Old Shows I've Seen: Uncle Tupelo & Wilco

I recently went through an old box of photos and found quite a few concert ticket stubs I've accumulated through the years. I decided I would post some to the blog from time to time and recollect as much as I can about what was going on with my music interests at that moment in time. A couple of shows I was hoping I still had stubs for I couldn't find, but I may still talk about those on here at some point.

First up is a Wilco show I attended way back in 1996. This was right after the release of their second album, Being There. I don't really remember the show being that memorable to be honest. In fact I remember leaving the show longing for Tweedy's old band. For those unaware, long before Wilco there was a band from the tiny town of Belleville, Illinois called Uncle Tupelo. Jeff Tweedy and Jay Farrar formed Uncle Tupelo when they were just teenagers. Their music was a blend of punk rock, southern rock, traditional country/folk music and a hint of the pop sensibilities that would later surface in Wilco. Tweedy and Farrar would switch singing duties from song to song and the harmonies their voices created together were quite powerful. I immediately connected with Uncle Tupelo, being a southern kid who grew up in the country yet was somehow still exposed to underground punk and alternative music. I was lucky enough to see their last two performances in Georgia before they broke up. Back to back nights no less, at the 40 Watt in Athens and the next night at the long since defunct Chameleon Club here in Atlanta (a strange venue choice). The 40 Watt show was the highlight. Unfortunately I didn't save the ticket stubs from those shows.

Uncle Tupelo (circa early 90's)

The breakup of Uncle Tupelo basically involved Jay Farrar quitting and the rest of the band staying together and calling themselves Wilco. The lineup has now completely changed except for Tweedy and John Stirratt. At the time I remember always preferring Farrar's tunes more than Tweedy's and thought for sure he would be the one to move on to greater things. Shows what I know. His band Son Volt never really delivered what I thought he was capable of. Wilco, on the other hand, went on to worldwide fame thanks to their experimental masterpiece Yankee Hotel Foxtrot and the controversy surrounding it's release. For a complete history of Uncle Tupelo check out the wikpedia page. It's quite thorough. Here are a couple of my favorite Uncle Tupelo songs from their album March 16-20, 1992, which was named after the four day period they spent at John Keane Studios in Athens recording acoustic songs entirely live in the studio. The sessions were produced by Peter Buck of R.E.M. Farrar had this to say as to why they recorded an album of acoustic folk songs during the heyday of the grunge explosion...

"This should insulate us from that industry bullshit, people looking for the next Nirvana. I don't think anybody is the next Nirvana, certainly not us. People always talk about the next Beatles, the next Elvis. You can't predict that stuff."

MP3: Uncle Tupelo - Criminals
Jay Farrar's aged voice sounds like it's beamed in from some long lost musical universe, even though he's only in his twenties at the time of this recording.

MP3: Uncle Tupelo - Fatal Wound
A haunting ballad sung by Jeff Tweedy. The violins, pedal steel and lyrics on this are phenomenal.