Wilco Biography
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Wilco is an American contemporary rock
band, predominantly known for its country music roots.
****
Origin Illinois, USA
Country {{{country}}}
Years active 1995 – present
Genre(s) Alternative country
Label(s) Nonesuch Records
Reprise Records
Members Jeff Tweedy
John Stirratt
Nels Cline
Glenn Kotche
Pat Sansone
Mikael Jorgenson
****
Band
history
Primary songwriter/singer Jeff Tweedy was a member
of the seminal 1980s and 1990s group Uncle Tupelo. Tweedy shared songwriting and
singing duties with bandmate Jay Farrar, who split from Uncle Tupelo and formed
Son Volt. Tweedy formed Wilco from the remaining Uncle Tupelo members (bassist
John Stirratt, drummer Ken Coomer and string player Max Johnston).
Wilco has steadily gained popularity since its
first release A.M. in 1995, the only one of the band's albums that resembles the
former Uncle Tupelo sound. Produced by Brian Paulson and lead guitar work done
by Bottle Rockets' frontman Brian Henneman, A.M. reached #27 on the Billboard
heatseeker chart; it would later place 34th on the Village Voice's Pazz & Jop
Critics Poll for 1995.
Multi-instrumentalist Jay Bennett later joined the
band, expanding their already rich sound, adding more electronic/keyboard music,
as well as the strength of a second guitar.
"Initially, it was just as lead guitar player,"
recalls Bennett, "I don't think I even mentioned that I played piano at all...I
was a little intimidated by these guys at first...They had already had a sound
that people really liked. But they also wanted to make pop records - A.M. was
supposed to be a pop record, but it didn't really come across...When we did the
second album [Being There], I began to suggest parts on keyboards that weren't
part of the song as originally written [on guitars and drums]. And once that
happened, the door was just kicked open to another way of making a record."
When Wilco released the double album Being There,
it won glowing reviews (it placed 14th on the Pazz & Jop Critics Poll for 1996)
and a devoted group of fans, but average sales, reaching #73 on the Billboard
album charts. The track "Outtasite (Out Of Mind)" reached the mainstream and
modern rock top 40 in 1997.
Johnston left the band soon after Being There and
joined the Austin band The Gourds as a multi-instrumentalist. "When [Johnston
later] left the band, the traditional Wilco role of 'other guy' became me,"
recalls Bennett.
During the spring of 1995, Woody Guthrie's daughter
Nora had contacted English singer-songwriter Billy Bragg about writing music for
a selection of completed Guthrie lyrics. Her father had left behind over a
thousand sets of complete lyrics written between 1939 and 1967; none of these
lyrics had any music other than a vague stylistic notation. Bragg would later
approach Wilco, asking them to participate in the project as well. Wilco agreed,
and in addition to recording with Bragg in Ireland, they were given their own
share of songs to finish.
Rather than recreating tunes in Guthrie's style,
Bragg and Wilco created new, contemporary music for the lyrics. What seemed like
a risky enterprise surprised everyone; released in 1998 as Mermaid Avenue, the
results were met with universal acclaim. The album won a Grammy nomination for
Best Contemporary Folk Album, and went on to place fourth on the Pazz & Jop
Critics Poll for 1998 (right behind Bob Dylan's Live 1966).
In 1999, the band released Summerteeth, showing a
band evolving from country to electric rockers. Songs like "Can't Stand It" and
"I'm Always In Love" demonstrated a buzzing shift in their sound. Reprise had
higher expectations, but the album peaked at a disappointing #78 on the
Billboard album charts. Regardless, it was still critically acclaimed and
managed to place 8th on the Pazz & Jop Critics Poll for 1999. Summerteeth also
represented a new focus on creating 'studio sounds' that were added to the live
tracking for effect. With later albums, Tweedy and Co.'s fascination with these
studio sounds would continue to grow.
They returned to their country roots once more with
the warmly-received Mermaid Avenue Vol. II, a sequel of sorts to the original
project. Many of the tracks were leftover from the first Mermaid Avenue
sessions, but Wilco also finished a few more songs, including "Someday Some
Morning Sometime," which foreshadowed their next release. (Mermaid Avenue Vol.
II would go on to place 32nd on Pazz & Jop's Critics Poll for 2000.)
The band's next album, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, is
considered by many in the music industry to be one of 2002's best albums, as
well as a standout in terms of innovation. What started as an album continuing
down the musical and sonic path set by Summerteeth morphed into a monster that
would attract plenty of adulation and trouble.
Glenn Kotche replaced Coomer on drums (Coomer would
later play with the band Swag), and brought a more musical and improvisational
style of playing to the songs. Multi-instrumentalist Leroy Bach also joined so
the band could better duplicate their complex arrangements live and in the
studio.
The production seemed to go well, though serious
rifts formed between Bennett and his bandmates. The situation came to a boil
when Jim O'Rourke, formerly of Sonic Youth was asked to remix the album over
Bennett's objections. Contrary to popular belief, O'Rourke actually stripped
away some of the avant-garde noises recorded by Wilco rather than bring them up
in the mix.
Bennett was not pleased with O'Rourke's
involvement, and he was fired from the band shortly after completion of the
album. (Bennett later began a project with longtime collaborator Edward Burch
and released The Palace at 4 A.M. on the same day Yankee Hotel Foxtrot was
ultimately released.)
The situation grew worse when Reprise Records, the
band's label and a Warner subsidiary, rejected the album, sparking a long search
to find a new home for the band. In the meantime, Wilco streamed the album from
their website after purchasing the master tapes for $50,000. Ironically, the
band ended up at Nonesuch Records, another Time Warner subsidiary, and the album
was released in the spring of 2002.
When it was released, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot reached
#12 on the Billboard album charts, Wilco's highest chart position to that date,
as well as charting in Australia. Yankee Hotel Foxtrot would later go on to sell
over 500,000 copies, and to date remains Wilco's best selling album.
Some fans were alienated by the noise driven
elements of many YHF tracks, but the band did attract new fans who appreciated
their new direction. Despite Reprise's earlier doubts of commercial viability,
songs like "Heavy Metal Drummer" and "Jesus, etc." became staples of alternative
and progressive rock radio. More impressively, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot topped
2002's Pazz & Jop Critics Poll, winning 2328 points over 201 votes. (Second
place was taken by Beck's Sea Change, which won 1506 points over 139 votes.)
Filmmaker Sam Jones, who photographed the cover art
for Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, caught much of the YHF-era proceedings on film and
from that material released the black-and-white documentary, I Am Trying To
Break Your Heart. One already classic scene involves an acidic argument between
Tweedy and Bennett over the beginning of a song, "Heavy Metal Drummer", ending
in Tweedy's running to the toilet to vomit (ostensibly due to the chronic
migraines he has had since youth). The DVD release contains the movie, with a
commentary by the director and the band, and a bonus disc containing extra
footage and clips of live performances.
In 2004, Bach left the band, leaving Wilco a
sextet, now featuring acclaimed jazz guitarist, Nels Cline, as well as member of
Stirratt's side project The Autumn Defense, Pat Sansone.
Wilco's most recent album, A Ghost is Born was
released on June 22, 2004, a date that was pushed back after Tweedy entered a
rehabilitation facility for his addiction to his migraine painkillers, an event
that also caused them to pull out of their headline slot at that year's
Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Indio, California. Hailed by
critics, A Ghost is Born was Wilco's first album to make the top ten of the US
album charts in 2004, opening at #8, and also reached the top 50 of the
Australian charts. A Ghost is Born won Wilco its first ever Grammy Awards in
2005 for Recording Package and Alternative Music Album. It also placed 13th on
2004's Pazz & Jop Critics Poll.
During its Summer 2005 tour, Wilco announced that
it will return to the studio in August 2005 to work on its follow up to A Ghost
is Born, which is rumored to be more electronic and inspired by dance music. On
November 15, 2005 the band released a live album entitled Kicking Television:
Live in Chicago, recorded May 4-7, 2005 at the Vic Theater in Chicago, Illinois.
Discography
Albums
A.M. - (March 28, 1995)
Being There - (October 29, 1996) #73 US
Summerteeth - (March 9, 1999) #78 US, #38 UK
Yankee Hotel Foxtrot - (April 23, 2002) #13 US, #40
UK
A Ghost is Born (June 22, 2004) #8 US
Kicking Television: Live in Chicago (November 15,
2005) #47 US
Collaborations
Mermaid Avenue (with Billy Bragg) - (June 23, 1998)
#34 UK
Mermaid Avenue Vol. II (with Billy Bragg) (May 30,
2000)
* * * *
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URL of Original Article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilco
Date Article Copied:
December 19, 2005
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