How Much Longer For Nels Cline?

[Dude]

How long before admins merge this into 'How Much Longer For Nels Cline?'...?

[isadorah]

How long before admins merge this into 'How Much Longer For Nels Cline?'...?

 

 

Hopefully in less than 5 minutes. or maybe the word vaginal made some folks really uncomfortable and a new thread was started.

[gogo]

What the hell, people.

 

 

I liked grateful dead's wording of the question a lot better than the original poster's, but first in gets to be on top, sorry.

[jff]

He is getting older and with his spine problems as he explains in ashes of american flags, I could see him out of the band within 5 years. I think he is a very good player and the band won't kick him out but he will probably move on or retire so to speak. Wilco has a grueling schedule and so far only two men have lasted, whose to say whats next. Eventhough jeff says he is happy with the form of the band, something like a health problem would be one of the only reasons to break these 6 guys up. He just wants to defy gravity and float but his body doesnt like when he goes nuts on stage. Who would replace him? What do you think? Do they even need a replacement with tweedy and pat playing as well as they have?

 

The problem with this argument is that Nels would still be doing that even if he left Wilco. Maybe moreso with his own band. The problem would be that in his own band, he wouldn't be touring in a comfortable bus and playing venues with nice, clean, catered backstage band rooms. He wouldn't have roadies and guitar techs loading and maintaining his equipment.

 

On his own, he'd be touring in a crowded van, and having to fend for himself every time he wanted to eat, or needed to get his equipment repaired. And he'd be doing the heavy lifting before and after every show.

[blrssp]

Perfectly good question.

 

I think Nels Cline is amazing guitarist, but his time with the band is running out. In 06-07 when the SBS songs were new his playing blew me away. But nowadays, after three years of the same Impossible Germany solo, how much more can you take? Other lineups were not 1/2 as technical proficient at their instruments but at least the shows had some variance between them, you know? Now it's like the band is playing Guitar Hero and trying to see how well they can hit each scripted note. While I realize playing all the songs like album tracks is probably Tweedy's call, I still think it will take a new lead guitarist to get the band out of the habit.

 

I would have to think that the scripted nature of the performances is JT's call, since Cline was involved with improvisational music for the majority of his pre-Wilco career. Though I admit thinking that at the time that he was an odd choice for the band, considering Cline's musical background, they've definitely made it work. As a live unit, this version of the band is my favorite, even though my favorite Wilco albums are with JB.

[Livin' in New Orleans]

He is getting older and with his spine problems as he explains in ashes of american flags, I could see him out of the band within 5 years. I think he is a very good player and the band won't kick him out but he will probably move on or retire so to speak. Wilco has a grueling schedule and so far only two men have lasted, whose to say whats next. Eventhough jeff says he is happy with the form of the band, something like a health problem would be one of the only reasons to break these 6 guys up. He just wants to defy gravity and float but his body doesnt like when he goes nuts on stage. Who would replace him? What do you think? Do they even need a replacement with tweedy and pat playing as well as they have?

 

True, Jeff and Pat play very well... but no one is like Nels..

[Guest Speed Racer]

and no thanks for the overly-sensitive, vaginal ones.

 

Please remove your head from your anus before entering your sixth post on VC. How's that for less vaginal?

 

Seriously, you can say just about any dumb thing you want around here, but you'll make more frenemies and fewer enemies if you remove that shit from your posting vocabulary now.

 

OT, I think if Nels did retire it would be at least 5 years down the road and it likely would be health-related. jff's post is spot-on, in my opinion. Nels won't stop playing/recording/touring (hell, he doesn't even stop doing that when Wilco stops doing that), and this is probably the cushiest way for him to do so. I'm not at all saying he's in it for that, which is exactly why he'd stay. The music and the collaborators are great, he can do his own thing on the side, and he's clearly having fun and getting that extra something out of it or he wouldn't endure excruciating pain every night.

 

Tweedy firing anyone at this point is about as likely as him hiring Jay Farrar as that person's replacement.

[Setting Sun]

The same thought crossed my mind when reading this interview with Cline from a few weeks ago:

 

http://laist.com/2009/06/19/laist_interview_wilco_guitartist_ne_1.php

 

He makes it clear that this album is Tweedy's album, he just plays on it. I wonder how long that dynamic can sustain any band.

[Guest Speed Racer]

I wonder how long that dynamic can sustain any band.

 

For people who live to play, and live to make good songs come alive, I don't see how that dynamic wouldn't sustain a band. Nels joined in 2004 - anyone who was under the impression in 2004 that Wilco isn't driven by Jeff Tweedy would have been very misguided. Nels has played with something like 200+ outfits, right? Or a similarly obscene number? And still maintains a solid solo project. This man isn't driven by a desire to lead the best band in the world, he seems to be driven by a desire to play in the best bands he can.

[howdjadoo]

with all your "Street advocates" and "Oracles" this threat seems to get a bit boring aka

 

overheated

 

[Ghost of Electricity]

Nels Cline may not be in Wilco until the end of time but he will be there long after this thread has died and gone to hell.

[Sir Stewart]

with all your "Street advocates" and "Oracles" this threat seems to get a bit boring aka

 

overheated

 

 

Your search for the term street advocates returned 1 results

Your search for the term oracles returned 1 results

 

[Guest Jules]

He makes it clear that this album is Tweedy's album, he just plays on it. I wonder how long that dynamic can sustain any band.

As long as he wants to make money.

[u2roolz]

I think the moderators may have a say in this. But until then, hey go ahead and do your thing.

[Guest Francis X. Hummel]

I see nothing wrong with this thread. It's a legit question. But everyone had to go ahead and pounce on the OP because they don't like the discussion. And then the OP got defensive, and i suppose offensive too. And now this thread is off topic and blows.

 

How about this? If you want to discuss the subject, post here. If you don't, then find another thread.

 

Shit.

[caliber66]

I don't think people necessarily didn't like the discussion, but rather didn't like the manner in which the discussion was framed by the OP.

[mpolak21]

I see nothing wrong with this thread. It's a legit question. But everyone had to go ahead and pounce on the OP because they don't like the discussion. And then the OP got defensive, and i suppose offensive too. And now this thread is off topic and blows.

 

How about this? If you want to discuss the subject, post here. If you don't, then find another thread.

 

Shit.

 

If this wasn't roughly the three hundredth time someone posted a Nels thread along these lines and if the original poster wasn't such a raving asshat, you'd have a point.

 

--Mike

[u2roolz]

I don't think people necessarily didn't like the discussion, but rather didn't like the manner in which the discussion was framed by the OP.

 

 

And the use of the word "palatable" threw me off.

[Guest Speed Racer]

I see nothing wrong with this thread. It's a legit question. But everyone had to go ahead and pounce on the OP because they don't like the discussion.

 

The topic of discussion (which I participated in) had NOTHING to do with my beef with OP, which I think I made remarkably clear.

 

That being said, I don't know how long a thread can be, on the topic of the likelihood that someone who is happy with the band, and whom the band is happy with, may eventually leave the band. He has a good gig, but he very much reminds me of an older Janet Weiss. No matter what either of them end up doing or where they end up, both of them will be making music until they don't have limbs with which to produce noise. And since he seems happy with Wilco, I'll bet that's where he'll stay for the indefinite future. I think it has nothing to do with any possible whims of Jeff, who hasn't axed a man since 2001.

[thejokeexplained]

True, Jeff and Pat play very well... but no one is like Nels..

 

I think Jeffs guitar work has improved 100% sense the addition of Nels. Nels has brought more to the band then just his superb play but also his influence and technique on the way Tweedy approaches the guitar.

[Guest Francis X. Hummel]

If this wasn't roughly the three hundredth time someone posted a Nels thread along these lines and if the original poster wasn't such a raving asshat, you'd have a point.

 

--Mike

 

i have a perfectly good point. if you don't like the thread, stay out of it. there are plenty of other threads to post in. jumping in a thread just to point out that someone posted something douchey, is douchey itself.

 

just my two cents.

 

and i already posted my legit answer to the thread's question, so i'm out.

[Guest Speed Racer]

I think Jeffs guitar work has improved 100% sense the addition of Nels. Nels has brought more to the band then just his superb play but also his influence and technique on the way Tweedy approaches the guitar.

 

I agree absolutely; even on the songs I hate on SBS, I love Jeff's guitar work. I love everything on W(TA). If you're in the right frame of mind, being around more talented people is only going to make you more talented. That same frame of mind (perhaps acceptance, though I've never liked the connotations of that word) is likely what makes Jeff more of an even keel these days.

[mpolak21]

i have a perfectly good point. if you don't like the thread, stay out of it. there are plenty of other threads to post in. jumping in a thread just to point out that someone posted something douchey, is douchey itself.

 

just my two cents.

 

and i already posted my legit answer to the thread's question, so i'm out.

 

Pointing out that that kind of shit isn't going to fly here is fine.

 

--Mike

[isadorah]

i have a perfectly good point. if you don't like the thread, stay out of it. there are plenty of other threads to post in. jumping in a thread just to point out that someone posted something douchey, is douchey itself.

 

i think Mike's point was a perfectly good point as well...then again...i think starting a thread speculating about how much longer someone has in the band is kind of douchey so there's that...which probably discounts my opinion entirely.

[gogo]

Is the douchiness somehow related to the vaginality?

 

 

Either way, back on topic, please.

 

I hope that Nels will be in Wilco for a good long time, but I'm lucky enough to know that even if he does choose to leave, I live in a place where he'll likely continue to perform on a regular basis. If anything, I might see Nels more often if he wasn't in Wilco.