Mixtape: A.M. on the radio
Live performances and lyrics from Wilco's debut.
Wilco’s A.M. turns 26 today. Some favorite live performances on its birthday. Then a full show from 1996 with Jay Bennett at his best.
What am I missing?
1. Casino Queen. Chicago, 1996. Check out the old timey breakdown they put in the middle of this one…
2. Box full of letters. Late Night with Conan O’Brien, 1996. The quintessential Tweedy lyric…
“Just can’t find the time/to write my mind/the way I want it to read”
3. Shouldn’t be ashamed. Bonnaroo, Manchester, TN, 2013.
“Just shouldn’t ever have to be this hard”
4. Pick up the change. Tweedy’s house, 2020. Apparently Tweedy and I have sported the same outfit during the pandemic.
“We used to have a lot of things in common/But you know now we’re just the same”
5. That’s not the issue. Port Chester, NY, 2014. Nice acoustic version, nothwithstanding the classic case of the audience screwing up clapping…
6. It’s just that simple. KEXP, 2015. All the proof you need that the country in alt-country wasn’t a put-on in one lyric…
“Those days I'd gladly walk so long for you/Although it seemed I crawled most of the way/After some time I felt like a cripple/It's just that simple”
7. Should’ve been in love. KCRW, 1995. Probably the clearest indication of where Tweedy was headed post-Uncle Tupelo? It could go on any of the next three albums, right?
“Your life's been stinking/Your heart's been shrinking/And you're too busy thinking/to stop/You blink and you're blue/I know/How it goes/So/I just had to let you know/I know”
8. Too far apart. Barcelona, 2012. The organ on this one makes me miss Jay Bennett.