Wilco: Album by Album

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Parachute Woman, May 11, 2020.

  1. Balding Jay

    Balding Jay Forum Resident

    Location:
    Arlington, VA
    By some coincidence (?) Jeff played Outtasite on his family’s Instagram show last night. It starts at about 55:25.

     
  2. Lance LaSalle

    Lance LaSalle Prince of Swollen Sinus

    You pretty much stole my future album thoughts that I had t written yet!
     
  3. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product

  4. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product

    It is really nice to see so many folks participating here!
     
  5. Parachute Woman

    Parachute Woman Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    USA
    Okay, next track. I will always be posting the new song a little bit later on Saturday mornings because I've got some things I always have to take care of on Saturdays. Just so you know. :)

    Forget the Flowers


    Daniel Cook Johnson meets this song with something of a shrug in Wilcopedia, calling it one of the "lesser lights" of the album, while also acknowledging its charms and the fact that it has been played live many times by both Wilco and Jeff Tweedy solo. I've personally always really loved this song and thought of it as something of a hidden gem. It comes at the end of what would be the first side on the vinyl version of this record and I think it caps off those first five songs beautifully. We see quite a bit of character from the band on this first side. 'Forget the Flowers' is a sweet, understated song with a truly beautiful melody and another one of those arrangements where they bring in all the right touches to truly make a simple song soar. I love the sighing backing vocals (mixed in an understated way), the picking of the banjo and another easygoing vocal performance from Jeff. Don't forget the sweet times, baby. I love this one.

    (Thanks Mark for doing the thread guides! Those are fantastic. :))
     
  6. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product

    You're very welcome:righton:
     
  7. Parachute Woman

    Parachute Woman Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    USA
    Here is a fabulous live version of the track from 1997:



    Bob Egan was a really soulful player. I like him a lot in this incarnation of the band. He may not have fit in on later records (or the peddle steel may not have) but he brought a lot to Being There.
     
  8. mrdardy

    mrdardy Forum Resident

    Location:
    Kingston, PA
    Another song that sounds like it could have had a comfortable home on A.M. Not a song I think of often, but a song I am happy to be reminded of when it comes on. I especially like the instrumental break from about 1:15 until about 1:40 in the song. Nice, relaxed pace and I am especially appreciating the easy loping drums as I am listening again right now.
     
  9. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product

    Forget the flowers
    I really like the country/bluegrass kind of hybrid thing going on in this track.
    Some really nice playing from a musicians interacting perspective.
    I like the lyrics too.
    One of the things that I have noticed about Tweedy, and it might seem a weird thing to say, is his voice suits his lyrics.
    He has a kind of off the cuff kind of delivery, and a sort of, matter of fact kind of tone. I'm finding it hard to explain what I mean... but I think his vocal style and lyric style are a perfect match.
     
  10. Zeki

    Zeki Forum Resident

    A very nice write-up, Parachute Woman, to a gentle, toe-tapping song. I think you nailed my own feelings for the song. 5/5, though I probably will force myself to drop this from my playlist in an effort to keep it to 10. (But that’s the difficulty in trying to make determinations in levels of perfection).

    Max Johnston on the banjo.
     
  11. Parachute Woman

    Parachute Woman Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    USA
    I know just what you mean. He has a casual, down to earth delivery and voice and that suits the kinds of lyrics he writes. I agree!
     
  12. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product

    I want you to spinal tap it and go to 11 ;)
     
    Zeki likes this.
  13. palisantrancho

    palisantrancho Forum Resident

    “Forget the Flowers”- An early favorite of mine since the album was released. I hear this as influenced by Grateful Dead/Jerry Garcia. Jeff sometimes can sound very close to Jerry’s voice. Wilco has covered their song “Ripple” frequently throughout the years. This song fits right in with that vibe.

    I absolutely love “Forget the Flowers”. 5/5
     
  14. Parachute Woman

    Parachute Woman Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    USA
    That's a very astute observation. This does have a flavor of the Dead. The country/Americana side of the Grateful Dead is my favorite side of them, as I'm just not into psych very much. 'Forget the Flowers' would fit right in on Workingman's Dead.
     
  15. planetexpress

    planetexpress Searchin' for light in the darkness of insanity.

    Location:
    Chicago
    Re: Forget the Flowers i'm just going to say it would have made a nice duet. It has that old husband/wife country vibe to it...
     
  16. Zeki

    Zeki Forum Resident

    I was googling to see if there might be a Tweedy interview where he discusses this song and started laughing when I saw this (on a guitar tab site):
    “I know not a lot of people listen to this kind of "ancient" Wilco like I do...”
     
  17. Parachute Woman

    Parachute Woman Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    USA
    Ha! Jeez, if this is ancient, what does that make Elvis?
     
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  18. Fortuleo

    Fortuleo Used to be a Forum Resident

    This is one of the prettiest songs Jeff ever wrote and one of the absolute best he did in the country (albeit folkish country) idiom. Would be a musical stand out on any 'americana' record by anyone (and I suspect this track was one of the reasons Billy Bragg suggested Wilco to Nora Guthrie for the Mermaid Avenue project).
    BUT I must admit this is one of the (not so few) Wilco tunes that I like even better as Jeff solo acoustic performances.
     
  19. Zeki

    Zeki Forum Resident

    I take it to mean that far back in the catalog (as in: his/her compatriots are listening to Wilco, but more recent Wilco). Which is actually good because (as we all know on this forum) listening to just the start or early stages of an artist’s catalog is oftentimes the norm. At the expense of the new.

    But I laughed.
     
  20. chickendinna

    chickendinna Homegrown’s All Right With Me

    Forget the Flowers and Far, Far Away are bookend end songs to me even though they don't similar. The vibe is there though.
     
  21. wavethatflag

    wavethatflag God is love, but get it in writing.

    Location:
    SF Bay Area
    I've been making this observation for years and it's good to see someone else make it. :righton:

    I think it's a mild coincidence the track recalls Jerry. Or else it's a studied rip by Jeff. :D
     
  22. Parachute Woman

    Parachute Woman Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    USA
    It does work beautifully as a solo piece.

     
  23. jalexander

    jalexander Forum Resident

    Location:
    Canada
    I believe Wilco toured with Canadian band Blue Rodeo at some point in time. Jeff and Jay sang backup on Blue Rodeo co-lead Jim Cuddy’s first album while Wilco’s tour took them through Toronto. Cuddy was a fan of Being There and approached them on the basis of the album.

    When Bob was kicked out of Wilco, he would eventually join Blue Rodeo when they also fire their pedal steel player (the more technically accomplished Kim Deschamps).

    By that point Blue Rodeo are past their hit making days (in Canada), but Egan has a near twenty year run with the band playing theatres and arenas. He retired a few years ago having become a new parent in his early 60s... he took a library job outside Toronto running cultural programs.

    Egan isn’t the most technical steel player (a major requirement if you want to be one of the coveted Nashville session players) but I definitely agree that he played with a lot of soul. He has a few solo albums (I have his first) which have some interesting songs, but his singing leaves a bit to be desired.
     
  24. Zeki

    Zeki Forum Resident

    While scanning ahead in The Book, I became curious as to what happened to Egan and saw that he’d joined Blue Rodeo. I have three Blue Rodeo albums so I’ll have to check and see if he’s on them. The ones I have might be earlier, though. Great band!

    Egan plays on a couple of tracks on Being There but isn’t a band member until the tour (and then for the Mermaid sessions).
     
    Rockford & Roll and jalexander like this.
  25. Lance LaSalle

    Lance LaSalle Prince of Swollen Sinus

    Haha, I was also thinking it sounded a bit like the Dead!

    Very nice song, love it. This is t he kind of song that would sound great even if it were totally stripped down to guitar-and-voice; but the lap guitar and banjo and the subtle backing vocals really add to it. God I love this album.
    4.5/5
     

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