anodyne

Uncle Tupelo expanded for their divisive dynamic major label debut and fell apart in the process.  The group formed in  Belleville, Illinois as the Plebes and then became the Primitives before adopting the Uncle Tupelo moniker.  They started out with a punkish country sound on their first two albums, 'No Depression' and 'Still Feel Gone' before going acoustic for the Peter Buck produced 'March 16-20, 1992'.  

The success of the third album led to a contract with Sire Records. Mike Heidorn left the band for a newspaper job and was replaced with Ken Coomer, while John Stirratt replaced Brian Henneman who had left to form The Bottle Rockets.  Multi-instrumentalist Max Johnston (brother to Michelle Shocked) also joined the group for the recording of their major label debut at Cedar Creek studio in Austin, Texas.  The sessions were recorded live in the studio with producer Brian Paulson and featured Ken Coomer on drums; Jay Farrar on vocals, guitar, and mandolin; Max Johnston on fiddle, lap steel guitar, banjo, and dobro; John Stirratt on guitar and bass guitar; Jeff Tweedy on vocals, bass guitar, and guitar;   with Joe Ely on vocals on "Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way?"; Brian Henneman on vocals on "Truck Drivin' Man"; Lloyd Maines on pedal steel guitar; and Doug Sahm on guitar and vocals on "Give Back the Key to My Heart".   

Tweedy says:  "Our idea was to try and make it live and see what happens. When we finished the songs I thought it would be closer to the March record, maybe slightly more up tempo. All of the songs had a loose acoustic feel like that. Playing with everybody in rehearsal before we went down to record a lot of the songs turned more into rock songs. It may seem strange that songs like "Chickamauga" and "Long Cut" were conceived as acoustic songs, but they were... The intention was to let things happen and to accept whatever it was that we could turn the songs into or whatever they would come out being with everybody playing. We asked Max and John to come play with us because they're really good friends and we didn't want to do any overdubs and we wanted extra people to play with us so we wouldn't have to do overdubs and we wanted it to be a group of people to hang out and play and see what happened. I guess we were inspired by stuff like Tonight's The Night and things like that...We had used other instruments on the other records, but as overdubs, and we thought it would be cooler, to us, if we could get people to play those things live in the studio so that it would have more of a feel...There are very few real supergeniuses in the music field and maybe The Beatles could get away with overdubbing everything and having it come out unique and incredible, but for the most part if you're just a band and you let all of your little flaws and all of your little bullshit show then it's going to be a lot easier to sound unique. A lot more of your personality will show through the way you play, instead of trying to get your one part to sound like whoever it is you're trying to imitate because that's what you heard on records."

Farrar adds:    "There's always going to be a certain spontaneous quality when you record live. There's also going to be some mistakes that are left in, which become part of the song at that point.''

'Anodyne' became the only album by Uncle Tupelo to chart, making it to number twenty-three on the Billboard Heatseekers album chart.  It eventually sold over one hundred and fifty thousand copies.  Farrar agreed to tour for the record, but by that point had already let the band know that he was leaving.  

Henneman recalls:   "It's as big a mystery to me as anybody, and I was pretty much hanging out with them during that whole time. I don't know what the heck ever came between 'em to make 'em split up. It was like, out of the blue, they were gone. And I thought they were set to really do something huge."

Farrar explains:    "It just seemed like it reached a point where Jeff and I really weren't compatible.  It had ceased to be a symbiotic songwriting relationship, probably after the first record ...  When I spoke to him about why I was quitting I basically laid it out for him. I told him that the dynamic had changed and that it wasn't fun for me anymore...His response was to call me a 'pussy.' ...  We basically had reached a point where I did not want to continue doing it anymore and I don’t think the rest…I don’t think Jeff was at the same stage I was at, at that point, maybe he is now, but you know ultimately I think we are all better for it , having ended it when we did." 

'Anodyne' became a watershed album in the development of an alternative country movement.  Farrar went on to form Son Volt while Tweedy took the rest of Uncle Tupelo and formed Wilco.  






http://uncletupelo.com/






"The Long Cut" 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IdyTUUJq6f4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hy3WkIfgkSQ



"Give Back the Key to My Heart" 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eblksRXQvUM



"Chickamauga"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2N0w8SmQKPA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ilDhb2qk1M



"New Madrid" 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t7CGkuLEs5U
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0haCxTOzbE



"Anodyne"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akuLsdAiNP8





"High Water" 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gk_bXNzkmhY







'Anodyne' 
full album:




"Slate" (Farrar) – 3:24
"Acuff-Rose" (Tweedy) – 2:35
"The Long Cut" (Tweedy) – 3:20
"Give Back the Key to My Heart" (Sahm) – 3:26
"Chickamauga" (Farrar) – 3:42
"New Madrid" (Tweedy) – 3:31
"Anodyne" (Farrar) – 4:50
"We've Been Had" (Tweedy) – 3:26
"Fifteen Keys" (Farrar) – 3:25
"High Water" (Farrar) – 4:14
"No Sense in Lovin'" (Tweedy) – 3:46
"Steal the Crumbs" (Farrar) – 3:38