When Jay Bennett passed away this weekend I did a whole bunch of Bennett-assisted Wilco listening.
Mostly "Summerteeth", "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot" and the engineer sessions of "YHF".
My listening adventures then took me to re-visiting the "Mermaid Avenue" records the band did with Billy Bragg.
These two albums are incredibly solid. A veteran musician and a band in its prime, ripping Woody Guthrie tunes.
The trade off of vocals from Tweedy to Bragg keeps things fresh from song to song.
These two records sadly seem to get dismissed when discussing Wilco but are a welcome respite from the stagnation the band seems to be stuck in lately.
Not saying the last couple Wilco records have not been enjoyable, it just sounds like the band is starting to settle into a groove. The days of experimentation seem to be behind them.
But those days have basically been gone since Bennett and Tweedy never could squash their beef and he left the band.
Bennett was a gifted musician and will be missed.
"Airline to Heaven"
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