RIP Jay Bennett, 1963 - 2009
Jay Bennett, solo artist and member of Wilco from 1994 to 2001, passed unexpectedly today at the age of 45 after hip surgery of unknown causes.
Bennet’s work with Wilco was often tense — he and frontman Jeff Tweedy didn’t always get along, and he fought famously with Billy Bragg about how best to frame Guthrie’s borrowed works during the Mermaid Avenue sessions — but his production, songwriting, and versatile musicianship helped define what many consider the band’s best era.
Though their work found its listenership clustered around indierock and alt-country radio, it is no accident that the first Mermaid Avenue release was shortlisted for a Grammy in the Contemporary Folk category. Bennett’s work, with and without his famous bandmates, ranged from powerpop to alt-country, but I believe it has an acoustic heart, just as Bennett did; listen to the ragged troubadour grunge of Another Town Another Ride Another Window, or the breathy blues of Daniel Johnston cover Wicked World — both from his most recent solo disk Whatever Happened I Apologize, available for free download in its entirety here — and you’ll hear what I mean.
Nice tributes have already started to crop up elseblog; more, surely, will follow. I don’t have any Bennett solo covers on me at the moment, but here’s a few of my favorite Wilco covers that bear his subtle mark, in memoriam.
- Wilco: Thirteen (orig. Big Star)
(B-side of Outtasite (Outta Mind), 1997)
- Wilco: Any Major Dude (orig. Steely Dan)
(live 1999)
- Jeff Tweedy and Jay Bennett: True Love Will Find You In The End (orig. Daniel Johnston)
(live from the Old Town School of Folk Music, 1999)
- Wilco: California Stars (orig. Woody Guthrie)
- Wilco: Way Over Yonder in the Minor Key (orig. Woody Guthrie)
(from Mermaid Avenue, 1998)
Category: Uncategorized
May 25th, 2009 at 7:17 am
[...] Sad news: RIP Jay Bennett, former Wilco guitarist, dead at 45. Boyhowdy has a beautiful tribute post. [...]
May 25th, 2009 at 12:43 pm
Awesome songs, thanks for posting. This is tremendously sad. But just to clarify, Jay didn’t die after hip surgery. He was preparing for that surgery — but concerned, according to his MySpace page, about his lack of health insurance.
May 25th, 2009 at 8:17 pm
Really horrible news. I thought Wilco became less interesting when Bennett left. Glad to see he continued to make interesting music following his ouster from that band.
May 25th, 2009 at 8:20 pm
Sad news indeed. I do think they were at their best with Bennett on board.
May 26th, 2009 at 5:27 am
Though I note that the MySpace message which says he was preparing for surgery is a month old, news is still murky on Bennett’s death, but I did remember reading in one source that the hip surgery had happened. Not sure, though, so you may be right, The Sadness…
July 5th, 2009 at 4:20 pm
[...] under the moniker The Flying Change, way back in our very first New Artists, Old Songs post, and a few Wilco covers when ex-Wilco member Jay Bennett passed a few months ago. Now, thanks to Sam himself, we bring this [...]
August 22nd, 2009 at 7:40 am
[...] world will be missed. Read more and download his latest album plus some b-side Wilco tracks at Cover Lay Down. Filed under: General Leave a comment Comments (0) Trackbacks (0) ( subscribe to comments on [...]