Customer Reviews

Wilco: Learning How to Die

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I'm about 10 pages from the end of this book, and I've got mixed feelings about it. On the one hand, it's a great behind-the-scenes look at one of my favorite bands, but on the other hand, it's like sausage and politics -- if you like either, you shouldn't see how they're made.

Same for this book.

Kot is clearly a Wilco fan, no secret there, and he's got a shine for Jeff Tweedy -- this has a way of excusing or justifying Tweedy's behavior towards fellow bandmates, covering Tweedy's rear by painting him as a musical genius, guilty of the same eccentricities as so many others -- inability to communicate with bandmates right up til the inevitable splits, excusing the inexcusable way Tweedy has dismissed bandmates with little or no warning by saying the ends justify the means.

I'm a fairly recent fan, being turned on to Wilco through their work with Billy Bragg -- I've since become a die-hard fan of Uncle Tupelo and Wilco and have all their albums. That said, the chapter on the Mermaid Avenue Sessions was depressing, because it paints a fairly negative picture, I'm sure accidental, of Bragg and Tweedy. They come across as spoiled, arrogant, dismissive of each other, and manipulative. I think this wasn't intentional, but it left a sour taste in my mouth.

I initially thought Kot spent a bit too much time on Uncle Tupelo, but it is a good basis for understanding the turmoil within Wilco and why Tweedy makes the kind of music he's made in and out of Wilco, and why the record industry can't quite figure out Wilco. The story of UT and the whole Farrar-Tweedy relationship paints well the future divisions and jealousies in Wilco.

All in all, a good book, and it's given me a look at Tweedy as more than a musical genius -- he's also a putz with little social graces when it comes to internal band politics, but clearly he's a talented genius and has surrounded himself with other equally talented geniuses, and doesn't care how many albums Wilco sells or how many songs, if any, make it to radio. Wilco's record sales are incredible given the lack of radio and MTV support, but the book doesn't really make this point.

It also shows how the industry treats artists, and how two different labels within the Warner umbrella treat artists differently. Record execs should read this book, if only to understand the long-term benefit of supporting heritage bands, rather than spending time and money on flash-in-the-pans.

I only gave three stars, because regardless of what other reviewers write, I think this reads too much like a die-hard fan writing giddily about their favorite band. He's got good sources, both within the band and within the industry, but he's a too little eager. I mean, really, this is what I would have written, being the star-struck goober I tend to be around famous folk.

Kot also spends as much time writing in great detail about singular events as Tweedy and Bennett did in producing YHF, and then glosses over months and years with little or no explanation of what happened during that time. Jay Bennett's 6 year stint in the band seems much shorter given this treatment.

As much as Kot excuses Tweedy's twists and turns, it's made him more human, more fallible. I know it's heresy, but the book has made me like Tweedy a little less, but like and appreciate Wilco a bit more.

Part biography of Wilco's Jeff Tweedy and part story of the band, this is an eminently readable book, packed with interesting stories and enough detail to satisfy even the most ardent Wilco fan. Kot was able to get almost everyone involved with Tweedy's career to talk -- including Jay Farrar, his bandmate in Uncle Tupelo, and Jay Bennett, his key collaborator in Wilco, who was kicked out of the band just after "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot" was recorded -- and people are surprisingly honest. The book has a bit too much of a rock-journalism tone at times, and is almost painfully earnest. But if you love Wilco or Uncle Tupelo (or both), you'll find this a nice read.

As someone who likes Wilco, but is not a die-hard fan, I really appreciate the book for what it is: It is not a critic's review, it is not a fan-oriented biography-it is simply a superbly written, well-researched book about all that goes into the loaded concept that is "making music." Through his elegant prose, Kot delves into human relationships, band dynamics, artistic struggles, and identity-both personal and public. If you like Wilco, read this book. If you like music, read this book. Or, if you admire those moments when the creative process manages to overcome life's obstacles, read this book.

As a die hard fan of Wilco, let me just say that I learned a lot about the group. It's nice to finally read something about Wilco that is honest, warts and all, and not just a rant about how the music industry has once again screwed over the little guy.

That said, however....

I really felt that Kot's rhetoric really distracted from the purpose of the book, which I can only assume was to present readers with an honest assesment of the band. The author seemed to have some opinions that led me to think that perhaps he was a bit more biased than he would like to think himself. Also, it bothered me that he took direct quotes from "I AM Trying To Break Your Heart" (a film by Sam Jones) and interpreted them COMPLETELY out of context, with the result of changing the meaning of the statement.

That's all, I guess. The anecdotes were really neat.

After reading this book, I feel like I've received the secret decoder ring that unlocks the stories behind some of my all-time favorite artists. We all speculated on the reasons why UT split ... this book spells it out for fans with first-hand accounts from guys like Tweedy, Farrar, Hennemann and Heidorn. I seriously cannot put it down ...

Learning To Admire Jeff Tweedy more accurately portrays the content of this prodigious look into the singer/songwriter's history. Albeit Greg Kot's book is about Wilco as a whole, the reader prompty - and pleasantly - finds himself reliving Tweedy's high school days back in Belleville, IL. Kot winds through Tweedy's history in Uncle Tupelo, even thouching on the delicate subject of the, then overlooked by many, tension between Tweedy and bandmate Jay Farrar. Through the latter half of the book, Kot sees to it that the reader sees Tweedy slowly come into his own from Wilco's first day of existence to the present. From A.M. to A Ghost Is Born, Kot uncovers everything from ugly truths to moments of genius. Tweedy's personal life is touched on enough to know he loves his family, and withheld enough to keep the reader wondering. Kot goes in depth with details concerning the major merge between AOL and Warner, including several comments from past and present employees of Reprise Records. An easy read with a touching message from Tweedy. Overall a great book for Wilco fans.

That's how I felt reading this rich, wonderfully researched and intimate portrait of one of the most vital bands around. Yes, I'm a Wilco fan and perhaps predisposed to like the book -- no, strike that, I could very well dislike it intensely for that reason -- but even if you're not, if you're simply a lover of great artists and great music and fascinated with the creative process, this is necessary reading. Gret Kot captures not just the sights and sounds, but the desires and heartbreaks, along with the occasional triumph.

What a great read! It would have been very easy for this book to have simply been a valentine to Wilco. However, this book gives us a balanced (sometimes brutally honest) portrait of a very complicated, brilliant songwriter (frontman Jeff Tweedy), the intricacies of inter-personal relationships within the band and the larger organization surrounding them, and the creative process. Highly satisfying, very illuminating.

Written Well. Comprehensive. Paints Jay Bennett in the positive light he deserves. I didn't like the light he was given in the Wilco film (too many cheap shots) on a music genius.

Jay Bennett allowed the WIlco material to rock.

I really liked how the book provided insight into Jeff Tweedy and what has led him to make the decisions he has made. Jeff is brilliant and the book provides insight into this man that will aid in the listening experince.

Great Book, a must for the obsessive and hip Wilco / Music fan. Wilco is and will be forever one of the Greatest Rock and Roll Bands.

I was fortunate enough to purchase this a while ago. For a few months, I was on the fence... I knew I wanted to read it, but I didn't know if it was worth buying.

It was.

Kot does a magnificent job capturing the history of Wilco. He discusses Tweedy's family and addiction to an appropriate extent, but does not dramatize or dwell on it. I learned many amazing things and gained more o an appreciation for the music I love. Kot also approaches the music with a critical yet appreciative eye, and hearing his take is nice.

Kot's one mistake, in my opinion, is not discussing drummer Glenn Kotche as much as he perhaps could have. Glenn has an interesting history and lends a lot to Wilco's latest music.

This book discusses everything pre "a ghost is born" era. I would love to see an updated version.