh (Loose Cannon) 28. TLC: CrazySexyCool (LaFace) 29. James Carter: The Real Quietstorm (Atlantic) 30. [File Under Prince]: The Gold Experience (Warner Bros.) 31. Dionne Farris: Wild Seed--Wild Flower (Columbia) 32. Alanis Morissette: Jagged Little Pill (Maverick/Reprise) 33. Guided by Voices: Alien Lanes (Matador) 34. Wilco: A.M. (Sire/Reprise) 35. The Bottle Rockets: The Brooklyn Side (ESD/Tag Recordings/Atlantic) 36. Ben Folds Five: Ben Folds Five (Passenger) 37. The Jayhawks: Tomorrow the Green Grass (American) 38. The Notorious B.I.G.: Ready To Die (Bad Boy) 39. Ol' Dirty Bastard: Return to the 36 Chambers: The Dirty Version (Elektra) 40. Dwight Yoakam: Gone (Reprise) This is a more eclectic list than the WXRT one and probably more accurate of the nation's tastes but I don't agree with it nearly as much. It's nice to see The Bottle Rockets and The Geraldine Fibbers get some love here but I'm not sure how useful it is to compare Tricky to Emmylou Harris or The Notorious B.I.G. to Dwight Yoakam etc.
I don't think Tweedy had any idea that Wilco was going to take off like it did a few years later. His book indicates as much. He was probably just following his muse and collaborating with whom he wanted to play with. He loved the Jayhawks. And based on AM not making him a star I don't think he necessarily viewed Golden Smog as a little side project, per se. It was just the next album he worked on. There are also very few things more "alt-country" than playing in multiple bands ha. And Wilco in its first iteration was still very much alt-country.
I was lucky enough to see Golden Smog back in the day. Loads of fun. It’s a bit of a blur, however. One of those kind of nights....
I loved WXRT at the time, so it figures that I would have more of the albums in their list. But I still have 23 of these 40! I'd say that several of the ones near the top of this list were seriously overrated at the time - even some that I still love (like Oasis). I mean, Elastica? Moby? That Tricky album is indeed amazing, however. The Jayhawks' Tomorrow the Green Grass is a much better album than A.M.
Golden Smog was purely for fun. Seriously doubt Dan Murphy/Dave Pirner and Gary Louris/Marc Perlman would have been interested in ditching Soul Asylum/The Jayhawks after the success of Grave Dancers Union (1992) /Hollywood Town Hall (1992). It's one of the reasons they all used pseudonyms; they all had record contracts elsewhere... Here's a promo video for Golden Smog's V with Tweedy on Bass?!?
Ha! Thanks for linking this. Don't recall ever seeing it. I forgot what a catchy song that is. And the Tweedy bass prowess!!!
Sorry for hijacking the thread but here's another version of V from Late Night with Conan O'Brien. Looks like Jeff recruited a friend... Was Jay part of the touring band or was this a one-off???
Pick Up The Change: An Alpha Mike Foxtrot Companion 1. Box Full Of Letters (Live) - KGSR Vol 3 - 1995 2. Someone Else's Song (Live 3.18.97 Marble Mt., Newfoundland) - All Over the Place Promo LP - 1997 3. Kingpin (Live 3-31-97 Vara Radio Netherlands) - All Over the Place Promo LP - 1997 4. Sugar Baby - The Harry Smith Connection (A Live Tribute To The Anthology Of American Folk Music) - 1998 5. Box Full Of Letters (Live) - WYEP Vol 1 - 1999 6. Sunken Treasure (Solo Acoustic) - Can't Stand It CD Single Part 2 - 1999 7. Outta Site, Outta Mind - Best of Hard Rock Live - 2000 8. She's A Jar (Live) - World Cafe Vol 10 - 2000 9. When The Roses Bloom Again - Oxford American Magazine Southern Sampler CD, Summer 2000 - 2000 10. I'm the Man Who Loves You (Live) - Live from Studio M Vol 2 - 2002 11. I'm Always In Love (Live) - OnXRT Vol 7 - 2004 12. Handshake Drugs (live) - Ghost Is Born bonus disk - 2005 13. Handshake Drugs (live) 6:08 - Radio Woodstock: 30th Anniversary Album - 2010 14. Kamera (live) - Kicking Television RSD - 2010 15. Just A Kid (live) - Kicking Television RSD - 2010 16. Monday (live) - Kicking Television RSD - 2010 17. Outtasite (Outta Mind) (live) - Kicking Television RSD - 2010 18. Message from Mid-Bar - The Whole Love deluxe edition bonus disc - 2011 19. Speak into the Rose - The Whole Love deluxe edition bonus disc - 2011 20. Black Moon" (Alternate) - The Whole Love deluxe edition bonus disc - 2011 21. Sometimes It Happens - The Whole Love Box Set CD - 2011 22. Art Of Almost (ALT version) - The Whole Love Box Set 10" - 2011 23. I Might (demo) - The Whole Love Box Set 10" - 2011 24. Welcome to Daytrotter - The Wilco Loft 12/12/2011 - 2011 25. I Might - The Wilco Loft 12/12/2011 - 2011 26. One Sunday Morning (Song For Jane Smiley's Boyfriend) - The Wilco Loft 12/12/2011 - 2011 27. Born Alone - The Wilco Loft 12/12/2011 - 2011 28. Rising Red Lung - The Wilco Loft 12/12/2011 - 2011 29. I Might - OnXRT Vol 14 - 2012 30. Dawned On Me - iTunes Session - 2012 31. Born Alone - iTunes Session - 2012 32. I Might - iTunes Session - 2012 33. Black Moon - iTunes Session - 2012 34. Whole Love - iTunes Session - 2012 35. War On War - iTunes Session - 2012 36. Passenger Side - iTunes Session - 2012 37. Dawned On Me - KBCO Vol 24 - 2012 38. Box Full Of Letters - KBCO Vol 30 - 2018
I noticed the first band named mentioned in the introduction was Wilco. Wilco, Jayhawks and Soul Asylum; in that order. Yes, interesting to see Bennett sitting in on piano.
Jeff is almost protecting Jay as if to say he’s my guy for Wilco. Bass players normally hang with the drummer lol
I think I first heard Golden Smog around the Mermaid period, so didn’t realize that Jeff Tweedy had sandwiched that project in between A.M. and Being There. A.M. = 13 + Golden Smog = 3 + Feeling Minnesota soundtrack = 1 + Being There = 19; comes to 36 songs. Is that prolific or what?! Edit: minus Stirratt’s song = 35
And on to the sophomore album: Being There Released: October 29, 1996 Wilco's sophomore album was a double album which was sold at the same price as a single album at the insistence of Jeff Tweedy (who lost money on this deal, but was still satisfied with it). It is the first studio album to integrate Jay Bennett on multiple instruments and the only Wilco album to feature steel guitarist Bob Egan in the lineup. It would also prove to be the final album with Max Johnston. Being There ended up being an album that blended multiple styles of music and songwriting together and expanded from the alternative country sound of the band's debut, bringing in surrealistic and experimental elements to add new textures to the group's sound. Jeff Tweedy had this to say about Being There in his memoir: "The songs on A.M. were generally perceived to be lighter than Jay [Farrar]'s songs. There was less of a contrast and less shading. That's what people kind of expected, and that's the way it was received critically. 'This is the lightweight version of Uncle Tupelo--that's what I thought it would be.' But half of that record are songs that we still get asked to play all the time. I don't have any embarrassment about anything. That was the reality of what it was at the time. And I think the songs are quality songs, for the most part. Being There, which we recorded next and the first album we recorded with Jay Bennett, is the light going off in my head of 'I don't have to limit myself to the musical interests that Jay Farrar and I had in common.' It was a real epiphany. 'I don't have to worry about being thought of as pretentious or inauthentic by acknowledging that I like Devo.' Not that there's any Devo influence evident on Being There, but the palette, from that point on, could draw from just about anything I'd ever listened to, and every recording could move inward incorporating some further reach of my musical interests. Growing toward a point where I felt free to incorporate noise, or found sound, or even things that I'd only read about," (Tweedy, Let's Go (So We Can Get Back), 154-155). Being There was also the first album recorded after Jeff Tweedy became a father and he noted that this informed his views on life: "I was a bass player in a band making fifty dollars a night, paying eighty dollars a month in rent, making indie records and not getting paid for them, and having this naive sense of well-being that I would always do this and never have much more responsibility than that. I went from that to being a dad and a major-label recording artist who had the pressure of supporting a family and also making something I felt good about artistically." The album was well-received by critics. In his 1996 review for Rolling Stone, Greg Kot wrote, "Each disc functions as a self-contained entity digestible in a single 40-minute sitting. Together, both halves aspire to the nervy sprawl of such double-album predecessors as London Calling and Exile on Main Street, records that forged unified personal statements out of a bewildering variety of styles. Being There is a product of ambitious versatility...Wilco have not made your standard rock & roll road album. Tweedy’s songs use the one-nighter clichés of Grand Funk Railroad’s “We’re an American Band” as a means of exploring deeper issues, particularly faith and commitment and how those qualities are tested by geographical and emotional distances." Scott Schinder of Entertainment Weekly wrote, "Leader Jeff Tweedy’s new songs — a sprawling mix of moody late-night laments, skeptical rockers, wistful ballads, and infectious pop-rock tunes — confront adult insecurities forthrightly and tunefully and document the maturation of a good band into a potentially great one." He gave the album an A. The album opens with 'Misunderstood': Coming from seemingly an entirely different emotional headspace than anything on A.M., 'Misunderstood' opens Being There in superb style. I think it is not only one of the strongest songs on the album, but one of the finest songs in the Wilco catalog. Incorporating noise, feedback, drums that echo and pulse like a Velvet Underground record, a heartbreaking vocal delivery and astounding lyrics about disenfranchisement and alienation, it is a song of deep felt emotion and understanding. It is also the first Wilco song to center the arrangement around sensitive piano for a large portion of the running time. Alternatively beautiful and abrasive, the song is a journey into the mind of a man headed into real adulthood. He stews on the difficulty of real romantic connection. He clutches at music like a savior. He wants to crawl back into bed and hide from it all. He can't connect with others and feels that gaping 'God-shaped hole' we all feel as we search for fulfillment and empathy. A raw cry, a plaintive plea...this album is immediately going to be something new. Stunning.
Being There: When Being There came out I was in the midst of a rejuvenation as a music fan. Having come from a love of country rock (I can still recall being a young teenager into various hard rock bands...and then hearing The Byrds Ballad of Easy Rider, complete with a Woody Guthrie song(!), and Untitled), and then getting so excited by cowpunk, with roots rock or alt-country of whatever the genre was called, I was ecstatic. I’ve mentioned my top 100 albums list and it’s because of alt-country classics such as Hollywood Town Hall and Trace and Stranger’s Almanac that I finally start to see the 70s albums being pushed off of my top album’s list. And then comes Being There. I gotta say I was absolutely gobsmacked by these songs. And a double album’s worth! Naturally, I scanned the list of band members and spotted a new name: Jay Bennett. And recalled I’d seen it before, as a thank you on the A.M. album. Hmm? I saw Wilco when they opened for Sheryl Crow. Bumbershoot in Seattle. Jay Bennett had on a cowboy hat (I can’t recall if Jeff did, too) and they came out to join Sheryl Crow for the encore: Badfinger’s ‘No Matter What.’ I was ecstatic. When I moved to Tokyo in 2001, I gave my music buddy—a man ten years my senior who was a walking music encyclopedia (jazz, swing, rock...you name it)—my copy of Being There. Nobody knew of Wilco in Japan at that time and he immediately made up an email address with Wilco as part of it. He became an instant Wilco fan and always spoke glowingly of Dreamer In My Dreams. (I use the past tense because, sadly, my friend passed away five years ago). Anyway, I will, indeed, have a problem selecting only five songs from this album for my playlist as it’s brilliant, a classic and a masterpiece.
Being There This was the first Wilco album to click with me. It is interesting reading Tweedy's thoughts from his book, because essentially, I was going to say this is where he discovered a large part of his musical identity, and more importantly, how to share it. I love the whole album, but I probably gravitate to the first half more than the second half.... as it is more naturally in my wheelhouse. Great album that gives the guys some good exposure, and also, a good amount of material for shows. Essentially three albums worth of material to draw from now, means no reliance on covers or UT songs to fill out a set. Very wise to wear the risk of the double album at single price. Investing in a future
Misunderstood It took me a few listens to acclimate to Wilco's leaning towards the noise rock thing, but it became somewhat an expectation. This song is great. It is probably in my top Wilco songs. This song also always seems to really soar when they play it live. Not sure what else to say. I love this song.
