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

StevieRay wrote:

3milelake wrote: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?

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Woody Guthrie album seriesThe singer-songwriter will record the third Mermaid Avenue collection, which features unpublished lyrics and unreleased songs by the legendary folk musician

Jay Farrar is to release a third Mermaid Avenue album, continuing the series launched by Billy Bragg and Wilco, using unpublished lyrics by folk music legend Woody Guthrie.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 wrote:

Lurleen McQueen wrote:...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.

StevieRay wrote:

3milelake wrote: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?

Duke Silver wrote: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?

Duke Silver wrote: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?

StevieRay wrote:

Zip City wrote: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.

Zip City wrote:

Duke Silver wrote: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

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

Jack Flash wrote:

Iowan wrote: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.

Duke Silver wrote:where's a good place to go next?

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

blackwll wrote: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.

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

Zip City wrote: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.

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

Smitty wrote:

beantownbubba wrote: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.

tinnitus photography wrote:

Zip City wrote: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.