Men of Musical Genius Mondays: Jeff Tweedy

And another week begins.

From here on in, Mondays will be devoted to the icons of my music collection, the great singer-songwriter types that make me just sit back and wish I could write, sing, and play like they could. First up in the series is without a doubt the man himself, Mr. Jeff Tweedy of Wilco, a man often purported by friends and acquaintances to be my personal god figure. I wouldn’t go quite that far, but he’s at the top of the list for musicians for sure.


Make no mistake my friends, Jeff Tweedy IS Wilco… while he fills out the lineup with fantastic musicians that even will best him in terms of technical abilities (Nels Cline, anybody?), you’ve got to respect that creatively Tweedy will always be the top dog ( just ask Jay Bennett, who got his ass fired live in the documentary I Am Trying To Break Your Heart... harsh)

The distinction is well earned, however, primarily because Jeff Tweedy is one of those people who just flat out understands music. He writes not only as an artist, but as a listener and a fan… you can tell watching him on stage that he’s living out the dream of every guy who spent his childhood saving up allowance money to buy records, and is absolutely loving every minute of it.

But enough hero worship: what about the music? What sticks out more than anything to me is the versatility of it. A song that was recorded on an album as an all out sonic explosion can be just as poignant and effective as a quiet acoustic ballad in concert, primarily due to the power of the lyrics and the force through which he delivers them. Today’s selection is of the latter variety, a bootleg from a solo show in Chicago a few years ago that I think fares better than the album cut in many ways... not that that probably matters to most of you anyways ;)

Enjoy:

Jeff Tweedy- Sunken Treasure (Live Acoustic)