Jay Farrar

criminals wrote:Very entertaining read.

I guess my perception was it wasn't as bad between Jay and Jeff. I always assumed it was a passive-aggressive situation toward the end. But fisticuffs?!? Never thought it was that bad. Very interesting. I'll guess we'll never hear the full story but the interviews capture it pretty well.

I can't help but laugh a little at the idea of those 2 throwing punches. Put it this way--it wouldn't do well on Pay per View! Coomer could have just picked them both up and scolded them.

Very entertaining read.

I guess my perception was it wasn't as bad between Jay and Jeff. I always assumed it was a passive-aggressive situation toward the end. But fisticuffs?!? Never thought it was that bad. Very interesting. I'll guess we'll never hear the full story but the interviews capture it pretty well.

great, great article. real-time stuff is eye-opening. i have a lot of Wilco and all of the Son Volt catalog. I've tried to dig Wilco but for me, something is missing. No offense to Jeff. Trace - Straightaways - Wide Swing - Okemah - American Central Dust are not far from my 'press play' all the time. same with Anodyne

Ken Coomer: Jay put out Trace. That was an amazing record. I don’t know if I can tell you this story, but when we all first heard Trace, you know, we’re in the vans. And it’s Tony and the whole band in one van and the crew is in the other van. … Some people in the van had edibles. A cookie. A pleasurable cookie. And so, then, Tony says, "I’ve got it! I’ve got his record." Tony pops it in the CD player. Nobody says a word. An absolute word. Tony is driving. We’re running down the highway, the record ends, nobody says a word. Ten minutes. Tony rolls down the window, pops out that CD and throws it out. I thought I was going to pee my pants.[/quote]


Thank you.

I think that it’s a great observation by Ken Coomer because it’s really about the greatness of ‘Trace’. I think that both Jay and Jeff have done some amazing things in their career. And Jeff has certainly attained some major mainstream success. But, I think that the one album between them that will withstand and be important many years from now is ‘Trace’, ‘Trace’ could have been recorded in 1972 or 1995 or 2018, it’s timeless and it is as relatable today as the day it was released. That won’t change.

I like some of Jeff’s stuff. Summerteeth is a terrific record. But, it’s not timeless. And I think that everything after that (especially YHF) has not aged well.

In fairness, I think Jay’s subsequent releases have been uneven. But, time is the ultimate judge, and ‘Trace’ will win out.

I've been watching the May 1994 St.Louis show that's linked and I don't see any sign of Jay not singing on Jeff's songs. Great performance, by the way.

I don't think you need to pick a side but the guy from American Aquarium picked the wrong side!

The Doug Sahm and his carrot juice story is hilarious. Also, how Jay knew who he was simply by hearing his voice.

That's really well presented. A bunch of different, first hand accounts, just put down in a straight forward manner. Now I'll have to go back and play the videos.

Thanks a lot for posting this.

Great article. Thanks for the link. Learned some stuff about UT and early Jay.

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/musi ... 33327/amp/


Ken Coomer: Jay put out Trace. That was an amazing record. I don’t know if I can tell you this story, but when we all first heard Trace, you know, we’re in the vans. And it’s Tony and the whole band in one van and the crew is in the other van. … Some people in the van had edibles. A cookie. A pleasurable cookie. And so, then, Tony says, "I’ve got it! I’ve got his record." Tony pops it in the CD player. Nobody says a word. An absolute word. Tony is driving. We’re running down the highway, the record ends, nobody says a word. Ten minutes. Tony rolls down the window, pops out that CD and throws it out. I thought I was going to pee my pants.