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Jay Bennett
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>> Former Wilco Member Jay Bennett Dies at 45
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What Jay Bennett's Death Made Me Realize About Wilco
SPIN's Ellen Carpenter on the sad passing of the inventive musician -- and why she loves the new Wilco record anyway.
By Ellen Carpenter 05.29.09 7:48 AM
Jay Bennett
A few Sundays ago I hosted a Wilco listening session in my apartment.
The only guest was my husband, a casual listener more conversant in Jeff Tweedy's migraines and squabbles with sidemen than the band's actual musical catalogue. As a longtime Wilco fan -- who first heard A.M. on a dorm boombox freshman year at college in Chicago -- I took it upon myself to school him.
More on SPIN.com:
>> Former Wilco Member Jay Bennett Dies at 45
>> Listen to Wilco's New Album!
>> Download: Wilco and Feist Cover Woody Guthrie
>> Springsteen, Beastie Boys, and Phish Headline Bonnaroo
I pulled out all six of their albums, put them in the carousel (they're one of the few bands whose records I always buy on CD) and walked him through each song. By the time we moved from the atmospheric pop of A Ghost Is Born into the jammy folk-rock of Sky Blue Sky, I had a sudden realization: I liked Wilco better with Jay Bennett in the band.
When I heard that he died last Sunday, this wistfulness turned into something worse. Bennett, who released a handful of quirky and gorgeous (but largely overlooked) solo albums after his dismissal from Wilco, had emerged in recent media as a vengeful and troubled soul. Just three weeks prior to his death, he filed suit against Wilco for breach of contract and unpaid royalties, possibly to help pay for hip surgery he lacked health insurance to cover. While a toxicology report has yet to determine the cause of death, his drug history and the pain he was likely in certainly raise the specter of an overdose. Which only makes his clouded reputation as an artist seem more unfair.
To me, Bennett got a bad rap. Much of this comes from his portrayal in the documentary I Am Trying to Break Your Heart: as a crazy, dreadheaded, obsessive, control freak -- a guy all but explicitly blamed for sending Tweedy into the bathroom stall to puke his guts out, overwhelmed by the angst of working with such a nightmare. That Tweedy then fired Bennett only cemented the latter's rep as an albatross cast from Tweedy's shoulders so that Wilco could rise to glory.
The film is a must-see (especially for anyone considering a career in the music industry), but it has its distortions. (Watch the trailer here.) Even Tweedy complained that it focused too much on his and Bennett's relationship. And the Bennett-as-creativity-squelcher throughline sort of obscures the fact that he co-wrote eight of the eleven songs on Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, the album that propelled Wilco to become one of the most critically lauded and obsessively followed bands of their generation.
Bennett joined Wilco in 1994 just after they recorded their debut, A.M. While it's not always easy to pinpoint one musician's effect on a band's sound, I think Bennett's contributions were audible and distinct.
LISTEN TO WILCO:
"Can't Stand It"/"Shot In The Arm" (Live Indiana, '09)
"I'm Always in Love"
"She's A Jar" (Live at Austin City Limits, '99)
"My Darling" (Live at Austin City Limits, '99)
A multi-instrumentalist and studio wiz, he helped Wilco shed its alt-country tag and move into the immersive, unclassifiable sonic territory they become known for. Bennett's Wilco debut Being There was a huge step forward, and by the time Summerteeth came out in 1999, they sounded like a completely different band. The songs were fuller, warmer, the standard guitar-and-drums set-up of A.M. had been supplemented by a lush psychedelic impressionism that was largely a product of Bennett's masterful work with farfisa organ, bells, Moog, lap steel guitar, banjo, synthesizer, and other instrumental exotica.
Yesterday I listened to Summerteeth and tried to imagine it without these contributions. How would "Can't Stand It" sound without those dramatic bell chimes that double the guitar chords at the opening? Would "I'm Always in Love" be half as good without the chirpy, Cars-ish analog synth? And would "She's A Jar" be anywhere near as heartbreaking without that soft, sighing organ that coos through the verses? Or those stately, orchestral synths that rise to bring in the chorus? Or that gentle oboe-like keyboard phrase that caresses the line "dry your eyes, you poor devil"?
Go listen to that song now, think about Jay Bennett's passing, and try keeping your own eyes dry.
I'm not trying to take glory from Tweedy. Wilco is his band, and boy has he earned the rep they enjoy now. But I really think Bennett made him better, and at a crucial time in the band's career. I still love Wilco. I've enjoyed all their post-Bennett albums and think their new one, Wilco (The Album), is the best of those yet. But I haven't felt that way about any of them. It always seemed like something was missing to me. Maybe it was just a certain deeply musical understanding of the songs' shapes and colors, a certain way of setting off a phrase or building a gorgeous aural frame. I'm not exactly sure. But now that something is gone for good.
Free download: Jay Bennett's album "Whatever Happened I Apologize".
Bravo. I am 100% in agreement. I was very saddened to hear the news. Jay will be missed.
Please Ellen, Just because you feel nostalgic about your college days is no reason to pretend the last three Wilco albums aren't as good as anything with Jay Bennett.
Maybe you should go lay on the quad with a head full of weed and braid your boyfriends hair while you listen to A GhOst In Born...
Jay was an awesome musician and his contributions are very important but sheesh.......
Thanks, Ellen. This is a touching and fitting tribute, and your personal sadness from Jay’s death is apparent. But I have to say, the idea that Wilco was better with Jay would only be a realization (and at times this even reads like a confession) to a music critic. Critics have fallen over themselves for years now protecting Wilco—even the title of this blog post needlessly plugs their new record...why?—and pretending their last three records were anywhere near as interesting, inspired or listenable as Summerteeth. Wilco is technically better now. And Tweedy’s decision to part with Jay was made out of obvious necessity and in the band’s best interest. But what Wilco gained in stability and musicianship, they lost in creative spirit. Jay will be missed indeed. He’s been sorely missed by Wilco, both live and on record, for several years.
Mink, how can you so easily dismiss Ellen's opinion? Go back and listen to Being There or Yankee Hotel Best Album Ever and rethink your life.
Check out YouTube for videos of Jay performing with Steve Pride & His Blood Kin (the band from which Jeff Tweedy "stole" - Jeff's words - Mr. Bennett).
Also, note the video entitled "Who Writes The Songs" for a glimpse of Jay in a mood which is the antithesis of "The Scene" in "I Am Trying..." It is a wonderful snapshot of the young man I knew before he went off to play the chords of fame.
Jelone, YHF is tattooed on my soul. One of the great things about Wilco is that each of their albums is unique.I dismiss Ellen's opinion because it is obvious that it is based on nostagia which would be fine if she wasn't trying to hide it behind a musical opinion.Stop living in the past and make some new memories to Wilco (The Album). Oh and most importantly, why not honor Jay's memory by listening to his music and talking about how great he was instead of talking about Jeff throwing up from a migraine???
Mink and Jelone, the other fairly obvious but significant factor that I haven't heard anyone discuss is that Wilco is older (which I think hurts them as a band as far as being interesting and exciting) I appreciate their newer albums, the musicianship, the structure blah blah and all that but they don't have that kick...Jay helped to provide that kick but he also benefited from a younger, less at peace Tweedy... When I saw Jeff put on a Burger King crown and dance like Homer Simpson (1997) I was an instant fan. He has replaced that with ridiculous political crap---just another modern day court jester feeling preachy. My point is Wilco and Tweedy have unfortunately crossed the line of feeling good about themselves to looooving themselves. Are they wearing Wilco concert t-shirts on stage now, too? "how post modern!" I'm sure you say... "How post Jay" I say
i did the same thing --listening to all their records-- and think 'summer teeth' and 'YHF' are their best by far; those records --for better or for worse-- will be what is remembered about jay bennett....very sad...great post
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Wilco lost its soul when Jay left....nothing they have done since then can hold a candle to their material w/ Jay. You need that creative conflict a lot of times to make the members push each other. Currently, it seems that the band is self-satisfied and kind of has this "Go team!" "Look at how great we are!" type vibe going. But the reality is that all great bands grow old and change and hit their peak and then slowly fall off....nature of the beast. Just wish Wilco wouldn't have peaked so quickly. Summerteeth will always hold a special place in my heart.
Dear Flannery OConnor:
it should come as no shock or surprise to anyone that a person who works for a publication that would print that "Bull Black Nova" is the worst song on the new Wilco record would write such unmitagated codswollop as the article which i have just read.
your understanding of both people and music is shockingly myopic and i suggest you pursue another career path. incredible.
of course, we all learn how to write by the 1st grade, it is just that most of us go on to other things. have a nice day. john.
brilliant. it could be the worst article ever written about music in the history of either genre. the side of a soup can has more perceptive information than this garbage..."braid your boyfriend's hair" ?!! dude, i will use that one...just brilliant.
Man, what a tragedy. I bought Sky Blue Sky and Wilco (the album), and there just wasn't any magic for me. Cline's guitar work is interesting but distracting. For some reason, I've been listening to summerteeth again, and I realized, "hey, that crazy guy from the documentary was the one playing the cool organ parts and adding interesting things to the songs on YHF. I should look him up and see if he made any albums since Wilco dumped him." I have to agree wtih Ellen about Bennet and wish that I had known more about him than the distorted picture I got from the documentary. I did quite like A ghost is born though, which I guess he wasn't present on.
I must be nostalgic too....I heard AM when I was in High School....then bought Being There as soon as it came out (we jammed it while heading to PROM)...I have every record too. I've seen them live more than a hundred times in various incarnations. I do think the movie gave Jay a bad rep. It also gave Jeff a bit of a misanthropic/anti-social quirk that I didn't like either. That said, screw you and your bashing. Youre telling someone that they're nostalgic while you openly say that YHF is "tattooed on my soul"...besides the cheese factor, you are openly nostalgic. Thats what music is jackass. Wilco were better in my opinion with Jay. Maybe not yours. If you took a step back and looked at rock and roll....and the great dialogue and socially constructed history around it.....you'd see that everyone has their own favorite version of a band, a song, etc.....I've heard two men in a bar argue who was better for the Stones: Mick Jones or Ronnie Wood......I happen to think Jones....but anyway. I didn't tell the Ronnie Wood supporter he was full of shit....I just figured he dug Steel Wheels.....grow up.....get your head out of your ass.....the picture is much bigger than you think.
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