The Weight

I know I rip on Wilco a lot, but this is pretty damn good. Mavis Staples leads Nick Lowe and Wilco in their rendition of The Band's classic "The Weight" backstage at the Civic Opera House in Chicago in December 2011.



Also watch the killer original from the best concert film of all time, 1973's The Last Waltz. A young Mavis Staples wails out the second verse. I love the comment on the youtube page that says, "Rick Danko looks like a little bit like what I imagine 'Crazy Chester' looks like, especially when singing his part." Danko rocks the bad-ass fretless bass.

Geriatric Rock

Twitter was abuzz today with a video of Jeff Tweedy, lead singer of Wilco, channeling his inner Al Roker by announcing the weather report for Chicago's WGN television on Thursday morning. First, who gets up that early to watch the morning weather report (especially if you are in the rock and roll business)? Second, who cares that much about the weather? The answer to both of these questions: my dad. 65-year-old father of two, grandfather of one, ice fisherman extraordinaire, not quite the Grumpy Old Men curmudgeon, but getting close.

Another piece of Jeff Tweedy/Wilco news filtered under the twitter radar last night/this morning. As my colleague Cowbelle first pointed out to me, Wilco's latest album The Whole Love was named to the American Association of Retired People's 2011 Top 10 Albums for Grownups, along with albums from Tony Bennett, Barbara Streisand, and Paul Simon. I've been saying since 2004's A Ghost is Born that Wilco is "Dad Rock," i.e. something that dads listen to in order to try to convince their kids that they are cool. Thanks to AARP for validating this theory! Now I know what to get my dad for Christmas.

AARP's 2011 Top 10 Albums for Grownups
• Paul Simon, So Beautiful or So What
• Adele, 21
• Jill Scott, The Light Of The Sun
• Tom Waits, Bad As Me
• Raphael Saadiq, Stone Rollin'
• Tony Bennett, Duets II
• Barbra Streisand, What Matters Most
• Alison Krauss and Union Station, Paper Airplane
• Wilco, The Whole Love
• Yo-Yo Ma, Stuart Duncan, Edgar Meyer and Chris Thile, The Goat Rodeo Sessions

Somewhere Jay Farrar and Jay Bennett are giggling.

Born Alone.mp3
Buy: The Whole Love

I know I bust on Wilco a lot, but let's face it: they are low hanging fruit. Catch their show sometime. They are a tremendous live act. No joke.

Music and Misery: #11-9

You can tell by my lack of blog posts that I had a miserable April. So, let's talk about more misery! More on my series discussing Forbes 20 most miserable U.S. cities list, and the musicians that these cities have spawned.

To review:
20. Philadelphia, PA
19. Gary, IN
18. Youngstown, OH
17. Sacramento, CA
16. New York, NY
15. Toledo, OH
14. Rockford, IL
13. Kansas City, MO
12. Akron, OH

11. Modesto, California
Another city for which finding a postcard is difficult. I believe this postcard to the right is of lovely Downey High School, Modesto, CA. Population of roughly 210,000. Second highest unemployment in all of California, expected to reach 18.5% this year. Foreclosures affected 8.5% of homes in 2009, sixth worst in the U.S. In 2008, had the highest rate of auto theft in America. Lots of complaints on the internet about the Tule fog in Modesto, which plagues most of California's central valley from November through March, making everything damp and cold. Burrr.

The now defunct indie rock band Grandaddy hails from Modesto. Modesto native and Grandaddy lead singer Jason Lytle released his first solo album last year entitled Yours Truly, The Commuter.

Grandaddy - Summer Here Kids.mp3
Buy: Under the Western Freeway (1997)

Bonus! A song about misery in Modesto, from a band based out of Brooklyn.

The Hold Steady - Modesto is Not That Sweet.mp3
From: Extended Australian release of Almost Killed Me (2004)

10. Chicago, Illinois
The Windy City. I lived just north of Chicago from 1991-1995, and I loved it, but it appears that the city has become more miserable since I left. Population of 2.8 million with a metro area of 9.7 million, which includes the suburbs north to Wisconsin and southeast to Indiana. Unemployment of 11.6%. And you know violent crime in Chicago is bad when it has its own section in Wikipedia. Toronto has roughly the same city population as Chicago (2.5 million for Toronto) and has had 11 murders so far in 2010. Chicago has has 113 through April 30. Chicago has the nation's highest sales tax rate (10.25%, which is high even by Canadian standards) and very long, painful commutes. Chicago is the city that practically invented government corruption. Just read about the late Mayor Richard J. Daley, who's son Richard M. Daley is now in power. The wind whips off of Lake Michigan and freezes you solid in winter, and the hot, muggy summers can be even worse. I remember my last summer in Chicago in 1995 when a massive heat wave with the heat index of 119°F (48°C) recorded at O'Hare airport killed over 700 people. And speaking of O'Hare, the one and only time I spent a night at the airport was at this miserable set of terminals. Sports teams? One word: Cubs, who are now going on 102 years of futility.

All that being said, I still love Chicago, and I would move back there in a heartbeat.

So much good music comes out of Chicago! Chicago has a rich history of blues music, with masters like Muddy Waters, Buddy Guy, Bo Didley, and Elmore James originating in Chicago, just to name a few. I saw Buddy Guy a few years ago when he was at the ripe old age of 70, and wow, did he put on a great show. Chicago was the birthplace of house music, and in the 80s was a center of punk and new wave. The rock music scene is always thriving, and Chicago hosts Lollapalooza and the Pitchfork Festival each summer.

The Blues Brothers - Sweet Home Chicago.mp3
Buy: Blues Brothers - The Definitive Collection (1992)

Wilco - Via Chicago.mp3
Buy: Summerteeth (1999)

Chicago (Yes, I'm ironical!) - Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is.mp3
Buy: The Best Of Chicago, 40th Anniversary (2007)

9. Canton, Ohio
Home of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Population of 78,362 (I thought the Forbes list cut off at 245,000?), with a metro area of about 400,000. Losing population rapidly with a net migration out of Canton in each of the past 15 years. Unemployment rate of 15.4%. About 15.4% of families and 19.2% of the population are below the poverty line. Only 18% of the adult population has a college degree. Violent crime in Canton is three times the Ohio state average.

I have to say that this Forbes list is rather suspect as every city in northwest Ohio is on the list, with all roughly the same problems (terrible unemployment, lots of crime, losing population, brutal spots teams, and bad weather). Why didn't Forbes lump all of these cities into one giant miserable metro area?

There are a surprising number of famous musicians and groups from Canton, including the 50s/60s soul group The O'Jays, R & B artist Macy Gray, alternative rockers Reliant K, and soft rocker Boz Skaggs.

The most famous rock star from Canton must be Brian Hugh Warner, also known as Marilyn Manson. Say what you will about Mr. Manson, and while I am not a huge fan of his music, I always find him to be incredibly articulate and well spoken when I see him on TV or read about him in interviews. For example, check out Spin's 2007 cover story on the antichrist superstar.

Marilyn Manson - I Don't Like the Drugs (But the Drugs Like Me).mp3
Buy: Mechanical Animals (1998)

Jay Bennett (1963-2009)

I saw this terrible news come across my twitter feed tonight and I was hoping that it wasn't true. Unfortunately, the Chicago-Sun Times confirmed the worst. An excerpt from the report:

Jay Bennett, a rock musician with deep ties to Chicago best known as a former member of Wilco, died early Sunday morning in downstate Urbana, where he had been running a recording studio, according to a spokesman for his family.

The singer and multi-instrumentalist was 45 years old.

"Early this morning, Jay died in his sleep and an autopsy is being performed," said Edward Burch, a friend and musician who collaborated with Bennett on the 2005 album "The Palace at 4 a.m." "The family is in mourning and is unavailable for comment at this time."

My introduction to Jay Bennett's music came by way of Wilco. He joined Wilco in touring support of Wilco's album A.M., and then contributed to Wilco's next three albums. I first discovered Wilco via Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, an album Bennett co-wrote with Jeff Tweedy on eight of the eleven tracks.

Bennett released five solo albums, the most recent of which was released last year as a free download. I have linked a sample track, and the link to entire album:

Another Town Another Ride Another Window.mp3
Whatever Happened I Apologize (2008)

There are also several Jay Bennett solo sessions on Daytrotter.

R.I.P. Mr. Bennett.

Hey Hey, My My

Concert Review: Neil Young with Wilco and Everest, December 4, Air Canada Centre, Toronto

The first thing that strikes me when I see living legends in concert is the range of audience that they attract, and Neil Young attracted quite an interesting mix at the Air Canada Centre on Thursday, Dec. 4, from burned-out hippies older than my parents (for the record, my folks are one year younger than Neil), to kids barely old enough to drink, to youngsters attending the show with their now straight-laced, Bay Street parents who wished they were still hippies. The hipsters, the scenesters, the stoners, the sportos, the motorheads, geeks, sluts, bloods, wasteoids, dweebies, dickheads — they all adore him. They all think he's a righteous dude.

Young came on stage with his band and turned the normally chilly hockey arena into the hottest place in town, blasting through "Love and Only Love," and then cranking it up higher with "Hey Hey, My My." Though he looks a little worse for wear, his voice is still strong and he belted out many classics from his 40+ year career. He wailed on the eclectic guitar like it was still 1979, and his band played in the spirit of Crazy Horse. In fact, Young recently commented in an interview with Rolling Stone that he has "no limit" to what he can do with this band, and has known all of the musicians for more than 20 years.

Young toned it down a bit and played organ for "Mother Earth," and broke out the acoustic guitar for "Needle and the Damage Done" and other classics from Harvest. In addition to the classics, Young also played four new tracks which he has been playing for most of this late summer/fall/winter tour. The new trio of "Just Singing A Song (Won't Change the World)," "See Change," (or "Sea Change" depending on who you ask), and "When Worlds Collide," all seem to be very in tune with Young's politics. Yeah, you can sing about change, but let's see some action too. And these new tunes rock pretty hard too. Its nice to know that Neil isn't resting on his legacy, and is still cranking out the rock.

In addition to being a righteous dude, Neil Young can also be a weird dude. The stage was decorated with odd objects - a cigar store wooden Indian in the far left corner, a telephone with its own red spot light in front of the drum set, an artist painting something abstract in the background, a crazy owl painting in the lights, weird lettering in the background that eventually spelled out N-E-I-L in lights during the encore. After his encore of the Beatles's classic, "A Day in the Life," he went over to the marimba and played two odd notes, looked at the audience with a goofy expression on his face, and walked off of the stage. Even his wife Pegi, who sang backup and played percussion and piano during the show, gave him a funny look. But just before this "solo" he stripped off all of the strings from his guitar like the rock god that he is. Awesome. Here's to showing yet another generation how its done.

Set List
1. Love and Only Love - Ragged Glory (1990)
2. Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black) - Rust Never Sleeps (1979)
3. Everybody Knows This is Nowhere - Everybody Knows This is Nowhere (1969)
4. Powderfinger - Rust Never Sleeps (1979)
5. Spirit Road.mp3 - Buy: Chrome Dreams II (2007)
6. Cortez the Killer - Zuma (1975)
7. Cinnamon Girl - Everybody Knows This is Nowhere (1969)
8. Oh, Lonesome Me - After the Gold Rush (1970)
9. Mother Earth (Natural Anthem) - Ragged Glory (1990)
10. Needle and the Damage Done - Harvest (1972)
11. Lighting a Candle - New Song
12. Unknown Legend -Harvest Moon (1992)
13. Heart Of Gold - Harvest (1972)
14. Old Man - Harvest (1972)
15. Get Back To The Country - Old Ways (1985)
16. Just Singing A Song (Won't Change the World) - New Song
17. See Change - New Song
18. When Worlds Collide - New Song
19. Cowgirl In The Sand - Everybody Knows This is Nowhere (1969)
20. Rockin' In The Free World - Freedom (1989)

Encore
21. A Day In The Life (Beatles Cover)

"See/Sea Change" fan footage from the summer European tour. The other new tunes can also be found on YouTube.


Wilco has been losing me lately. I loved their 2002 release Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, I thought 2004's A Ghost is Born was good, and though many of my friends lauded 2007's Sky Blue Sky, I couldn't get into it at all. Its probably no surprise then that I was underwhelmed by Wilco's performance. Don't get me wrong - they are great musicians, their sound was terrific, and even though lead singer Jeff Tweedy confessed to being under the weather he still sounded great. Guitarist Nels Cline is so much fun to watch. He had two, if not three, face melting solos, and blew at least two strings during his scorching performance. But, this is also where the band lost me. A perfect example of this was their bizarre rendition of "Via Chicago." I did not recognize the tune at first, it started very slow and soft, and then Cline burst in with this screechy/feedback avant rock. Everyone around me, including myself, thought he made a big fuck-up and was playing the wrong song. But given that the band didn't cringe, and that he subsequently made that noise two more times, I assumed that they meant to do that. It was clearly a "WTF?" moment. Layer that on top of the soft, folky Sky Blue Sky tracks, and it made for an anticlimactic opener for a rock legend who single-handedly blew the sextet of Wilco off of the stag.

Set List
1. You Are My Face - Sky Blue Sky (2007)
2. War on War - Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (2002)
3. Handshake Drugs - A Ghost is Born (2004)
4. Jesus, Ect. - Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (2002)
5. Impossible Germany - Sky Blue Sky (2007)
6. Via Chicago - Summerteeth (1999)
7. California Stars.mp3 - Buy: Mermaid Avenue (1998)
8. Hate it Here.mp3 - Buy: Sky Blue Sky (2007)
9. Walken - Sky Blue Sky (2007)
10. I'm the Man Who Loves You - Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (2002)

The Los Angeles-based band Everest opened with a 30 minute set of six or seven songs. They sounded great, if not a little out of place in a giant hockey arena. They were hand-picked by Young for this tour, and are signed to Young's Vapor Records label. I can see these guys easily rocking a smaller venue. They have a fun diary of their tour on their website, where you can also listen to some of their tunes. It looks like they played with local musician Hayden during their Friday night set. Damn, I wish I would have seen that Friday show too.
Buy: Ghost Notes (2008)

Holiday Office Party

Its that time of year again, the time where everyone in your office gets together for some holiday cheer. You HAVE to go to the party because if you don't your boss will frown at you. But really, is there a more painful event during the holidays? Wouldn't you rather spend time with your in-laws or drunk Uncle Kenny than spend an evening with the cretins you work with? The upside is that someone will undoubtedly get really drunk and make an ass of themselves (probably you). Someone will technicolor yawn on your boss's shoes (again, probably you). And someone will hook up with Bobby the copier boy (hopefully not you as you have puke breath from the previous sentence. But hey, Bobby isn't picky.).

Well, I for one am skipping the office holiday party. Why? Cause I have tickets to see Neil freakin' Young! SCREW YOU GUYS, I'M GOING TO ROCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I usually hate seeing bands at the Air Canada Centre, but I make exceptions for Neil Young and Bob Dylan. And this show will be extra awesome because Wilco is one of the opening bands. This show may rival The Hold Steady/Drive-By Truckers double bill. Oh man am I excited!!!

Check out a review from the Montreal show on Monday night (12/1).

I have to admit that I am not crazy about Wilco's 2007 release Sky Blue Sky, especially when I started hearing it on Volkswagen commercials. But, Jeff Tweedy and the current lineup including guitarist Nels Cline are one of the best lives acts going today.

Wilco - Either Way.mp3
Buy: Sky Blue Sky (2007)

Wilco - I Am Trying to Break Your Heart.mp3
Buy: Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (2002)

Neil Young -A Man Needs a Maid/Heart of Gold Suite.mp3
Buy: Live at Massey Hall, 1971 (2007)

Neil Young & Crazy Horse - Sugar Mountain.mp3
Buy: Live Rust (1979)

Don't Criticize What You Can't Understand

Happy US Election Day! I voted absentee in Wisconsin a few weeks ago. I'm assuming that my district received my ballot and promptly threw it in the trash.

Leadbelly - The Bourgeois Blues.mp3
Buy: The Blues: Bourgeois Blues 1933-1946

Bob Dylan - The Times They are a Changin'.mp3
Buy: The Bootleg Series, Vols. 1-3 : Rare And Unreleased, 1961-1991

Billy Bragg & Wilco - Christ for President.mp3
Buy: Mermaid Avenue (1998)

Todd Snider - Conservative Christian, Right-Wing Republican, Straight, White, American Males.mp3
Buy: East Nashville Skyline (2004)

Ry Cooder - One Cat, One Vote, One Beer.mp3
Buy: My Name Is Buddy (2007)

Super Bowl Jesus

Last night I was searching for Wilco MP3s and I came across this little gem. It was put together by The Hood Internet, two Chicago DJs who specialize in mixing hip-hop with indie rock. This track can be found on their mix The Hood Internet vs. Chicago which came out in May 2008.

Kanye West ("Jesus Walks") vs. the 1985 Chicago Bears ("Super Bowl Shuffle") vs. Wilco ("Jesus, Etc.")
Super Bowl Jesus.mp3