THE AMBERS
Released 2008
AMBER SUCHY
Released 2013
J DILLA
Released February 7, 2006
GEORGIA ANNE MULDROW
Released October 26, 2018
SONIC YOUTH
Released October 18, 1988
"PLECTRUMELECTRUM"
PRINCE & 3RDEYEGIRL
Released September 30, 2014
"THE BLACK ALBUM"
JAY-Z
Released November 14, 2003
"PARIS 1969"
THELONIOUS MONK
THELONIOUS MONK
Released November 25, 2013
"PSYENCE FICTION"
UNKLE
UNKLE
Released August 24, 1998
"FEVER DREAM"
BEN WATT
Released April 8, 2016
"WARM"
JEFF TWEEDY
Released November 30, 2018
"LET'S GO (SO WE CAN GET BACK)
A MEMOIR OF RECORDING AND DISCORDING WITH WILCO, ETC."
JEFF TWEEDY
304 pages
Published by Dutton
November 13, 2018
I have to say that as of this period of my life, I have not been as engaged with the band Wilco as I had been in the past, perhaps circa 2001 and the few years where the band produced their most experimental material and the gradual phase into more direct recordings and songwriting. Not for any reason, especially as the band has remained as idiosyncratic as ever.
But, to that end I will contend that I did feel a hair put off by their two most recent albums "Star Wars" (released July 16, 2015) and "Schmilco" (released September 9, 2016), as they each outwardly emanated a certain faux hipster irony or even worse, the dreaded complex of overly self-conscious quirkiness that just kept me at arms length and ultimately betrayed the honestly of the music each album contained. That being said, I never gave up on the band but even so, there was a bit of luster in my mind that had begun to feel a little scuffed up and my interest in them had started to wane a hair.
I was initially worried that I would lose the narrative thread of Wilco or more truthfully, the band's leader, songwriter, lead vocalist, guitarist and mastermind Jeff Tweedy as I began reading his memoir "Let's Go (So We Can Get Back)," as it was self-deprecating to an almost irritating fault. It felt as if Tweedy's bemused and detached air of "I-can't-believe-that-I'm-writing-a-memoir" was armed with a dismissiveness that came off as brittle to the point that the book was almost beginning to feel like a snot nosed punk styled dare and to that, I can easily walk away.
But then, Jeff Tweedy began to open up and once doing so, that detachment arrived as vulnerability, insecurity and an emotional rawness that eventually drew me in closer, ultimately making the book one I never wished to put down, blazing through it in record time for myself, and cherishing the large amount of grace notes doled throughout.
"Let's Go (So We Can Get Back)" is not a detailed account of the history of Wilco album by album, although we do receive some behind the scenes details. What Jeff Tweedy has accomplished so richly is to reveal his life from his working class Belleville, IL beginnings and roots through his discovery of his life's purpose as a musician and artist, both with his bands Uncle Tupelo and the aforementioned Wilco, complete with life's tremendous peaks and crippling valleys along the way, making for a reading experience that is profoundly intimate and fully engaging.
Tweedy never comes off as the exalted rock star bestowing tales from on high. His persona translates beautifully through his direct prose, making the book feel as if he is just sitting in the room with you having a conversation about life and all of its success and failures and while we are the ones reading and he is the one writing, the highest compliments I am able to give to his book is that it feels like a conversation. Being so plainly open and revealing about his fears, insecurities, and his failures fully stripped away any rock star mythology. Being so direct about his relationships with his family, the love he holds for his wife Susie and their sons, Spencer and Sammy, as well as the stories of his drug addictions and on-going recovery, made me appreciate the bravery of his sharing greatly.
Filled with his trademark droll humor firmly etched alongside his philosophical realizations about the purpose of art and music within his life and songwriting and recording process, and to that end, the existential revelations he has discovered and has now shared concerning living life and reaching the age of 51 and being here to bury both of his parents and see his wife through cancer treatment while simultaneously creating music beloved by fans worldwide, "Let's Go (So We Can Get Back)," much like he title of his new solo album, is a supremely WARM affair that feels like the finest Wilco songs in a completely new form.
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