Jay Bennett Gets His Documentary Due With Some New Records Too

In the last episode of Wilcopedia (The Blog), the focus was on the coverage of the 20th Anniversary of the release of Wilco’s breakthrough masterpiece, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, but there’s an important sidebar to the story that wasn’t given ample space.

That would be that the album’s co-creator, former Wilco member Jay Bennett (1963-2009), is sharing the same anniversary as his collaboration with Edward Burch, The Palace at 4am (Part 1), was released on the same day (April 23, 2002) as YHF, and the multi-instrumentalist is the subject of a new documentary, Gorman Bechard and Fred Uhter’s JAY BENNETT, WHERE ARE YOU?, which dropped on DVD/Blu ray on April 19.

Bechard and Uhter’s film is a thorough portrait of the life and career of Bennett from his upbringing in Rolling Meadows, Illinois, to his time in the power pop group, Titanic Love Affair, and then onto his defining role in Wilco, mastering various instruments, and collecting all kinds of vintage gear along the way. Bennett had joined Jeff Tweedy and company too late to be a part of their debut, A.M., but just in time to be a touring member, and his influence in the studio was big on the band’s still rootsy, but much wider-ranging second album, Being There, and even bigger on the orchestral pop of the follow-up, Summerteeth.

As the legend goes, the sessions for YHF were where Bennett and Tweedy’s once infectiously fruitful collaboration fell apart, which resulted in Bennett’s departure. The filmmakers have assembled a rich roster of interviewees to take us through these sometimes uneasy background beats including Bennett’s mother Janis, his musical partner, Edward Burch; Greg Kot, who wrote the first book on the band, Wilco: Learning How to Die (2004); original Wilco drummer Ken Coomer, former Wilco production manager Jonathan “JP” Parker, British singer/songwriter Billy Bragg, and Nora Guthrie. Tweedy declined to be in the film, so he’s represented by excerpts from the audiobook of his autobiography, Let’s Go (So We Can Get Back): A Memoir of Recording and Discording with Wilco, Etc.

Of course, some of the ground well trodden in Sam Jones’ I AM TRYING TO BREAK YOUR HEART - i.e. Bennett and Tweedy’s awkward, edgy argument during the YHF sessions – is trodden over again, but it’s really affecting to hear phone recordings of Bennett trying to cope with the sad situation, and to get his friends’ takes on how damaging his portrayal in that documentary was to him.

Bennett followed up Palace at 4am, which got its first ever vinyl release last year, with five solo albums, the last two of which, Whatever Happened I Apologize (2008), and Kicking at the Perfumed Air (2010), were released on vinyl together on Record Store Day, in gate-fold packaging that makes it look like the soundtrack to the documentary, but very little (none?) of the music is actually in the film. No matter, it’s a cool double album that captures the last chapter of the man’s immaculately tuneful career. And the 2LP set comes with a DVD of the documentary too.

JAY BENNETT, WHERE ARE YOU? is a loving doc depiction of a man who lived for music, and left a large stamp on the sound of Wilco, and in the hearts of all the rock ‘n roll lovers who came into his orbit. With hope, the abundant passion within Bechard and Uhter’s portrait will help to keep the master musician from fading into a footnote. I believe it will be greatly beneficial to Bennett’s legacy, and I’m not just saying that because a quote of mine from Wilcopedia appears in the film. Well, maybe a little.

Extras: The five hours of bonus material includes full interviews with Coomer, Bragg, Jay’s mom, Janis; Deleted Scenes, Q&A with Directors, World Premiere Tribute Concert, and more (including something called “Ketchup, Ketchup, and More Ketchup,” which I obviously haven’t watched yet).

For more about Bennett, and this documentary, please check out my epic three part interview with Edward Burch: Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3.

More later…