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From Publishers Weekly
Chicago Tribune writer Kot deftly explores the career, music and cult phenomenon of the '90s rootsy alt-country rock band Wilco. The Chicago-based Wilco has earned a loyal, passionate underground following through heavy touring and the honest, emotionally charged songwriting of front man Jeff Tweedy, who originally played bass in Uncle Tupelo. Despite Wilco's critical success and growing fan base, the histrionics of Tweedy's early career endured, culminating with the painful breakdown of communication between Tweedy and Wilco band mate Jay Bennett, which led to Bennett's firing and the bizarre circumstances surrounding the release of Yankee Foxtrot Hotel, in 2002. Unsatisfied with what it saw as an indulgent, hitless effort, Warner Bros.' subsidiary Reprise rejected the record upon delivery. Rather than re-record a more radio-friendly version, Wilco gave the record away on the Internet. That strategy led to a deal with another Warner Bros. subsidiary, Nonesuch, which released the record and sold over 400,000 copies, the band's biggest commercial success to date. Well researched and filled with primary interviews, Kot's book is probing and insightful. In chronicling Wilco, Kot also lays bare the stresses of the musician's life, the vagaries of the business, and the very essence of what makes for good music and a vibrant music scene. Wilco fans will love this book, but Kot's excellent work deserves an even wider audience.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From School Library Journal
Adult/High School–A music critic explores the career and art of Wilco, an alt-country rock group that commands an impressive and loyal following. The focus is on lead singer Jeff Tweedy, positioning him as the band's primary creative force and sometimes tyrant. He began his musical career as a bass player for Uncle Tupelo, one of the groups that kicked off the punk-country-folk blend that Wilco continues to develop today. After a clash of egos with bandmate Jay Farrar, Uncle Tupelo dissolved in the early 1990s and Tweedy formed Wilco, pushing himself into a more heavily produced sound without losing the quality of songwriting that made Uncle Tupelo so popular. The release of Wilco's Yankee Hotel Foxtrot serves as an endpoint, giving the book a sense of narrative drive that most other band biographies don't have. Including the story of battling labels, contracts, and artistic expression versus commercial potential, the book represents a unique and informative portrait of the music industry. Kot is guilty of occasional exaggeration or indulgence when describing the songs and the personalities, particularly concerning Tweedy's habit of firing bandmates. For the most part, though, he approaches the story from a balanced point of view. Filled with enough anecdotes to entertain informed fans, but with enough direction to appeal to those less familiar with the subject, Kot's book should please a broad audience.–Matthew L. Moffett, Northern Virginia Community College, Annandale
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Inside This Book
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First Sentence
Jeff Tweedy was sobbing as he sang. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt
Jeff Tweedy was sobbing as he sang. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt
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Most helpful customer reviews
3.0 out of 5 stars
meh,
By Nom de Plume (T O) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Wilco: Learning How to Die (Paperback)
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.
5.0 out of 5 stars
stellar biography of a very complex band,
By A Customer
This review is from: Wilco: Learning How to Die (Paperback)
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.
3.0 out of 5 stars
For Diehards Only,
By Django "DJ" (Brooklyn, NY) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Wilco: Learning How to Die (Paperback)
Greg Kot's biography of the great band Wilco - and more specifically, the extraordinary musician, Jeff Tweedy - is nothing if not a competent work. Kot writes with clarity about the history of the band, the players involved, and sheds a fair amount of light on their creative process. His level of hyperbole is actually very restrained by rock critic standards, and this really is more than just a glorified set of liner notes. In other words, it's a book that huge Wilco fans (like myself) are likely to enjoy, both for a few new details and for the pleasure of retracing the band's rise to recording security.What the book doesn't do, I think, is provide a story so dramatic or important that anyone who's not a diehard should feel compelled to read. The story of the band's "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot" record, and the accompanying label fiasco, is certainly an episode worth any music fan's study/outrage, but there's nothing here which truly enlightens the band's content, or attempts to treat the fascinating question of why this strange and powerful songwriter from Belleville, Illinois has captured the adoration and imagination of so many listeners, critics, and journalists.
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