The Unwelcome Guest - my favorite Bragg Mermaid tune far and away, and probably my favorite Mermaid song period. It has an other-world different time period feel . Great instrumentation, nice backing vocals by Jeff for the second half of the song
"The Unwelcome Guest" What an amazing way to finish off this album. An absolutely true collaborative performance by all. There's such a traditional feel here; again, one might think that this song has been around forever. Bragg nails his performance, and the recording has that sense of space around the band. One of my favorites. ___________________________ As a mentioned at the start of this particular discussion, I had virtually no preconceptions about Wilco when I first heard this album, and overall I certainly preferred Billy Bragg's contributions more. Listening to this album today, I have both a different perspective and appreciation of Wilco's, and obviously Jeff Tweedy's, role and performance on this record. My impressions still lean toward Bragg, but the gap isn't as wide now.
Summerteeth remains the most problematic Wilco album for me (that I've heard, at least). I'll elaborate on that starting tomorrow. It strikes me as a cold album.
In contrast to many of you, I think that "The Unwelcome Guest" is the ideal closing track. It has a lovely, timeless melody that was seemingly plucked out of thin air. The lyrics sort of sum up Woody Guthrie's "message", or at least the one that he felt was most important during his lifetime. I don't find the lyrics quite as meaningful to me as is the case on most of the other Mermaid Avenue songs but the song is nonetheless carried along by its gorgeous melody and instrumental arrangement. The blended vocals of Bragg and Tweedy are wonderful and do a nice job of placing a capstone on this project. As for Mermaid Avenue as a whole, I think the album is very good but short of a masterwork. I actually think that Mermaid Avenue Volume 2 is a stronger album. For me, the miraculous nature of this entire project somewhat overshadows the individual albums that it produced - it was such an amazing effort by all involved. Clearly Guthrie's abandoned lyrics were a source of great inspiration for all involved here as they elicited some of the best work they've ever produced. My ranking of the Mermaid Avenue songs in order of preference: One By One Another Man's Done Gone California Stars I Guess I Planted Way Over Yonder In The Minor Key At My Window Sad And Lonely The Unwelcome Guest Eisler On The Go Hoodoo Voodoo Walt Whitman's Niece Hesitating Beauty She Came Along To Me Birds And Ships Ingrid Bergman Christ For President My ranking of Wilco albums (so far) in order of preference: 1. Being There 2. A.M. 3. Mermaid Avenue
"The Unwelcomed Guest" is a beautiful song. I absolutely love the second half when Jeff's vocals come in. Hauntingly beautiful. An incredible way to end an album. I can't say this record needed a "rediscovery" by me, because I listen to it from time to time. But after going through it for the past week or so, my love of it has increased by leaps and bounds.
I looked through the discography, nodding my head...then pursued a songwriting thought that I had and looked at all of the track listings. Looked at the Wilco The Album songs and drew a complete blank! Oh well, that’s the point of an album-by-album thread, to work methodically through the entire discography. I’ve just finished one thread and discovered for the first time decades of music from one of my favorite bands from the days of my youth. Some I disliked (and will instantly forget) and some I really like (and have placed on my trusty playlists). I’m looking forward to jumping into latter day Wilco as I expect to learn a lot.
Personally, I think the last three albums are when they really got back on track. More on that in a few months! I think you will find much to love on those albums, but who knows? I feel there will be lots of different opinions on the last six albums.
My thoughts exactly. The part where Jeff comes in on harmony is one of my favorite passages in the whole catalog. Just lovely.
Just catching up on this thread... work was a bit frantic this week. Just before this closes out I want to say I find the lyrical repetition in "One By One" incredibly effective. I love songs that have lyrical motives... when they work. And in this one, each line falls away one by one like leaves from a tree, like the lyrics themselves. Our days go by "day after day" -- a feeling I'm sure we can grasp more than normal under present circumstances. And while the days keep on repeating, and the wheel keeps turning... there is change. Seasons, aging, love, time moves on and one's left with the reality of 'repetition' in the face of 'change'. Just like the lyrics. Love it. Compare that with the lyrical behemoth that is "Remember the Mountain Bed"... we'll get there in due time.
It’s weird for me because I loved The Whole Love (so much so that I’d say it’s probably my second favorite Wilco album) but just never bought anything after that. I will, of course, but I will be coming to the latter day albums new.
As a side note... it’s frustrating when you come back to find your computer turned “motif” into “motive” But your post is locked. #Firstworldmusicsnobproblems
Unwelcome Guest is a beautiful close to the album. It just sort of lets the album fade away, riding off into the sunset. The lyrics also bring us around to what we would expect of Guthrie and Bragg. And Jeff’s background vocal adds a raw counterpoint. As a whole, I just love this album. The songs are timeless and have always felt to me like they were always there. If I ignore what I know of the behind the scenes drama, this just sounds like a bunch of talented songwriters and musicians having a great time with Woody’s words. A few extra tracks were released on an Australian EP I chanced upon in a trip to California not too long ago (most of which are now on Vol 3): -a live version of California Stars from Conan O’Brian -two more Bragg tunes... Bug Eyed Jim is a Bragg solo number on slide resonator guitar. My Thirty Thousand is another Bragg sung number, but an upbeat one with the whole band. Bug Eyed drags on a bit, but I quite like the jangly lead and backwards guitar on 30k. -Jeff also gives a solo acoustic version of At My Window Sad and Lonely that is not to be missed. They chose the right one for the album, but this is a nice alternate.
Today we begin discussion on Wilco's next record, 1999's Summerteeth. Released: March 9, 1999 Summerteeth was written and recorded in marked contrast to the first two albums. While Being There and A.M. had mostly been written on the road and worked out in the studio by the full band, Summerteeth was primarily written in the studio by Jeff Tweedy and Jay Bennett and the songs were heavily overdubbed using Pro-Tools. This was the band's Pet Sounds moment, when the studio became something like an instrument unto itself. As a result, John Stirratt and Ken Coomer were somewhat left out of the sessions. The Summerteeth sessions began in 1997 and were interrupted in the middle for the Mermaid Avenue sessions. This was a time of heavy introspection and complicated emotions for both Jeff and Jay, both of whom were feeding addictions to painkillers and antidepressants. Ken Coomer said of Tweedy and Bennett at the time, "It was a circling of the wagons, and John and I felt left out. It was Jeff and Jay feeding off each other not just musically, but other vices. There was a bonding going on, and it didn't just involve music. Jeff didn't go into rehab [for an addiction to painkillers], but he should've, [sic] in my opinion. Jay was taking painkillers, antidepressants, and wasn't in much better shape. The band was different. There wasn't really a band, just two guys losing their minds in the studio." Tweedy was also upset about his inability to spend time with his wife Susie and young son Spencer due to the commitments of the band. His lyrics on the album are very reflective of his dark emotional state at the time, as well as a lot of the literature he was reading at the time. Meanwhile, Jay Bennett became a full partner to Jeff Tweedy in the creation of the music and his role as a multi-instrumentalist expanded even further with him contributing a huge amount of different instrumental colors to the record (very Brian Jonesian). The sound of the album was a pretty major stylistic departure from the world of alternative country, sounding more influenced by the Beach Boys, the Beatles, and baroque pop. Reprise Records wanted to try to get a hit alternative single out of the album. Jeff felt that they had written an album full of the Wilco version of pop songs, but he acquiesced because the label had been so good to them and the song 'Can't Stand It' was written for the album, tacked on to the beginning and given a remix to appeal to radio. It didn't work out as there were no hit singles from Summerteeth. The album did not sell as well as Being There had, but it was warmly received by critics. It was praised for its lush arrangements and harmonies and more than one review commented on the "ambiguity" of the lyrical content. While it has a reputation for being a very tuneful, '60s pop type album, there is a very dark, spooky underbelly to Summerteeth and several songs that dig more deeply into Jeff Tweedy's psyche and personal struggles at the time. The album opens with the song written specifically at the request of the record company: Can't Stand It Has a song written specifically for the suits ever been better than 'Can't Stand It'? I think it is pretty bonkers that Reprise didn't hear a single on the album initially, considering how many insanely melodic songs are all over this record. It's not like 'Can't Stand It' sounds all that different from 'I'm Always in Love' or 'A Shot in the Arm.' It fits in very naturally on the album and opens Summerteeth up in style. I'll just say from the beginning that I love this album and it begins for me what is the true heart of the Wilco catalog (Summerteeth through Sky Blue Sky) when they were at absolutely top form. I love every Wilco album, but these records were all so inventive, so emotional, so incredibly performed and arranged, so uniquely Wilco. Jeff's lyrics also take a leap for me on this record. I really enjoyed his words on the first two albums and he was really coming in to his own on Being There, but the lyrics on Summerteeth stun me in their vividness and their daring. He is asks to write a single by the record company and he turns in a song featuring the lyric "No love's as random as God's love" on the chorus hook. He's already blanketed in a depression that crops up over and over again on this record, despite it's glossy sheen (in fact--I've always thought of the glossy sheen as an equivalent to forcing a smile on your face when you are dying on the inside). I've said it before and I'll say it again--no one writes about mental illness like Jeff Tweedy. His prayers will never be answered and he is struggling to find his skin. It's the first track on the album and already he can't stand any of it. The melody is fantastic and the arrangement is already painted with so many wonderful touches, literal bells and whistles. Jay Bennett shines like a star on Summerteeth and his playing here is great, including a wicked little keyboard solo. The initial plan was to open the album with 'She's a Jar,' but I think this makes more sense. It encapsulates the Summerteeth sound brilliantly. Desperately trying to find and keep peace as you scratch and claw at your own insecurity.
Here comes the lead off “wannabe single”. I must say it was a revelation when I first heard it. That Mellotron, that sixties bouncy bass & organ riff, I thought I was teleported to a pop wonderland, somewhere between Revolver and Something Else by the Kinks, listening to a mix of Taxman & Situation Vacant, if you will, only even more glossy ! To this day, that song gives me a rush of pop pleasure. BUT I must say that they’re failing to sustain the excitation throughout, with all the stop & go’s, and I guess that's one of the reasons it was not the hit that it could’ve been. It’s almost irresistible (and I do love it), but ultimately it’s not 100% successful. In a similar style, I think they outdid this by a mile with I’m the Man Who Loves You on YHF. Still, Can’t Stand It remains a sentimental favorite for me, because it’s a song that was instrumental in making me the Wilco fan I am today.
Summerteeth This really threw the alt-country crowd for a loop when it came out. I loved it. It sounded like a pretty natural evolution of Tweedy’s songwriting to me. There are a lot of keyboard overdubs thanks to Jay Bennett, and while I can understand how that might be disorienting if you were expecting something a little less King Crimson it really comes down to the songwriting - do the songs fit the arrangements? To my ears the answer is “yes”. I’ve only ever owned the promo version of this album on CD. It came in a cardboard sleeve with the same cover but in black & white, a write up on the back, and no hidden bonus tracks. As a result I am still unfamiliar with “candyfloss” and “A Shot In The Arm (remix)”. I’ll give those a listen, finally. I’ve seen Wilco live twice: the A.M. tour and the Summerteeth tour. Both were excellent. Can’t Stand It Great opener. The toy piano, the Moog (or is it Mellotron?), the bell-like percussion accents - you know immediately this isn’t Being There II. This song rollicks.
I never knew Summerteeth wasn’t considered a great album by many until I started hanging around Wilco fans. This wasn’t the first album I bought (AM and Mermaid were), but it’s the first I really heard. All I really knew about Wilco was “Americana band... ambitious double album... beach boys-esque follow-up”, plus my then fiancée (now wife) was into Mermaid Ave. When I saw Summerteeth at the library, I checked it out and loved every minute of it. This is going to be another 5/5 album for me (as is Mermaid... AM and Being There are probably 4-4.5 each for different reasons). Again, I knew nothing of the band drama, or Pro Tools, or hot mastering. I just heard an album full of hooks, lush instrumentation, and thought provoking lyrics. Love it to this day. As for Can’t Stand It... I could care less if this was the label’s order or not, because it’s excellent. It had the exuberance to kick off an album, and taps into the energy and aggression they had on stage during the Being There tour. And then it’s soaked in sweet sugar syrup... the jangly guitars... the buzzing riff... the harmonies... the mellotron... the Wurlitzer solo... and the tubular bells!!! All wonderful. Definitely Jay being a mad wizard in the studio. Pro Tools made it possible for bands to do this for the first time without needing the studio time of Queen. Think Smashing Pumpkins’ Mellon Collie. Or Blur’s Brit trilogy. This was the 90s and a new tool enabled bands to be deeply creative and abandon genres. I’ve heard many fans say this album is overproduced, but I think it was the perfect move for Wilco. I’m glad they didn’t stay in this place, but it certainly made it possible for them to move beyond the Americana label, especially when Mermaid would have given them the ability to be the patriarchs or that scene.
