Jay Bennett, former guitarist for Wilco who’s breakup with the band was documented in the movie “I Am Trying to Break Your Heart,” has died in his sleep at the age of 45. No cause of death yet. Story here.
He came off as a prick, but the guy could play his guts out and did a lot to form the current sound of the band on from Being There through Yankee Hotel Foxtrot.
He’ll be missed.
No. Fucking. Way.
I always thought he was the real brains and talent behind the band, and I don’t think he came off like a prick at all in the movie. (Jeff Teedy did though, IMO.)
I saw Wilco for the first time not long after Being There came out. It was clearly Tweedy’s band, and they were clearly his songs, but it was the big hulking guy hunched over his keyboards in the back that really made the band something special.
Without Bennett, they probably would have stayed in the solid-but-forgettable roots rock mode of A.M.. Bennett needed Tweedy’s songs, and Tweedy needed Bennett to help him pull the magic out of them. If they hadn’t both been so difficult to work with (especially in Tweedy’s pre-rehab days), they might have been one of rock’s great duos. As it was, it’s a wonder they stuck together for three albums.
I heard this on NPR this morning. Pretty shocking. Yeah, he did come off in “I Am Trying To Break Your Heart” as somewhat difficult to get along with, but Tweedy didn’t come off looking so great either.
Like DoctorJ says, I think Bennett was the yin to Tweedy’s yang. They definitely balanced each other and I, for one, definitely noticed his absence in “A Ghost Is Born”. It was like Tweedy no longer had anyone to keep him grounded, and the album shows it. (Fifteen minutes of electronic droning noise? WTF? Who wants to listen to that?)
I think the reason he came off as a prick in I Am Trying to Break Your Heart is only because the documentary ultimately chronicled the break-up of a very intense relationship. It wasn’t just a professional relationship, either. I think that none of us will look our best in the middle of a break-up–especially on top of the stress of creating an album and losing your label.
Just wanted to share this great video from I Am Trying to Break Your Heart showing the rehearsal of “Poor Places.” Great footage of Bennett.