choo-choo-charlie

All I want for Christmas is ... ummmmmm ... a cheap sunset on a television set. DOUBLE LYRIC!!!

YASSSSS

All I want for Christmas is a lot of your records. Also, Donna — may I post this same thread/question over at the Facebook fan group? All they seem to want to do is post a “rank the Wilco albums” thread twice a week. Need some fresh ideas to get the noobs thinking beyond this ancient exercise.

All I want for Christmas is a day off on a bruised road.

I love this original version too. The foundation of the lyrics are there, but clearly not fully formed yet. But pretty damn good as-is. It's amazing to me that the band passed on this song for so long...or maybe Jeff quit pitching it after it didn't make it to Being There until he found the "right" album for it.

I wouldn’t call it loud by any means, but if you’re listening for it, yeah, there’s a clicking sound buried in there. Sounds like a button from someone’s flannel shirt brushing up against a guitar.

This is a pretty damn good answer. I have moments with this song all the time.

PREACH

The best singers, in my opinion, are the ones who fall in this realm and don't really care about being "technically great." What they do have is an extremely unique timbre and character to their voice, something that is entirely their own and instantly recognizable. They write and sing melodies that best suit their voice, dynamics and range, and play to their strengths as vocalists. No attempted acrobatics, unneeded histrionics or showmanship. Just pure, straight, genuine singing, from the heart and from the soul. One of the worst examples of "vanilla wallpaper" vocals, to me, is top 40 bro-

Amen. I remember the chapters in Greg Kot's book about the Mermaid Avenue projects. Billy was so caught up in trying to make some grand political statement, which is why he gravitated towards songs like "All You Fascists," though he did pick some of Woody's more poetic tracks -- which is what Jeff was after. Jeff said something to the effect of "I'm interested in Woody the freak folk weirdo" or something like that, hence songs like "Hoodoo Voodoo," which provide some levity to balance tracks like "Eisler On the Go."

Like the first couple seconds of Red-Eyed and Blue!

I'm laughing at the entire notion that Jeff might be judged for not being a "technically great singer." He's got such a unique timbre and character to his voice, a pretty good range and very good dynamics. He can whisper with the best of them (Schmilco), get soulful and melancholy, and rip and wail when needed. Plus he knows how to use his voice to fit his songs and the overall sound...he isn't and never has been a singer focused on histrionics or showmanship in the "pop singer" sense.

Like I said, PM me if you don’t have a download card in your life.

Ah, I guess I wasn't aware of anything other than the vinyl or CD versions that were/are for sale on the website. I rip my CDs at the highest possible ALAC quality and so far I have been very pleased with the audio quality of the remasters. And I feel like I have a fairly discerning ear. :-)

Haha, that cartoon is great. Non-vinyl enthusiast friends always make those types of comments to me when I get to talking about it. PM me.

Welcome to Via Chicago. Not sure which version to which you're referring. I purchased the CD sets for A.M. and Being There. They sound great.

Sounds like you should’ve just purchased the CD version, then, if you self-admittedly don’t listen to vinyl much. Or at least checked to see if a download was available before purchasing.

I went for the CD sets. No download codes, but why would I need them? Took me 20 minutes to rip all the discs into high-quality audio to put on my phone.

My Passenger Side download links arrived in my inbox today along with a shipping confirmation for my CDs...

I’m holding out until my CDs arrive, but I am particularly curious about Wilco’s take on Jeff’s Golden Smog contribution.

I don’t know, not sure I like the new song. Seems like he’s trying to be too literal and direct — I always thought Patterson’s best work were his story-songs.

Ugh, damn it. His songs and riffs stand among some of the greatest in rock ‘n roll.

This just took place LAST NIGHT. Even if someone did record this, it's common courtesy to give them 24, 48, maybe even 72 hours or more to get it formatted, uploaded and shared before requesting it. Some "tapers" might have other items on their to-do list of everyday life other than immediately getting a rip of a webstream up less than 24 hours after it takes place. That being said, if you check out the "Greatest Lost Track of All Time" forum here (which is where you should always check first!) you'll find that there's a torrent up at Dime a Dozen: http://viachicago.org/forum/30-greatest-

Enjoyed the show via the webcast/stream. Very tight playing all throughout. Nels tore IG apart, as per usual, but I was really excited to see Jeff destroy Spiders. I've always really loved Jeff's lead playing and hope that we may get more of it in the new material they're working on next year. Pat got very little love from the camera, which panned over to Nels when Pat belted out the opera outro to "Candyfloss." Oops. Great to hear a deep cut like that, plus Passenger Side and Box Full of Letters. Endearing to see Jeff introduce the band and share the correct pronunciations of their names. :-)

Sammy sings!