Brian Henneman's A.M. liner notes

[choo-choo-charlie]

I've mentioned Henneman's liner notes in a few threads -- they came with the vinyl reissue of A.M. Finally got around to scanning it in last night and thought I'd share it with all of you fine people. Makes me love the record even more.

 

***

 

 

A.M., Where to begin? The beginning, I guess. Problem is, I can't remember the beginning. Who hired me? Jeff? Tony? Was I ever officially "hired"? Hell if I know. I know I flew to Memphis, and started recording as soon as I got there. I DO remember wondering who was "in charge". There didn't seem to be a clear cut "leader".

 

It was an odd time, the Bottle Rockets were brand new, Uncle Tupelo hadn't been defunct for very long, Jay's leaving was still a pretty fresh wound, hadn't developed a scab yet. The lack of a clear cut "leader" was kinda confusing to me, seemed like Max had as much say as John, or, Ken, or, Jeff, Or, Brian Paulson, Or, even ME, for that matter. I played along with it. Didn't wanna make waves, didn't wanna do a bad job. Nothing was ever carved in stone, we'd just play together, and next thing you knew, we had one "in the can". We'd move on. Don't remember much discussion, don't remember much direction, don't remember much overdubbing.

 

I remember the guys playing hacky-sack, while I watched, with the perpetual gin and tonic in my hand, as much, or, even MORE, than I remember playing music. The music just kinda fell from the sky. I vaguely remember Jeff asking if I wanted to join the band, I vaguely remember respectfully declining. It all seemed so haphazard, so unfocused, I wasn't sure this band "Wilco" was gonna make it.

 

It seemed SO odd to me, Jeff taking such an unobtrusive, auto-democratic role ... I remember his goofy Gibson acoustic guitar, with "Wilco", in "stick on" letters on the fingerboard ... the fact that they had no lead guitarist... it felt more like a shambles, than any kinda budding rock entity. I was, in my heart, wishin' 'em the best, contributing as if it WAS my own band, taking it as seriously as the gin and tonics would allow, but, the whole time, I had my doubts. Serious doubts.

 

What was Jay doin'? That weighed heavy on the session, at least in MY mind. A question that was unspoken, but, definitely floated around like a ghost I didn't want to admit seeing. Seemed to me, everybody was taking it all too "lightly". C'mon guys! We got some ass kickin' to do, don't we? Guess not, nobody seemed too upset. I remember, on "Passenger Side", I was so unsure of the chord changes at the time we recorded it, I put a phase shifter on the guitar, to try and mask my fumbling for the right chords. Played it one time like that, and it was done.

 

That's how the whole deal went down, before I could learn a song properly, it was considered finished. This is not the stuff great bands are made of, is it? These guys are doomed, aren't they? I didn't want Jeff to go down this way, I always loved his songwriting, I thought he was blowing it off. Maybe he was cracking under pressure? C'mon Jeff, you got some ass kickin' to do, don't you? Guess not, he never seemed too upset.

 

The puzzle is solved right there. The songwriting. We were golden. What I couldn't see at the time, was, we weren't working for Jeff, or, for the band, or, for the record company, or, for the fame, or, for the glory ... we were working for the songs. Working for these songs gave us all diplomatic immunity. These songs were forgiving us of our sins. Makin' heroes outta thin air. Givin' back more than what was goin' in. They were playin' us, more than we were playin' them.

 

We were makin' music, the way birds fly south for the winter. What a remarkable way to do this sorta thing! With an ability like that, how can you ever lose? You can't. Wilco didn't. Looking back on it, I'm completely blown away. I was in the middle of it, and have no vivid memories. I feel like I was tricked, or, hypnotized, or somethin'. This A.M. album cracked open the door to the "rest of the story", a story I NEVER predicted, 'cause I just ain't that cool. I ain't that "natural".

 

I'm honored to have been a part of it, even though I don't feel like I did much. In fact, I don't feel like ANYBODY did much. Yeah, right...

[jcroach]

Very cool. Thanks for posting. His comments about Jay don't seem to make any sense. It's like an incomplete thought.

[Tweedling]

That's kick ass. Adds to the explanation of why this record is STILL one of my favs. Thanks for posting.

I talked to Max not long ago about this record and asked him if he knew how great it is and if he realized the pedigree he was involved in. He replied, "I do now." hahaha

[Analogman]

Thanks for posting.

[moxiebean]

Very cool. Thanks for posting. His comments about Jay don't seem to make any sense. It's like an incomplete thought.

I read it as they were unaware what Jay Farrar was up to musically after the split - did he have a new band? was he in a studio somewhere with a batch of awesome songs etc. etc.?

[aricandover]

I read it as they were unaware what Jay Farrar was up to musically after the split - did he have a new band? was he in a studio somewhere with a batch of awesome songs etc. etc.?

 

 

Right, like he was thinking, "WTF are we doing goofing off? Jay is probably up to some kickass shit that's going to blow whatever we come up with out of the water."

[choo-choo-charlie]

I believe A.M. and Trace are both great records, but for me, I'm not sure the former could ever be replaced by the latter.

[jcroach]

 

 

Right, like he was thinking, "WTF are we doing goofing off? Jay is probably up to some kickass shit that's going to blow whatever we come up with out of the water."

 

OK, that makes sense now. I thought he meant Jay Bennett. I got my "Jays" mixed up! I knew Jay Bennet didn't perform on the album, but thought he might have been around the studio in some regard. Didn't he get a liner note mention in AM?

[choo-choo-charlie]

There might be a "special thanks to Jay Bennett" in there. Can't recall...

 

",,,the call letters, steel guitar, and settle down..."

[jakobnicholas]

I believe A.M. and Trace are both great records, but for me, I'm not sure the former could ever be replaced by the latter.

To me, both of these records enter my mind when I'm going on a long drive. A.M radio used to be a great place to find good music, and it's neat that one record has an old radio on the cover while the other starts off with a song about getting lost in a great A.M. song.I think Son Volt's record is "better"....it's just very classic sounding and deep and doesn't have a track that's even the smallest bit weak. But I find Wilco's record more fun. Tweedy and Wilco have come a long way musically, but listening to A.M. you realize how great most of the songs are. And the simple way they were played make it very comfortable. 20 years from now, I'm guessing I'll grab A.M. more times than most Wilco records.

[Ghost of Electricity]

I remember hearing a story about Wilco touring AM and Tony Margherita puts in Trace and says something like "Should we listen to what Jay's been up to?" and they ended up throwing the disc out the window, depressed about how much better Son Volt's record was.

 

Can't say anything about the veracity or even the source of this anecdote, but it did stick in my head.

[Autumnteeth]

I've mentioned Henneman's liner notes in a few threads -- they came with the vinyl reissue of A.M. Finally got around to scanning it in last night and thought I'd share it with all of you fine people. Makes me love the record even more.

 

***

 

 

A.M., Where to begin? The beginning, I guess. Problem is, I can't remember the beginning. Who hired me? Jeff? Tony? Was I ever officially "hired"? Hell if I know. I know I flew to Memphis, and started recording as soon as I got there. I DO remember wondering who was "in charge". There didn't seem to be a clear cut "leader".

 

It was an odd time, the Bottle Rockets were brand new, Uncle Tupelo hadn't been defunct for very long, Jay's leaving was still a pretty fresh wound, hadn't developed a scab yet. The lack of a clear cut "leader" was kinda confusing to me, seemed like Max had as much say as John, or, Ken, or, Jeff, Or, Brian Paulson, Or, even ME, for that matter. I played along with it. Didn't wanna make waves, didn't wanna do a bad job. Nothing was ever carved in stone, we'd just play together, and next thing you knew, we had one "in the can". We'd move on. Don't remember much discussion, don't remember much direction, don't remember much overdubbing.

 

I remember the guys playing hacky-sack, while I watched, with the perpetual gin and tonic in my hand, as much, or, even MORE, than I remember playing music. The music just kinda fell from the sky. I vaguely remember Jeff asking if I wanted to join the band, I vaguely remember respectfully declining. It all seemed so haphazard, so unfocused, I wasn't sure this band "Wilco" was gonna make it.

 

It seemed SO odd to me, Jeff taking such an unobtrusive, auto-democratic role ... I remember his goofy Gibson acoustic guitar, with "Wilco", in "stick on" letters on the fingerboard ... the fact that they had no lead guitarist... it felt more like a shambles, than any kinda budding rock entity. I was, in my heart, wishin' 'em the best, contributing as if it WAS my own band, taking it as seriously as the gin and tonics would allow, but, the whole time, I had my doubts. Serious doubts.

 

What was Jay doin'? That weighed heavy on the session, at least in MY mind. A question that was unspoken, but, definitely floated around like a ghost I didn't want to admit seeing. Seemed to me, everybody was taking it all too "lightly". C'mon guys! We got some ass kickin' to do, don't we? Guess not, nobody seemed too upset. I remember, on "Passenger Side", I was so unsure of the chord changes at the time we recorded it, I put a phase shifter on the guitar, to try and mask my fumbling for the right chords. Played it one time like that, and it was done.

 

That's how the whole deal went down, before I could learn a song properly, it was considered finished. This is not the stuff great bands are made of, is it? These guys are doomed, aren't they? I didn't want Jeff to go down this way, I always loved his songwriting, I thought he was blowing it off. Maybe he was cracking under pressure? C'mon Jeff, you got some ass kickin' to do, don't you? Guess not, he never seemed too upset.

 

The puzzle is solved right there. The songwriting. We were golden. What I couldn't see at the time, was, we weren't working for Jeff, or, for the band, or, for the record company, or, for the fame, or, for the glory ... we were working for the songs. Working for these songs gave us all diplomatic immunity. These songs were forgiving us of our sins. Makin' heroes outta thin air. Givin' back more than what was goin' in. They were playin' us, more than we were playin' them.

 

We were makin' music, the way birds fly south for the winter. What a remarkable way to do this sorta thing! With an ability like that, how can you ever lose? You can't. Wilco didn't. Looking back on it, I'm completely blown away. I was in the middle of it, and have no vivid memories. I feel like I was tricked, or, hypnotized, or somethin'. This A.M. album cracked open the door to the "rest of the story", a story I NEVER predicted, 'cause I just ain't that cool. I ain't that "natural".

 

I'm honored to have been a part of it, even though I don't feel like I did much. In fact, I don't feel like ANYBODY did much. Yeah, right...

 

Contrast this with the post about writing credits and theevolution is even more phenomanal.

[worldrecordplayer]

The puzzle is solved right there. The songwriting. We were golden. What I couldn't see at the time, was, we weren't working for Jeff, or, for the band, or, for the record company, or, for the fame, or, for the glory ... we were working for the songs. Working for these songs gave us all diplomatic immunity. These songs were forgiving us of our sins. Makin' heroes outta thin air. Givin' back more than what was goin' in. They were playin' us, more than we were playin' them.

 

The songs were playing the musicians. Reminds me of these lyrics: "They're a band beyond description, like Jehova's favorite choir. People join in hand in hand, while the music plays the band." The Music Never Stopped, Grateful Dead.

 

Must be quite a rush to get to that sort of a zone.