Today previous Phil’s Phriday Pick Silverada (formerly known as Mike and the Moonpies) quietly released an acoustic EP called Texas 42. One of the songs on it is a cover of “New Madrid” originally by Uncle Tupelo.
It sounds pretty good! Of course, it made me go back and listen to the original song from Uncle Tupelo’s 1994 record Anodyne. It ended up being today’s pick!
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Anodyne was the last album Uncle Tupelo put out before they broke up. Two of the original members, Jeff Tweedy and Jay Farrar, basically hated each other at this point. But let’s back up a little bit.
Uncle Tupelo was originally a trio consisting of Tweedy and Farrar along with drummer Mike Heidorn. Early on they were playing a very high energy hybrid of country music and punk rock. A great early example is the song “Factory Belt” off of their first record No Depression. Here is awesome live footage of them playing “Factory Belt” in 1989:
In 1992, Uncle Tupelo decided to flip the script and make an acoustic album. They recorded it in Athens, Georgia (with R.E.M.’s Peter Buck producing). It was aptly called March 16–20, 1992, which was the dates it was recorded. Much of it was covers of traditional folk and country songs, but there were original tunes too. Here is one Farrar wrote called “Grindstone”:
The band then went on the road with Bob Mould’s new group Sugar. During the tour drummer Mike Heidorn quit the band because he wanted to stay close to his family. He was replaced by Ken Coomer. At the same time, Uncle Tupelo recruited a couple more members into the fold. Bassist John Stirratt (which allowed Tweedy to play guitar almost exclusively) and multi-instrumentalist Max Johnston. This is the band that ultimately recorded Anodyne. Tweedy’s songs became more freewheeling and fun, which was definitely not what Jay Farrar wanted. You can easily tell while listening to Anodyne which songs were written by Tweedy and which were written by Farrar.
For example, here is “Acuff-Rose” written by Tweedy. As the name implies it is a tribute to the music publishing company / record label started by Roy Acuff and Fred Rose:
By contrast, the album’s title track is a Farrar composition:
They actually made a music video for “Chickamauga”, which is also a Farrar song:
They also invited Tex-Mex musician Doug Sahm to perform on the album. He played on their cover of the Sahm song “Give Back the Keys to My Heart”:
I like their version better than the original:
Uncle Tupelo was invited to perform on Late Nite With Conan O`Brien soon after Anodyne came out in early 1994. The record label insisted they play Tweedy’s “The Long Cut” which was likely the last straw for Farrar. They broke up soon afterwards:
When Farrar left the band, everyone else stuck with Tweedy and they became Wilco. Wilco’s lineup has been ever-shifting over the years, so the only record that had the Uncle Tupelo lineup was their debut A.M. (John Stirratt is the only person to appear on every Wilco record along with Tweedy). Here is the single “Box Full of Letters” from A.M.:
Jay Farrar re-enlisted Mike Heidorn on drums and also found Jim and Dave Boquist to round out the group. Here is the single “Drown” from their debut record Trace:
Again, after hearing A.M. and Trace, going back and listening to Anodyne you can hear the songwriting split between Jay Farrar and Jeff Tweedy pretty easily.
Back in 1996 I saw both groups perform a couple days apart. They both played Milwaukee Summerfest during the same week. At the time, after seeing both concerts, I was convinced Son Volt was the far superior band.
Over the years, Wilco continued to refine and expand their sound, bringing regular critical acclaim. Son Volt, though they did put out two other front-to-back-great records (Straightaways and Wide Swing Tremolo) they ultimately ended up spinning their wheels in the mud. They still put out albums, but have faded into the underground.
Uncle Tupelo’s Anodyne stands the test of time. It stacks up with all the records Wilco have put out in my opinion. An all-time classic that never gets old.
Tying everything back to my original inspiration for today’s pick. Here is the Uncle Tupelo lineup of Wilco performing “New Madrid” soon after Farrar left in 1995:
For some reason, Anodyne is not available on Amazon Music, so it is not included in my links this week. Sorry!
