I'm really enjoying this Wilco ABA /SBS thread as a more recent Wilco fan. Thanks to everyone who's posting such great insights. I'll post more for later albums but am trying to explore these earlier albums at the pace the thread is going. To that end is there anyone here willing to offer insight into the best sounding version of Being There? I have no intention of derailing this thread into a SQ, Vinyl vs CD discussion but feel the wisdom I seek lies with those who are posting here. Currently I'm contemplating the Deluxe Vinyl Box, as I my preferred medium is Vinyl and I see it's mastered by Chris Bellman (a good sign). That said, I don't want to spend lots of $$ unnecessarily and would happily purchase the CD version of the same if it's on par, or the 2009 Vinyl which still seems to be available at a lesser cost than the deluxe box. Note that I already have the Live at the Troubadour RSD vinyl so don't need the deluxe CD box just for that set alone. Thanks!
Disc 2 continues in fine form. Someday Soon is a fine, bouncy track; it doesn't quite make the top tier of Being There songs, but that's more because of the impressive competition. Outta Mind is so different from Outtasite that it's not really the same song; I like them both, but if I had to pick I'd go with the energy of Outtasite. Nevertheless, Outta Mind fits better on disc 2.
I’m a frugal record collector who has been buying vinyl since the 90s. I usually focus on quantity of songs vs format. Given that, here’s my $0.02: -Wilco are pretty generous with their music, the quality of their vinyl releases is high, and the box set is good quality. -I picked up a mint used copy of Being There before the deluxe set existed for $15 which to me was worth the upgrade over my CD version. It’s a great album on vinyl -the deluxe set was pretty expensive. I almost bought it once when I saw it on sale for $60. But on vinyl it doesn’t include the Troubadour set. Given I already had the album on vinyl and CD, that’s expensive for a few demos and some (admittedly good) outtakes. I couldn’t justify the expense - I also think the Troubadour is a great set, but given it’s a radio broadcast, I’m not too worried about sound quality. (This is moot for you because you already have it). -the CD version is affordable and my library has it... given I’ve bought it twice, I’m not keen to spend lots on a third purchase. -Being There is probably me least favourite Wilco album (it’s still a solid 8/10 though!). That obviously impacts my desire to invest in a deluxe set So that’s my logic, but you may have different reasoning... if I didn’t already own the album, and I had the Troubadour set, I might be more than tempted!
One of my favorite Airplane tracks is "The Farm" from Volunteers. Could this be what you're thinking of?
No...but I love that song! Unfortunately, the friend that made that tape for me all those decades ago passed away last October, so I can’t ask him if he remembers. I skimmed several Airplane albums trying to see if anything more obscure rang a bell but, no. I now suspect it may be Dan Hicks. There’s Nobody Here But Us Chickens (if that’s the correct title) was part of the tape. Thanks for the suggestion, though.
"Outta Mind (Outta Sight) is unmistakably Beach Boys influenced -- someone up there mentioned "You Know My Name" and maybe the drum sound does kind of sound eerily like those 67 era Anthology 2 alternate takes, not that it's been mentioned. I always thought that was a great drum sound. Anyway, I'm a huge Beach Boys fan but, although "Outta Mind" does give me a good feeling, and shows some of the breadth of what the new band was capable of and certainly points the way to some future sounds, I prefer the rock crunch of "Outta Sight". Just feels more natural to me. However, on the album it works as it, once again, introduces a complete left turn into something else. This is the sound of a band that will not be bound.
I have no special history with "Sunken Treasure." I may have had Being There since its debut, but it doesn't count (and I'm a fraud) because I didn't even "get" Sunken Treasure until probably 2006 or so. I left a lot of this album unplumbed for years, because I didn't care or didn't know to care. But it's a great song, and as others have pointed out it makes sense as the second CD lead-off as a sort of more mature companion to "Misunderstood." "Someday Soon." This song is just good country. This deserves the stage at the Grand Ol' Opry or the Ryman or what have you. Sun Studios echo-y and sonorous (not that the sound can be replicated, and here perhaps the band got carried away by reverb), The Man In Black could have covered this nicely. If you're into Sesame Street-sympathetic songs like I am, cue up "Good Thing" by Fine Young Cannibals. Mr. Tweedy and band has inspired me to put on Johnny Cash The Sun Years.
As a pedantic aside, really that "Sesame Street" is really from "Can I Get a Witness" by Marvin Gaye -- which Brian Wilson took for both "Carl's Big Chance" and "Good Vibrations" chorus -- Sesame Street seems more based on "Good Vibrations", with it's sweet harmonica and the melody the children sing. Gorgeous song, actually. While "Good Thing" is more closer to the soulful feel of Marvin Gaye, I reckon, though far poppier. But Marvin Gaye probably got it from someone else...
Next... Someone Else's Song We've talked a lot about influences on Wilco through this thread so far, with pretty much all of us acknowledging that Wilco certainly has influences (as do all groups) but they simply color Jeff Tweedy's unique songwriting and the band's own singular sound and songs. In this song, Jeff gets a little bit meta and seems to comment directly on the fact that he has influences and that, like all songwriters, he just wants to say something in a new and compelling way. He speaks directly to the listener. He can't tell us anything we don't already know. He sounds like 'what's his name.' But he's going to keep on trying anyway. I actually really love this song. It shows the vulnerabilities of the artist and how he wants to impact his listeners, but he is doing that as part of a long lineage of songwriters before him. It is self-deprecating and wry without getting bogged down in self-pity. After all, 'we can't stop him.' He's going to keep on writing songs no matter what and they may just have an influence over listeners like us even if they recall the past. 'Someone Else's Song' is downtempo and intimate and it fits in beautifully with the themes of musical creation we've touched on over and over again. I find it sadly beautiful.
The demo for 'Someone Else's Song' is included on Alpha Mike Foxtrot. It is even more intimate and vulnerable than the album version. Gosh, what a beautiful song this is.
And what’s weird here is that this demo is from the time period of A.M. My impression has been that Tweedy doesn’t go back much to revisit songs he didn’t use for the previous albums.
I still the cds of those tracks I was sent in the mail (with a handwritten note "Do Not Copy or Share These Cds").
This is one of my favorite tracks on the album. It has a certain mythical quality to it. I would really like to have heard something like this on A.M., which is where it dates from, but here we have an excellent rendition. We are nearing the middle of the 2nd disc of Being There and, save my issues with the sounds in the opening of “I Got You”, there hasn’t been a misstep yet.
Someone Else’s Song: Another of Tweedy’s world-weary songs, pairs up nicely with Radio King in the sense that it feels like a late night vibe and that idea that you can’t quite place the song (despite it being right on the tip of your tongue). You already know the story And the chords are just the same You already know I love you And I sound like what's his name Vs. Your music fills my car And your voice breaks every time I'm still wondering if I know who you are I hang on every line This, too, reminds me of Neil Young’s Borrowed Tune (I’m singing this borrowed tune I took from the Rolling Stones Alone in this empty room Too wasted to write my own) Compare with Tweedy: “I keep on singing Your eyes, they just roll It sounds like someone else's song From a long time ago” Neil’s tune is Lady Jane. How about Someone Else’s Song? What song does it remind you of? Jay Bennett comes in on the accordion on this song.
I was thinking of 'Borrowed Tune' as well, Zeki. A similar way of commenting on the process of writing the song within the song itself. I love both Borrowed Tune and Lady Jane very much. Someone Else's Song doesn't remind me of another tune specifically.
A good solid song that would be good no matter who was singing but here the honest singing, as usual, puts it even higher.
This is a great description; it keeps the acoustic-flavored side 3 mood going along nicely. A relatively minor song in the Wilco catalog, but a very good one.
I think the lyrics of this cool song underline the fact that as a rock "scholar" turning musician, Tweedy had been afraid not to have enough of a voice of his own as a songwriter. We all know that he didn't need to worry too much about that… Because it was an older track, I think its inclusion here is the one definitive proof that Jeff saw 'Being There' as a concept album, with thematic unity : music, musicians, fandom, and how Jeff himself had to adjust psychologically to being the guy on stage after having long defined himself as a member of the audience. Not "kind of a concept album" but definitely a real one. Sure enough, the few tracks whose lyrics are not directly linked to that theme are the ones where the musical influence is the most obvious, and a commentary in itself.
Been out of town dealing with some family issues and got a bit behind... "Outta Mind (Outta Sight) is not a favorite. From reading everyone's comments I see I am an outlier on it - I appreciate its influences and not doubt its a fine song, it has just never clicked with me. I think earlier I mentioned that I am a fan of disc 1 a little more than 2 and this song is probably one of the reasons that brings disc 2 down just a tad/tick. However, "Someone Else's Song'" is a gem. I absolutely love it. "Sadly beautiful" is a great way to describe it for sure.
This song is melodically so strong. After hearing a it few times it keeps hanging in your head. It's kind of classic and timeless. If reminds me of singer-songwriters of the 70s. I'm not very well-known in this genre, maybe someone like Kris Kristofferson. Also Johnny Cash in his American Recordings period in the 90s comes to mind. This song is relatively new to me. I wonder how long it will amuse me. In my experience songs that come very easy don't age very well.
This song sounds so familiar. At first sight I would think that something like it is written before by someone else. But I can't find much resemblance with another song. Someone in this thread is more well-known with singer-songwriters. Maybe he/she has an answer.
I find some humor in the fact that we are discussing whose song it might sound like all these years later ... it "sounds like what's his name"!
