Jeff Tweedy @ Union Chapel, London 30/06/10

Flanked by six acoustic guitars which stood in front of the Union Chapel's imposing gothic pulpit, Jeff Tweedy performed a joyous solo set on Wednesday night, peppered with good humoured banter and gems that Wilco fans rarely hear at the band's gigs. Watching Tweedy in such cheerful mood, joshing with his congregation, it was hard to imagine him as the same man who used to bait "snotty" London audiences.*

The evening's first highlight came early when Jeff invited English cult singer-songwriter Bill Fay to the stage. The pair played Be Not So Fearful, a song from Fay's 1970 debut LP that occasionally features on Wilco set lists. I'd been lucky enough to see them perform together at the Shepherd's Bush Empire a few years ago. That was Fay's first public appearance for decades and Jeff again took evident delight in introducing his dishevelled hero to a new audience.

One of the great things about a Jeff Tweedy solo show is hearing songs like Spiders and Muzzle of Bees stripped down to the bare state in which they were conceived. When Jeff played Impossible Germany he had no choice but let it peter out where Nels Cline's epic guitar solo usually features!

The presence of Jeff's family aided the convivial atmosphere. His wife and two boys were outside taking requests before the show. "Some asshole called David has asked for 'any Dylan song'" jokingly moaned Jeff at point before playing a lovely version of Simple Twist of Fate. A girl who requested New Madrid, from Uncle Tupelo's swansong album Anodyne, was greeted "I've had about 10 albums since then. What? You don't like the new stuff?"

But it was a genuine pleasure to hear songs from throughout Tweedy's career and side projects, be it Uncle Tupelo, the Mermaid Avenue albums or Loose Fur. Given the chance I'd have requested the Golden Smog track Pecan Pie and I bet he'd have played it.

Two more highlights. When you hear Tweedy introduce a number as "one of my favourite country songs" you might expect something from Hank Williams or the Louvin Brothers. Instead we were treated to The Handsome Family's bleak Christmas tune So Much Wine. And to end the show on a perfect note Jeff used the 19th-century church's acoustics to full effect with a totally unplugged, no PA rendition of Acuff-Rose, another corker from the Uncle Tupelo songbook.

Everyone left the Union Chapel knowing they'd seen something special. To give you a flavour of what you missed here are a couple of MP3s from the previous Tweedy solo show I saw in London. (If there's an appetite for it I'll post the whole gig at a later date. Let me know).

MP3: Jeff Tweedy - Muzzle of Bees (2005-11-22)


MP3: Jeff Tweedy - John Wesley Harding (2005-11-22)


*One of the first times I saw Wilco play in London, at the Shepherd's Bush Empire in 1997, an irascible Jeff Tweedy spent a significant amount of time baiting the audience for being "snotty" and threatening to "rub my Yankee ass all over you". Hardly edifying entertaintment. I think mainly he was pissed off that the crowd weren't really 'getting in to it' and I have my own theories as to why that might be.

Related Links
Jeff Tweedy @ Union Chapel (Songkick) - set list, more reviews, fan photos etc

An Alternative Blood on the Tracks

Image: Woman on Bed by Bob Dylan

Critics usually claim Blood on the Tracks is about the break-up of Dylan's first marriage and Jakob Dylan has said that the album is "my parents talking". Despite those sad themes, after his classic 60s records I reckon Blood on the Tracks is the Bob Dylan album most commonly cited as a favourite. It's certainly popular with other artists who are presumably drawn to its rich imagery, great tunes and dense lyrics.

I first thought about trying to compile a covers version of Blood on the Tracks after hearing Tom Russell's interpretation of Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts. Like all good cover versions it seems to reveal something new about the original song.

I hope you enjoy these. As usual let me know what you think and suggest alternatives in the comments below.

MP3: Robyn Hitchcock - Tangled Up in Blue

Robyn Hitchcock loves Bob Dylan. He even wears polka dot shirts in tribute. This is from his 2002 album Robyn Sings, disc two of which is a live recreation of the infamous "Judas" concert at Manchester Free Trade Hall in 1966.
Buy: Amazon | 7digital

MP3: Joan Baez - Simple Twist of Fate

I'm undecided whether Joan Baez's ongoing fascination with her ex-boyfriend is touching or tragic. She covered Simple Twist of Fate on her album Diamonds & Rust which came out only a few months after Blood on the Tracks. You'll notice her amusing impression of Bob during one of the verses, a good gag that she still performs on stage.
Buy: Amazon | 7digital

MP3: Lloyd Cole - You're a Big Girl Now

We know that Lloyd's into heartbreak so it's no surprise that he gravitated towards Blood on the Tracks. Lloyd Cole's Dylan covers are extensive; he's also done Most of the Time, It's All Over Now (Baby Blue) and She Belongs to Me among others. This is from his 'lost' album Etc.
Buy: Amazon | 7digital

MP3: The Coal Porters - Idiot Wind

Sid Griffin is another Dylan geek. So much so that he recently wrote an acclaimed book about the Basement Tapes that I really must get around to reading. I discovered his band's version of Idiot Wind on an Uncut compilation a few years ago.
Buy: Amazon | 7digital

MP3: Elvis Costello - You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go

This, from the bonus disc of the Kojak Variety reissue is far more jaunty than Bob's original. I don't know when it was recorded but knowing Elvis's love of the tribute album it's no doubt appeared on some or other compilation.
Buy: Amazon | 7digital

MP3: Freddie King - Meet Me In The Morning

Although Freddie was nicknamed the "Texas Tornado" he moved to Chicago with his family in 1950 when he was 16. This rockin' blues version of the Dylan track appears on his final album Larger Than Life (1976).
Buy: Amazon | 7digital

MP3: Tom Russell - Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts

The song that inspired me to make this compilation. Tom Russell is such a wonderful storyteller himself that he really makes Dylan's epic (and confounding) tale his own. Tom's joined on the track by singer-songwriter Eliza Gilkyson.
Buy: Amazon

MP3: Francesco de Gregori - If You See Her, Say Hello

I discovered this mournful, Italian version of the song on the soundtrack to Dylan's cinematic curio Masked & Anonymous but I presume it's originally from one of Francecso' earlier LPs. According to Wikipedia he also makes as organic olive oil called Le Palombe.
Buy: Amazon | 7digital

MP3: Rodney Crowell & Emmylou Harris - Shelter from the Storm

If the BBC ever repeat their coverage of Rodney Crowell's performance at the 2005 Cambridge Folk Festival you'll see quite a few close-ups of me going absolutely berserk during his version of Like A Rolling Stone. This is from the excellent album he was then promoting, The Outsider.
Buy: Amazon | 7digital

MP3: Beth Orton & M Ward - Buckets of Rain

The third duet of set; this was recorded at a 2004 gig in Sydney. If you like hearing M Ward do Dylan I'd also recommend his cover of Girl From the North Country with Jim James and Conor Oberst.
Buy: Amazon | 7digital

Second Options
MP3: Jeff Tweedy - Simple Twist of Fate

As a Wilco nut I couldn't resist adding this as a 'bonus' track. It's from the I'm Not There soundtrack. In other Tweedy/Dylan news, Jeff apparently perfomed a lovely version of Forever Young at his son Spencer's bar mitzvah in May.
Buy: Amazon

MP3: Neko Case - Buckets of Rain

Another Carnival Saloon favourite that's too good to ignore. Neko's version of Hank Williams' Alone and Forsaken was a big hit here a while back so perhaps a post of some of her other covers will be forthcoming.
Buy: Amazon | 7digital

Bobby Bonus
MP3 Bob Dylan - Tangled Up In Blue (live)

It seems only fair to include Bob singing one of his own songs. This was recorded at Boston Music Hall in November 1975 on the Rolling Thunder tour. If you've not heard any of the other tracks from that legendary tour, the Bootleg Series Vol. 5 Live 1975 two-disc set is an essential listen.
Buy: Amazon | 7digital

If you'd like to download all of the tracks in a zip file you can do so here: Carnival Saloon's Alternative Blood on the Tracks

While making this compilation I discovered that someone else has recently had the same idea (they even also used one of the Drawn Blank paintings). Five of the tracks are the same and you can read all about it at The Saddest Music in the World.

Related Posts
Bob Dylan @ The Roundhouse - my review of his April gig
Twenty-First Century Hank - covers including Neko Case

Wilco at Wrigley Field

Jeff Tweedy, baseball and a brand-new Wilco song

(c) Deb Bernardini. More photos at WilcoWorld.net

I was excited to read yesterday that Jeff Tweedy pitched the first ball at the Chicago Cubs game against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Sunday. Wilco also sang Take Me Out To The Ball Game during the seventh-inning stretch. Wrigley Field, home of the Cubs, was the first place I saw a baseball game. It's a beautiful stadium; built in 1914, covered in ivy - it's unusual for an American sporting arena to have a real sense of history.

Wilco's vocal contribution to the game and an interview with Tweedy are on YouTube:

During the interview Jeff talks about the band's Lollapalooza appearance the night before in which they all wore Nudie-style suits.

Stereogum has more photos from the gig, the set list and most importantly, an MP3 of the a new work-in-progress song called One Wing.

MP3: Wilco - One Wing, Live at Lollapalooza (from Stereogum)

It may seem sedate but baseball is definitely the most rock'n'roll of sports.

It's A Mad Mad Mad Bob World

My First Take On I'm Not There

"It's partly like a dream, partly like a drug and partly like a Dylan song."

That's how Todd Haynes described his audacious and amusing vision of the "many lives of Bob Dylan" at the screening I was at last night. It's a pretty accurate summation.

The first Dylan track in I'm Not There is Stuck Inside Of Mobile With The Memphis Blues Again, a song that conjures up images as odd as Shakespeare "speaking to some French girl" and a preacher with "twenty pounds of headlines stapled to his chest". Starting with a song that makes little literal sense sets just the right tone for what follows.

I'm Not There is unlike any music biopic you've ever seen. Instead of recreating a linear narrative à la Walk The Line or Ray, Haynes essentially riffs on various aspects of Dylan's biography and art, so instead of one actor playing 'Bob Dylan' we have six embodying seven distinct persona, none of which are called Bob Dylan.

I'm Not There - Trailer

Cate Blanchett is probably the most unusual bit of casting. She plays Jude, the drug addled rocker who alienates his folk fans by 'going electric'. It was fun to see Haynes' depiction of the Dylan's notorious 1965 Newport performance (complete with axe-wielding Pete Seeger) just a few weeks after seeing The Other Side Of The Mirror. However I found the less obviously fact-based segments more entertaining.

Marcus Carl Franklin, a young black actor, plays 'Woody Guthrie' an 11-year-old hobo with a penchant for metaphysical songwriting. More bizarre is Richard Gere's 'Billy'. This imagines the reclusive Dylan recast as Billy The Kid, who having survived Pat Garret's bullets hides out in the town of Riddle, a Wild West backwater that brings to life some of the weird Americana that Dylan channeled on The Basement Tapes.

Other aspects of Dylan's life weaved into the film are his marriage breakdown (Heath Ledger and Charlotte Gainsbourg) and his reluctance to become the Voice of a Generation protest singer (Christian Bale). Bale also reappears as a 1980s born-again Christian. The Dylan who ate half a library, as memorably recalled in Chronicles, becomes 'Arthur Rimbaud' - Ben Whishaw essentially getting all metaphorical in straight-to-camera monologues.

This unusual approach to biography works brilliantly. In the post-screening Q&A Todd Haynes remarked that Dylan's life has always been markedly delineated - once the protest singer phase ended that was it, he moved straight into psychedelic rocker. Don't look back indeed. I've read and watched a more than healthy amount about Bob Dylan over the years and still find him elusive. That's part of his appeal. Every new thing you learn about him seems to add a further layer of mystery and intrigue. And I'm Not There is nothing if not intriguing. While the film might not elucidate on specifics about Bob Dylan's life it certainly makes you think about him a lot more.

The soundtrack, of course, is terrific - a mix of Dylan originals and covers by the likes of Calexico and Mason Jennings. The film's a visual treat too, taking blatant cues from sources as varied as the French New Wave for the Ledger/Gainsbourg segments and McCabe & Mrs Miller in the Richard Gere western scenes.

Hardcore Dylan fans will obviously have a field day spotting every reference in the film but I'll be more interested by what friends who aren't as familiar with Dylan's biography and songs make of it. I hope it might convert them. I suspect they'll leave the cinema entertained but baffled.

Download

MP3: Bob Dylan - Stuck Inside Of Mobile With The Memphis Blues Again

MP3: Jeff Tweedy - Simple Twist Of Fate

MP3: Sufjan Stevens - Ring Them Bells

Amazon: I'm Not There Soundtrack

myspace.com/imnottheresoundtrack

Related Posts

Bob Dylan: The Other Side Of The Mirror

The Old, Weird America

Radio Bob Returns