Jay Bennett R.I.P

[Wendy]

Donna: It's sad, isn't it? I dunno, maybe that's the only Wilco video they have rights to or something. Pfft. Bad reporting though.

 

 

Tharc003: I turned your links into videos, they are great.

 

 

ShuckOwens: These are nicely done, thank you! Do you know the date and location of the performances?

[Shakespeare In The Alley]

Donna: It's sad, isn't it? I dunno, maybe that's the only Wilco video they have rights to or something. Pfft. Bad reporting though.

 

 

Tharc003: I turned your links into videos, they are great.

 

 

ShuckOwens: These are nicely done, thank you! Do you know the date and location of the performances?

Thanks.

 

I found this video of Kingpin, as well as video of I Got You and Red Eyed from the same show. Anyone know what show these videos come from?

 

Kingpin

 

Red-Eyed

 

I Got You

 

 

Sorry to post so many videos, but they're all pretty great performances with Jay, and I figured some of you would appreciate them, especially now.

[andshewas]

Wow...what a let down.

 

Not having known too much of Jay apart from what I'd seen on IATTBYH and in other incidental moments (especially the news, as of late), I am now so disappointed that I never had the chance to get to know the musician that he was (in his own right). It goes without saying that I really love and appreciate what he did in Wilco; it's just that I wish I had given him and his music a chance when he went his own way. I think all of us--Jay most of all--have been cheated out of the satisfaction (auditory and otherwise) that should've come along with his future endeavors. I have nothing but the utmost sympathy for his family, friends, and fans.

 

Rock on, man. See you in the next life.

[Barbarino]

[Smokestack Joe]

oh no, i was out of town and this is the first thing i read this morning. UGH!

 

jay bennett was one of my all time favorites. jay was amazing to me onstage, i really liked his style. he could be straight out rock-country-picker or experimental. and i even loved his singing voice. his solo albums are still some of my recent favorites.

 

just after the split from wilco he performed solo at a little rock club near my house called the Cactuc Club, small quiet intimate show, i took my camera and got some shots. i mean this show was right after the july 4th last wilco show. he seemed sad but that was the first time i heard his version of My Darling. to me that is Jay's Best song.

 

Then i saw him at Montmarte Cafe in Madison with Ed Burch. single greatest two-man show ive ever seen. talked to both after show and yes really nice people and it seemed they genuinly cared about what you had to say.

 

RIP Jay we love you.

[lukeshakedrugs]

listening to summer teeth and thinkin about jay.

 

read this in the paper on the way home from work.. standing on the platform and the whole scene just froze.. very profound and upsetting news.

 

go in peace sir.

[MattZ]

I wish that Jay could read this thread.

 

RIP.

 

edit: And I just watched the opening credits to IATTBYH as someone suggested earlier in the thread. Obviously, it falls into the category of weird coincidence, but at a time like this, it is certainly a profoundly weird coincidence. A burning sun, for sure. RIP, Jay.

[John Smith]

This is simply heartbreaking.

[Bula Matari]

Surely a sad thing. It's interesting that geniuses are often difficult and troubled people. Jay seemed a gentle soul.

 

It's sad that things never got reconciled between Jay and Jeff. Especially sad that every story seems to mention the litigation as the closing item. I certainly hope his legacy will be the magnificent musical collaboration and not the acrimony that ended it.

[remphish1]

I found a great picture stream from Wilco's 7/4/01 show..which was Jay's last with Wilco. I think linking this photo stream is a good tribute to Jay!

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/peterpreston/...ith/3565590136/

[fatheadfred]

I tried to comment on p 12, then again on p 19. Don't know what to say, this just sucks. After attending a funeral on Saturday, thinking about Memorial Day and all that goes with that...then this happens. I can't even understand what RIP means. Happy trails, Jay.

[J_Lefty]

I found a great picture stream from Wilco's 7/4/01 show..which was Jay's last with Wilco. I think linking this photo stream is a good tribute to Jay!

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/peterpreston/...ith/3565590136/

 

Thanks for sharing that, those are some great pics.

[Guest Francis X. Hummel]

This was not the first thread I wanted to see when logging on for the first time since Friday.

 

This is terrible news.

 

RIP Jay.

[m_to_the_c]

Just heard the news, listening to Summerteeth now. My condolences to those who were close to him.

 

While the Rentals first perked my ears up to vintage synths, it was Jay Bennett's use of them on Summerteeth that showed me what you could really do with them.

 

Rest in peace!

 

ps- The "who knows, for all we know he could be jamming with Woody" comment a few pages back gave me a smile.

[jcroach]

Tragic.

 

I've been listening to "Palace" and his Myspace songs all morning.

 

Does anyone have any good Jay or Jay and Ed live recordings they could post somewhere?

[jakobnicholas]

Big bummer.

 

I sensed things were really bad for Jay...physically and psychologically. Hopefully it's found to be just an untimely and tragic, but otherwise natural death.

 

 

I listened to the YHF demos this morning and thought of Jay during the Instrumental #1.

[daranih]

RIP Jay. You will be sorely missed.

[Sir Stewart]

I was flipping channels yesterday morning driving home from Montreal and was delighted to find 'Far, Far Away' - I made a note to mention it in the 'Wilco heard when you're out and about' thread. Then the DJ said "that was Wilco, featuring Jay Walter Bennett" and I knew that couldn't be good...

 

Summerteeth got me into Wilco - I saw them in April and October of that year, and to me at the time, the band was Jay's almost as much as it was Jeff's. I'll never forget the two of them messily toppling over each other onstage as they wrapped up the encore of 'Outta Site' like a couple of puppies.

 

Saturday night in Montreal, we happened by a pub that was celebrating Bob Dylan's birthday with an open mic - the band playing 'Highway 61' when we entered then segued into 'Hesitating Beauty' - hours later when we left I realized that was the only non-Dylan tune I'd heard the whole night, and it just felt cool to have found Wilco in the middle of a foreign city in a most unlikely setting - sure, they're Woody's words, but why that song?

Looking here today, it seems no one knew for sure at that time on Saturday night if the rumors were true. Hmm. This is something that happens.

 

RIP Jay - thanks for the music.

[suites]

Wow this is really sad. I wish his family and friends the best in this situation.

 

Does anyone know if he did have the operation? I know that is how Dick Shapp died from ESPN.

[Dude]

This is maybe wishful thinking, but it would be extremely cool if someone set up a Jay Bennett School of Music or do something similar (i.e. a music scholarship) in his honor. I think a lot of people would donate money, time and energies to that.

[nodep5]

I was telling my wife sometime last week, when discussing the new Wilco record, that although I love all incarnations of Wilco, something always seem to be missing since Jay has not been in the band. A few minutes later she told me that she agreed and that he helped add that extra something.

 

I saw Wilco during the BT-Mermaid-ST era numerous times in some really cool venues. This was a special time in my life and Wilco was a huge part of my life at that point. They seemed more like a true band at that time (more than a Jeff Tweedy vehicle). The collaboration between the guys then was undeniable.

 

I'm sure the reasons it all ended within the band were more than legitimate and those things happen and probably needed to happen. The only thing I wish was different was that Jay could see what he meant to this band and its fans. It is sad what had recently happened with lawsuits and bickering, and it's sad that some here never got to experience the Wilco with Jay.

 

All I know is that Jay brought out a whole other artistic side to Wilco. And the best musical compliment I could give to Jay is that the artistic direction always felt emotionally driven and not intellectually driven. If that makes any sense?

 

A sad day indeed.

[solace]

figured this was coming...

 

Billy Bragg comments on Jay's passing:

 

http://www.billybragg.co.uk/news/news_story.php?id=520

[quarter23cd]

I wish that Jay could read this thread.

 

RIP.

Ditto on this. Jay has gotten a bad rap, at times, but he had a huge hand in creating most of my favorite music that Wilco ever made--or anyone, really. Wow. I'm still a bit stunned by this and my heart aches a bit as the reality of this is starting to sink in. Needless to say, "work" is on the back-burner this morning while I process this.

 

Here is an example of my mind making absurd (but humorous, at least) connections, but one of the first thoughts I had after reading this news today was that I was reminded of the time recently when I found this goofy dreadlock wig in the back of some closet in my house and proceeded to wear it around much of that day. My wife teased me about my receding hairline and how I couldn't grow dreads like that if I wanted to--to which I replied: "It don't matter, baby, because in heaven, everyone's got killer dreads."

 

For today, at least, I hope that is the case.

 

RIP, Jay.

[WilcoFan]

This is really, really sad.

[Dude]

My wife teased me about my receding hairline and how I couldn't grow dreads like that if I wanted to--to which I replied: "It don't matter, baby, because in heaven, everyone's got killer dreads."

 

And anyone can play guitar, too.