Wilco (band)

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Wilco
Wilco (2011) from left: Patrick Sansone, Mikael Jorgensen, Jeff Tweedy, Nels Cline, Glenn Kotche, John Stirratt
Wilco (2011)
from left: Patrick Sansone, Mikael Jorgensen, Jeff Tweedy, Nels Cline, Glenn Kotche, John Stirratt
General information
origin Chicago , United States
Genre (s) Alternative country , indie rock , alternative rock
founding 1994
Website www.wilcoworld.net
Founding members
Jeff Tweedy
John Stirratt
Ken Coomer (until 2000)
Max Johnston (until 1996)
Current occupation
Jeff Tweedy
John Stirratt
Glenn Kotche (since 2000)
Mikael Jorgensen (since 2002)
Nels Cline (since 2004)
Pat Sansone (since 2004)
former members
Bob Egan (1995-1998)
Jay Bennett (1995-2001) († 2009)
Leroy Bach (2000-2004)

Wilco is an American rock band from Chicago formed in 1994 . She is also - especially with her earlier works - attributed to the alternative country . In addition, she plays indie and alternative rock , but also experimental rock music.

Band history

The first albums

Wilco was founded in 1994 by members of the disbanded band Uncle Tupelo . The first albums AM and Being There are still very much oriented towards country-esque folk sounds and characterized by melancholic ballads. The third album, Summerteeth, contains fewer country elements than its predecessor, but still has the typical Wilco sound. A turning point was the more experimental album Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (2002), processed with electronic sounds and samples . More traditionally oriented fans rejected it as renegade , but it reached a large new audience and became the most successful of the early Wilco albums. It reached number 12 in the US album charts and made Wilco known beyond the USA after the first albums, which were mainly celebrated by the critics.

The dispute over Yankee Hotel Foxtrot and the albums on Nonesuch Records

One of the reasons for the success of Yankee Hotel Foxtrot may have been that Jeff Tweedy led a long legal battle with the record company Warner Music Group over the band's artistic freedom in connection with the album . The Warner sub-label Reprise Records declined to release the album in the form desired by the band, fearing that the electronic experiments could be rejected by the album's potential buyers. However, the band insisted on their version and bought the album from the label. It was web-streamed on the Wilco website until a new record company was found willing to release the album. This found itself with Nonesuch Records , another Warner sub-label. The success of the band was celebrated by many fans as a victory in the fight for artistic freedom, the independent idea and David against Goliath.

In 2004, the follow-up A Ghost Is Born was released , which consistently continued the path taken with the Yankee Hotel Foxtrot and again worked with electronic sounds and samples. It even reached number 8 on the Billboard charts and brought Wilco two Grammy Awards in 2005 , including best alternative album .

In November 2005, Wilco released the live double album Kicking Television - Live in Chicago , which was recorded in May of the same year when the band played four consecutive evenings at the Chicago Vic Theater .

On May 11, 2007, a new Wilco album was released with Sky Blue Sky . Two weeks before the release date, the entire album could be heard as a stream on the official Wilco website.

On June 26, 2009, Wilco's seventh studio album, Wilco (The Album), was released . On this album sings as a visiting Feist at You and I . The album was named Album of the Year 2009 by Rolling Stone Magazine . The publication was partly overshadowed by the death of original member Jay Bennett, who left Wilco in 2001 and died unexpectedly on May 24, 2009.

The Whole Love

In September 2011 the studio album The Whole Love was released . After Wilco's contract with Nonesuch Records ended, the album was released by the band's new label, dBpm. The track I Might was pre-released as a web stream on the band's official homepage at the end of June 2011. The Whole Love was voted "Album of the Year 2011" by both critics and readers of the German Rolling Stone .

Compilations

At the end of 2014 the box set Alpha Mike Foxtrott was released with around 80 rarities and live recordings by the band, as well as the best-of double album What's Your 20?

Mermaid Avenue

On the initiative of Nora Guthrie, Wilco set to music in a joint project with Billy Bragg, lyrics from the legacy of her father, the legendary folk singer Woody Guthrie . The two Mermaid Avenue albums recorded in Dublin in 1998 and 2000 received very positive reviews from fans and critics. In 2012 a third record with outtakes as well as a box set with the three albums and the documentary Man in the Sand was released .

Discography

Albums

year title Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements
(Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)
Remarks
DE DE AT AT CH CH UK UK US US
1995 AT THE - - - - -
1996 Being There - - - - US73 (3 weeks)
US
1998 Mermaid Avenue - - - UK34
silver
silver

(4 weeks)UK
US90 (7 weeks)
US
Billy Bragg & Wilco
1999 Summerteeth - - - UK38 (2 weeks)
UK
US78 (3 weeks)
US
2000 Mermaid Avenue Vol. II - - - UK61 (1 week)
UK
US88 (4 weeks)
US
Billy Bragg & Wilco
2002 Yankee Hotel Foxtrot DE29 (5 weeks)
DE
- - UK40 (2 weeks)
UK
US13
gold
gold

(19 weeks)US
2004 A ghost is born DE41 (3 weeks)
DE
AT75 (1 week)
AT
- UK50 (1 week)
UK
US8 (9 weeks)
US
2005 Kicking Television - Live in Chicago - - - - US47 (2 weeks)
US
Live album
2007 Sky blue sky DE36 (3 weeks)
DE
- CH61 (2 weeks)
CH
UK39 (2 weeks)
UK
US4 (17 weeks)
US
2009 Wilco (The Album) DE32 (3 weeks)
DE
AT60 (1 week)
AT
CH43 (2 weeks)
CH
UK49 (1 week)
UK
US4 (13 weeks)
US
2011 The Whole Love DE14 (5 weeks)
DE
AT19 (2 weeks)
AT
CH28 (3 weeks)
CH
UK30 (2 weeks)
UK
US5 (13 weeks)
US
2012 iTunes Sessions (EP) - - - - US54 (1 week)
US
Live EP
Mermaid Avenue Vol. III - - - - -
Billy Bragg & Wilco
2014 Alpha Mike Foxtrot: Rare Tracks 1994-2014 - - - - US46 (1 week)
US
Compilation with around 80 rarities and live recordings
2015 Starwars DE83 (1 week)
DE
- CH52 (1 week)
CH
UK83 (1 week)
UK
US105 (1 week)
US
2016 Schmilco DE21 (2 weeks)
DE
AT25 (1 week)
AT
CH22 (2 weeks)
CH
UK25 (1 week)
UK
US11 (3 weeks)
US
2019 Ode to Joy DE25 (1 week)
DE
AT42 (1 week)
AT
CH24 (2 weeks)
CH
UK29 (1 week)
UK
US21 (1 week)
US

more publishments

  • More Like the Moon EP (also known as Australian EP and Bridge EP ) (2003)
  • Mermaid Avenue - The Complete Sessions (with Billy Bragg) (2012)
  • What's Your 20? Essential Tracks 1994-2014 (2014)

Singles

year Title
album
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChartsChart placements
(Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes)
Remarks
UK UK
1997 Outtasite (Outta Mind)
Being There
UK97 (1 week)
UK
1998 Way Over Yonder in the Minor Key
Mermaid Avenue
UK89 (1 week)
UK
Billy Bragg & Wilco
1999 Can't Stand It
Summerteeth
UK67 (2 weeks)
UK
A Shot in the Arm
Summerteeth
UK88 (1 week)
UK
2004 I'm a Wheel
A Ghost is Born
UK85 (1 week)
UK

Video albums

  • I am Trying to Break Your Heart (Documentary by Sam Jones, 2002, US:goldgold)
  • Ashes of American Flags: Wilco Live (2009)

book

  • The Wilco Book (2004)
  • Wilco: Learning How to Die by Greg Kot (2004)

swell

  1. ^ New Wilco: "I Might," Amy Phillips, Pitchfork Magazine, June 25, 2011.
  2. Wilco: A slaughter plate for the ears , review by Karl Fluch in Der Standard from January 13, 2015, accessed on March 13, 2015.
  3. a b Chart sources: DE AT CH UK US
  4. Awards for sales: USA (RIAA) / Great Britain (BPI, database search)

Web links