.: chromewaves.net v7.5 » Jay Bennett http://www.chromewaves.net chromewaves Sat, 11 Feb 2012 15:08:48 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 R.I.P. Jay Bennett (1963-2009) http://www.chromewaves.net/2009/05/rip-jay-bennett-1963-2009/ http://www.chromewaves.net/2009/05/rip-jay-bennett-1963-2009/#comments Mon, 25 May 2009 02:58:22 +0000 Frank Yang http://www.chromewaves.net/?p=9319 Photo via CSTChicago Sun-TimesI’ve spent the night following some terribly sad news that I was hoping wasn’t true, but apparently is – former Wilco guitarist and songwriter Jay Bennett passed away this weekend. It’s unfortunate that Bennett is mostly remembered for the way he left the band, famously documented in the I Am Trying To Break Your Heart film, and not for the magic he brought to the band via production and songwriting from Being There through Yankee Hotel Foxtrot – still arguably their best three records.

I’d like to pay tribute to the man with one of my favourite Wilco tunes, which happens to be primarily a Bennett composition. “Venus Stop The Train” was never officially released, probably due to his departure for the band, but did surface on the much-bootlegged Yankee Hotel Foxtrot Demos collection as well as Bennett’s solo debut The Palace At 4am (Part I) albeit in a drastically different form. I much prefer the starkness of the Wilco version, with just Jeff Tweedy singing overtop piano presumably played by Bennett.

Bennett released a slew of solo records post-Wilco, the latest of which – Whatever Happened I Apologize – came out last year and is available for free download. He was working on his sixth, Kicking At The Perfumed Air, at the time of his death.

Such a sad, sad thing – rest in peace, Jay.

MP3: Wilco – “Venus Stop the Train”
ZIP: Jay Bennett / Whatever Happened, I Apologize

]]> http://www.chromewaves.net/2009/05/rip-jay-bennett-1963-2009/feed/ 4