Video: Wilco with Billy Bragg – “Secret of the Sea” (live on Letterman, 2000)
You know what makes this video totally awesome?
1. Jay Bennett‘s sweet fur coat.
2. Jay Bennett’s sweet double-neck guitar.
3. Jay Bennett’s sweet solos.
4. John Stirratt‘s pink bass.
5. Jeff Tweedy‘s funny haircut.
6. Billy Bragg‘s look that says, “What am I doing here? I didn’t have anything to do with this song.”
Such a great band.
Wilco: iTunes, Amazon, Insound, wiki
Via the What Would Jay Bennett Do? Facebook group.
Man does Tweedy have some weird looking eyebrows!
Had I known about this clip at the time I would have put Jay’s fur coat on our list of 21 Reasons Why Jay Bennett Should Be Back in Wilco. That bad ass double-neck Danelectro falls under the awesome gear category.
What’s so awesome about this performance is that the next time anyone asks me why I feel the way I do about Wilco, I just have to direct them to watch the video. If you know me even a little bit, it should be fairly obvious why I think Jay Bennett is/was/always will be the guy who made Wilco great.
I really can’t believe listeners prefer the Jay Bennett incarnation of Wilco. It boggles the mind.
If you weren’t there, you can’t understand.
Some minds are more easily boggled than others.
JR, don’t you like rock and roll?
Oh snap! Jake just put a brick in his white gentleman’s glove and slapped jr upside his head in a way that made his face vibrate comically!
Really? Either I don’t like rock and roll or this is just a nostalgia trip? This is the same argument my dad uses to support Peter Frampton.
It was a serious question, not intended to be insulting. My theory is that people who can’t understand why anybody prefers the Jay Bennett incarnation of Wilco are the kind of people who like “music” or even “rock music” but they’re not the kind of people who care about rock and roll.
To quote Keith Richards: “They forgot the roll and they only kept the rock. The roll’s the whole damn thing dude, the rock is nothing, deal with it, the roll is king. Unfortunately most cats don’t get behind the roll.”
Jay Bennett-era Wilco got behind the roll.
I still like what Tweedy’s doing, don’t me wrong. It’s often interesting and it’s usually smart and it’s always well-executed. But it doesn’t roll.
I see where you’re coming from here and I can respect that opinion, but “the roll” is too abstract of a concept for me to get behind.
But hey, that’s cool. I have plenty of reasons why I prefer the Beach Boys of the mid-70s, most of which are abstract, none of which I will share here. So I respect the reasons why you’re into what you’re into, my brother.
I just prefer the current incarnation of Wilco because the tunes are more finely composed, subtlety and experimentation are executed more effectively and the band is free of the “rocker” cliches that make me shudder when I watch the above clip.
And c’mon, the difference between those who “care about rock and roll” and those who don’t? I don’t even think Keef would snort that line.
Touche!
Now slap each other with gloves goddammit! What’s this $7 even get me?
“don’t you like rock and roll?” This quote was lifted directly from Tweedy (talking about Jet), am I right?
Wilco has gone downhill since Tweedy started paying someone to cut his hair instead of DIY.
You are correct, ma’am!