Artist of the Week - Uncle Tupelo

[StevieRay]

StevieRay's top ten Uncle Tupelo songs:

1.Whiskey Bottle
2.Moonshiner
3.New Madrid
4.Life Worth Livin'
5.Still Be Around
6.Gun
7.We've Been Had
8.Black Eye
9.Looking For A Way Out
10.Watch Me Fall

[Lurleen McQueen]

Nice Job StevieRay. Funny story...

When I was in graduate school at Ole Miss, I roomed with Laurie Stirratt for a little while (John's twin sister and Blue Mountain bassist). At the time, Blue Mountain was actually "The Hilltops" - Cary Hudson and John Stirratt, Laurie on bass and Hank Sossaman on drums. I've tried, but I can't remember when this happened, but it had to have been after August of 1990 and before '92, so let's just call it '91-ish.

Cary & Laurie asked me if I could give their friends a ride home from a show and then we would all go to Memphis the next night for a show and on to Little Rock (for New Year's Eve shows??? - it is all very hazy now.). Anyway - I pile these cute young (very drunk) guys in the Oldsmobile and we try to make it back to John's without one of them getting sick in the backseat - don't remember which one.

Anyway, I'd never heard them before, but they were going to be playing with the Hilltops the next night in Memphis and I was looking forward to hearing them. When we roll up to the club in Memphis and start to unload the van, we noticed that the bar employees were heavily tattooed and seriously pierced - the kind where you've got a chain attached from your ear to your nose and looped through your eyebrow. I wasn't quite sure how the Hilltops and the friends were going to go over with this crowd as they seemed to be much more of the flannel shirt set. Turns out - we were at the infamous Antenna Club. Counting the two bands, myself, my friend Kim, and the bar staff, there couldn't have been twenty people there that night. I had a blast listening to the Hilltops and was fucking blown away by their friends -- turns out, they were none other than Uncle Tupelo. I've been a fan ever since.

[StevieRay]

...turns out, they were none other than Uncle Tupelo. I've been a fan ever since.

That's a GREAT story Lurleen! Wow - you were lucky. Thanks for contributing such a timely and interesting personal recollection.

[Smitty]

Their collaboration spawned many great records

It's absolutely fascinating to continue the comparison into the post UT years.

I recently created separate "Tweedy" and "Farrar" playlists in my iTunes. The object was to take every Tweedy song from Uncle Tupelo, Wilco, "Mermaid Ave.," and Golden Smog and put that in one list... and, then take every Farrar song from Uncle Tupelo, Son Volt, solo Jay Farrar, and "One Fast Move Or I'm Gone" and put that in the other list.

Each list has exactly 140 songs.

These two have continued to be driven by each other's output far beyond Uncle Tupelo. One thought I had is: perhaps the huge double-album scope of "Being There" was in part an answer to the absolute majestic glory of "Trace." Also, does it occur to anyone that the literary beauty of "One Fast Move Or I'm Gone" might be an answer to the spectacular "Mermaid Avenue" project?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2009/se ... hrie-album

Jay Farrar continues Woody Guthrie album seriesThe singer-songwriter will record the third Mermaid Avenue collection, which features unpublished lyrics and unreleased songs by the legendary folk musician

Jay Farrar is to release a third Mermaid Avenue album, continuing the series launched by Billy Bragg and Wilco, using unpublished lyrics by folk music legend Woody Guthrie. Farrar was allegedly invited by Guthrie's daughter, Nora, to record original music for more of her father's unreleased songs. Previous Mermaid Avenue albums were released in 1998 and 2000.

Farrar's involvement was revealed this week by Centro-matic's Will Johnson, who has contributed to the project. "Jay sent me a priority mail package full of the lyrics, and I opened it at 4:30 in the afternoon," Johnson told the Austin Chronicle. "Within 17 minutes, I had already documented this one called Chorine My Sheba Queen to the recording machine. That speaks far more about the song than anything I did. The lyrics struck me in a way that the music sounded automatic. It made such sense to my soul and my spirit. It's got an empty and regretful tone, but in a very beautiful way. I just latched onto it."

Farrar is at once an obvious and peculiar choice to continue the Mermaid Avenue series. His songwriting pedigree is excellent – as a founder of both Son Volt and Uncle Tupelo, he is one of the luminaries of contemporary alt-country. But at the same time, his partner in Uncle Tupelo was Wilco's Jeff Tweedy. The two had a very acrimonious split, making Farrar an unexpected successor to Tweedy and his band.

Then again, it's possible to imagine even more unexpected follow-ups. The Klezmatics, who play, er, klezmer, have released two albums of songs from the Woody Guthrie archives, while native American trio Blackfire released an album of unreleased Guthrie songs in 2003. In an interview with Three Monkeys magazine in 2004, Billy Bragg said Nora Guthrie was working on "spoken word stuff, a lot of prose, stream of consciousness stuff", with Lou Reed and Irish folk musician Andy Irvine.

"There's so much stuff there," Bragg said. "Nora could keep doing this project over and over."

[StevieRay]

Nice work Smitty - thanks for the bootleg links, and for being impeccably well informed. I didn't see that! Apparently Nora Guthrie had the same thought. Can't wait to hear that. And with Will Johnson no less!!

[dime in the gutter]

props stevieray....across the board.

in my worldview.....not enough words to describe the greatness and influence of ut. among my "all time" bands.

somebody should post all albums released by any and all folks who have ever been members of tupelo, son volt, wilco, solo stuff, gob iron, etc. lots of great music there. 6 degrees of separation for sure.

[scotto]

Ditto what everyone else said.
Great job. Calling Uncle Tupelo essential listening--especially for folks on this board--is an understatement.

[Tequila Cowboy]

...turns out, they were none other than Uncle Tupelo. I've been a fan ever since.

That's a GREAT story Lurleen! Wow - you were lucky. Thanks for contributing such a timely and interesting personal recollection.

Badass story Lurleen. Love that.

[Jack Flash]

Their collaboration spawned many great records

It's absolutely fascinating to continue the comparison into the post UT years.

I recently created separate "Tweedy" and "Farrar" playlists in my iTunes. The object was to take every Tweedy song from Uncle Tupelo, Wilco, "Mermaid Ave.," and Golden Smog and put that in one list... and, then take every Farrar song from Uncle Tupelo, Son Volt, solo Jay Farrar, and "One Fast Move Or I'm Gone" and put that in the other list.

Each list has exactly 140 songs.

These two have continued to be driven by each other's output far beyond Uncle Tupelo. One thought I had is: perhaps the huge double-album scope of "Being There" was in part an answer to the absolute majestic glory of "Trace." Also, does it occur to anyone that the literary beauty of "One Fast Move Or I'm Gone" might be an answer to the spectacular "Mermaid Avenue" project?

Just for fun, I have created fantasy Uncle Tupelo albums by creating iTunes playlists by combining tracks from Son Volt/Farrar solo albums and Wilco albums from similar periods. Some of the match ups are awkward, but it's remarkable and surprising how well a few of them match up. The Trace/A.M. and Sebastopol/Yankee Hotel Foxtrot hybrids are especially good.

[Beebs]

Great job Stevie. And thanks again Smitty for your continued generosity with bootlegs.

All I have to add is that after listening to UT, SV and Wilco for a long time now I am still blown away by the crucible of music awesomness that UT was. The kind of magic and lore that doesn't come around very often. Also, I can't possibly appreciate SV and WIlco any more for being so different from UT, unique among music in general (popular, Alt-country or otherwise) and so prolific. Between Tweedy, Farrar and all the talented folks involved over the years we have what must now be dozens of hours of brilliant music.

[Duke Silver]

awesome thread. reminds me that i still need to check out "no depression" and spend more time with "march."

semi-controversial opinion time: i don't care for farrar much. i think he's a damn good songwriter, but his voice grates on me. and because i came to UT (and alt-country in general) via wilco, i'm kinda of the opinion that jay's a bit of a dick. that said, i'm willing to give him another shot. other than UT and Son Volt's "Trace," (which i have and enjoy) where's a good place to go next?

[bovine knievel]

awesome thread. reminds me that i still need to check out "no depression" and spend more time with "march."

semi-controversial opinion time: i don't care for farrar much. i think he's a damn good songwriter, but his voice grates on me. and because i came to UT (and alt-country in general) via wilco, i'm kinda of the opinion that jay's a bit of a dick. that said, i'm willing to give him another shot. other than UT and Son Volt's "Trace," (which i have and enjoy) where's a good place to go next?

I think Jay just needs a hug.

[Zip City]

awesome thread. reminds me that i still need to check out "no depression" and spend more time with "march."

semi-controversial opinion time: i don't care for farrar much. i think he's a damn good songwriter, but his voice grates on me. and because i came to UT (and alt-country in general) via wilco, i'm kinda of the opinion that jay's a bit of a dick. that said, i'm willing to give him another shot. other than UT and Son Volt's "Trace," (which i have and enjoy) where's a good place to go next?

The Farrar/Gibbard album "One Fast Move Or I'm Gone" is brilliant

[bold99]

I think it's a shame (in a way) that Wilco drifted so far from alt. country. Their music is good, and i would love to catch a live show, but the people who criticize them for being "dad rock" aren't really too far off the mark.

I couldn't disagree more. Tweedy's sense of artistic renewal has been uncanny. Had he stayed in the comparative safety of that enormous bundle of styles that 90's critics called "Alt-Country" - he and Wilco might perhaps have drifted away into somewhat bland & unremarkable "dad rock" musical territory. He would never have worked with Jim O'Rourke, he would have never hired Glenn Kotche or Nels Cline, etc.

I completely agree...if Wilco is dad rock..i'm a dad rock fan. I think they have taken things to a completely different level and as much as I like the earlier more alt-country albums YHF blew me away. I love Ghost is Born....I think each album goes in a different direction and has something new. Sky Blue Sky is probably my 2nd or 3rd favorite album of theirs...I just think its perfect in so many ways.

My advice is go see a Wilco show...and watch Nels Cline play guitar...he's an animal. Far Far from dad rock. They just kill live.

[Duke Silver]

awesome thread. reminds me that i still need to check out "no depression" and spend more time with "march."

semi-controversial opinion time: i don't care for farrar much. i think he's a damn good songwriter, but his voice grates on me. and because i came to UT (and alt-country in general) via wilco, i'm kinda of the opinion that jay's a bit of a dick. that said, i'm willing to give him another shot. other than UT and Son Volt's "Trace," (which i have and enjoy) where's a good place to go next?

The Farrar/Gibbard album "One Fast Move Or I'm Gone" is brilliant

is that the kerouac thing? i remember reading about that and it sounded cool. i'll check it out.

jay doesn't strike me as being all that huggable. not that there's anything wrong with that.

[Iowan]

My take on it is that both Farrar and Tweedy are egotistical bastards. Both Wilco and Son Volt have been plagued by constant line up changes. It's a damn shame that these two can't put aside what I'm sure is little more than a string of petty disagreements that just snowballed (I've seen it a million times), and reunite, but that's beside the point.

Now, that said, I absolutely LOVE their music. This is where I come down on the Son Volt/Wilco debate:
Post UT, Farrar has made the best album of the two, and that is Trace. It's nearly perfect. That said, Tweedy has been far more consistent. I listen to Wilco a lot more than I listen to Son Volt, because I find most other Son Volt albums to be boring in comparison to Trace. They all have moments, but I think almost every single Wilco album is better than almost any single Son Volt album not named Trace. The Search/ACD have been very close to SBS/Wilco (the album), but I don't feel they've exceeded them either.

[Jack Flash]

The Search/ACD have been very close to SBS/Wilco (the album), but I don't feel they've exceeded them either.

I disagree, I think those two records (The Search/ACD) are the first Farrar efforts to surpass congruent Wilco albums since Trace/AM, or even come close.

[Iowan]

The Search/ACD have been very close to SBS/Wilco (the album), but I don't feel they've exceeded them either.

I disagree, I think those two records (The Search/ACD) are the first Farrar efforts to surpass congruent Wilco albums since Trace/AM, or even come close.

I don't think we're that far off. I agree that after Trace, Wilco has been a lot better. But The Search/ACD are about on the same plane as SBS/Wilco. I listen to those Wilco albums more, but I don't know if they're any better.

[StevieRay]

where's a good place to go next?

Give this a shot:


To those negative impressions of the Wilco minded readers: It's not like Farrar was a Sith Lord betraying his apprentice. There is an argument that he was visionary in his thinking that Uncle Tupelo had run it's course and there would be something significant to come later.

[never going back]

Very nice thread!

I've always been more of a UT fan than Wilco or Sonvolt. I was turned on to them in 90 by the same friend that turned me on to Widespread Panic. Both were pretty life changing. The first album I heard was Still Feel Gone, and it's still a favorite, but I really like all their stuff.

[blackwll]

How about some love for fellow Mississippi River Alt-country pioneers The Jayhawks? They have been playing together a little, maybe a new album will come of it. Who knows. Great stuff. I wish I knew enough to do a write up. If someone else, does, please do so.

P.S. I also like UT and Fararr/Son Volt, not so much Wilco. Maybe its a temperamental thing. I don't see what all the fuss about Wilco is about, just don't get what they are about. I like all the Fararr stuff I have heard (which is most of it). ACD is probably my least favorite, oddly enough. I like the more rock oriented Son Volt and the self entitled Jay Fararr material over the folky Son Volt. The concert video from Okemah tour is great musically, less so from the performance standpoint. I think Fararr is lacking in stage presence, but you could say the same for Neil Young. Just not that important to me I guess.

[Steve French]

-- turns out, they were none other than Uncle Tupelo. I've been a fan ever since.

colour me jealous!

thats an awesome story. I really like this thread.

Does anyone else really like "Wide Swing Tremolo" as an album (I like it better than Trace ,though I havent listened to Trace in a while)

Oh yeah, I too, went through the 1990s "All music is crap" phase. I just wasn't looking in the right places, it turns out.

Yay for SR: great job!

[Smitty]

Wilco has some of the best musicianship of any band out there right now, that's their main appeal to me.
I prefer the more country/folk side of Son Volt - Jay's voice just doesn't fit the more rock material, in my opinion.

[never going back]

How about some love for fellow Mississippi River Alt-country pioneers The Jayhawks? They have been playing together a little, maybe a new album will come of it. Who knows. Great stuff. I wish I knew enough to do a write up. If someone else, does, please do so.

P.S. I also like UT and Fararr/Son Volt, not so much Wilco. Maybe its a temperamental thing. I don't see what all the fuss about Wilco is about, just don't get what they are about. I like all the Fararr stuff I have heard (which is most of it). ACD is probably my least favorite, oddly enough. I like the more rock oriented Son Volt and the self entitled Jay Fararr material over the folky Son Volt. The concert video from Okemah tour is great musically, less so from the performance standpoint. I think Fararr is lacking in stage presence, but you could say the same for Neil Young. Just not that important to me I guess.

I was supposed to do an AOTW a few weeks ago but ended up making my husband do it instead. The Jayhawks or Steely Dan were my first choices. However, you're welcome to take a go at it if you want. I looooove The Jayhawks.

[dime in the gutter]

other than UT and Son Volt's "Trace," (which i have and enjoy) where's a good place to go next?

farrar and anders parker

[tinnitus photography]

I think it's a shame (in a way) that Wilco drifted so far from alt. country. Their music is good, and i would love to catch a live show, but the people who criticize them for being "dad rock" aren't really too far off the mark.

catch a live show and get back to me on this one.

[beantownbubba]

Is dad rock just classic rock, or does it have a more specific meaning than that?

[Smitty]

Is dad rock just classic rock, or does it have a more specific meaning than that?

I think its music tailor-made for aging hipsters/punk rockers to listen to without having to sacrifice their self-respect.
I believe it was originally coined as a derogatory term for music thats as safe and accessible as a loaf of bread but still passes itself off as "alternative" or "hip".
I don't necessarily agree with it, nor do I think theres anything wrong with a band whose members aren't in the 20's anymore making more "mature" music. To me it's the other way around, unless they do it as good as the Stones or something.

[Steve French]

Is dad rock just classic rock, or does it have a more specific meaning than that?

I think its music tailor-made for aging hipsters/punk rockers to listen to without having to sacrifice their self-respect.
I believe it was originally coined as a derogatory term for music thats as safe and accessible as a loaf of bread but still passes itself off as "alternative" or "hip".
I don't necessarily agree with it, nor do I think theres anything wrong with a band whose members aren't in the 20's anymore making more "mature" music. To me it's the other way around, unless they do it as good as the Stones or something.

I've always thought it to be a disparaging term, used by the young (and generally illinformed, with dreadful taste in music) to slight the music of their elders, or music made by their elders: for example Pink Floyd, Dire Straits, Led Zeppelin maybe, Things like David Gilmour's solo stuff (he is PF to me, Roger Waters can go fuck himself) It also includes most of the so called "classic rock".

Dont know if I am putting that across well: its late. Here's a thing though: I dont think U2 is considered Dad rock, nor Metallica, but both of them meet the age criteria, and "my Dad likes them so they're crap" test. Same as AC/DC.

[Zip City]

I think it's a shame (in a way) that Wilco drifted so far from alt. country. Their music is good, and i would love to catch a live show, but the people who criticize them for being "dad rock" aren't really too far off the mark.

catch a live show and get back to me on this one.

It's near the top of my list of bands to see