“Just can’t find the time
To write my mind
The way I want it to read ”

-Wilco – “Box Full of Letters”

I found myself in a quandary this week. Frequent readers of this site will now that Mondays have been dedicated to reviews of new albums. However, since Z’s come along and I’ve realized just how many diapers we’ll be going through, I’ve decided to temporarily curtail my new music spending. So welcome a new feature which, if one were of a cynical bent, could be called Old Music Monday.

I prefer to think of it as a musical history for my son. A year or so ago I stumbled on a wonderful podcast called Dancing About Architecture, described as a musical autobiography. If you’re a podcast listener and a music fan, check these out. The stories he tells are sometimes tender, sometimes sad and sometimes funny and tie in wonderfully to the artist he picks to cover. This podcast inspired me to do the same for my son. As you probably now, I’ve been playing music for Zach since he’s been able to hear and not that he’s born and I can see his reaction to some of my favorites it’s even more enriching. So, welcome to Z Music Monday (for the less cynical). I’ll replace the antenatal playlist with Z’s favorite tracks from the albums we choose.

This first time that I heard Wilco’s debut album “A.M.” was working the door at a bar called Tasty World in Athens, a job for which I was woefully undersized. However, I had recently been sacked from a coffee shop for being surly with customers, so a friend of mine thought I might have the right disposition for kicking drunk sorority girls out of his bar. It was a late afternoon and the bar was slow, so when the twangy guitars and Jeff Tweedy’s gravelly drawl on “I Must Be High” came through the speakers I was aware and almost immediately hooked. I’d not heard Wilco before nor much of the “Alt-Country” that had started to come out in whispers from around the South, Midwest and Texas. But having grown up in north Florida as the fan of a lot of 80’s country – George Strait, Randy Travis and Jimmy Buffett – Wilco’s country tones were something I had been missing with the grunge and post-grunge of the early 90’s. I was in love with Tweedy and Co. a love that’s not faded for over a decade.

Even though I discovered them in the South, Wilco is a midwestern band – maybe the quintessential Midwestern band of the 90’s. They formed out of the ashes of East St. Louis’ Uncle Tupelo and are currently based in Chicago. If I were to put together a soundtrack to my time in the Midwest, Wilco would feature more than once. “Casino Queen” takes me to that “river boat” on the east side of the Mississippi overlooking downtown St. Louis where I won $75 playing Black Jack and Dr O’C’sMum and aunts stayed up all night losing on the slots. “Passenger Side” reminds me of a long road trip from Columbia, Missouri to Memphis with Dr O’C and and her friend from Oz, Edwina – actually any number of long road trips. “Box Full of Letters” brings back a sad break-up where I temporarily lost “custody” of this album. Columbia was like a second home for Wilco and I saw them live a few times, mostly with my friends Alex & Nichole, and enjoyed it every time – particularly when they played a track from this album (”Passenger Side” in the second encore at the Blue Note in 2002, yes I am a geek.)

A.M. is by no means Wilco’s best record (”Summerteeth” is) but it’s their first and their simplest. It’s a driving record, it’s Americana at it’s finest, it’s slightly drunken, it’s youthful. These are formulaic songs and loss with a sound that blew in fresh from the “Heartland”. It opened a whole genre of music up to me that I didn’t even know I was missing and introduced me to one of my favorite bands. It’s a great choice for Z’s first album.

Z listened along to a good part of A.M. with me this morning, slightly milk drunk from his late morning feed. His favorite seemed to be “That’s Not the Issue”. I’m not sure which he liked better, the cheeky banjo or the frustrated sentiment. Either way, it’s a good choice.

“Secrets, I have some too
I’ll tell you mine before I say goodbye to you
I’ve been thinking ’bout leaving too
That’s not the issue…”

“A.M.” is available from Wilco - A.M. and Amazon.

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