Anodyne -- Uncle Tupelo (1994)

 


Uncle Tupelo was an alt country (I hate the term, but hard to find a better fitting one) band from East St. Louis, more or less the Land of my People, though I was born West of the Mississipi. 

Their brand of punk-infused country rock and trad-folk was highly influential in the early 90s, apparently setting off a sub-genre called by some "No Depression",  which was named after their debut album. 

Anodyne is their final album, made before singer/guitarist Jay Farrar left to form The Jayhawks, after which the rest of the band, led by singer/guitarist Jeff Tweedy, changed their name to Wilco and eventually went on to massive indie rock stardom. If that's not an oxymoron. Hell, even if it is.

I first heard of Uncle Tupelo from Michelle Shocked's folk/roots album Arkansas Traveller, which I highly recommend, even if she's a little nutty herself.

Anodyne saw the basic line up of Uncle Tupelo expanded from a trio to a quintet (with John Stirrat on Bass -- previously Jay and Jeff had both shared bass duties --new drummer Ken Coomer and multi-instrumentalist (fiddle, lap-steel dobro, banjo)  Max Johnston joining in) and augmented by Lloyd Maines on pedal steel guitar. Having all these extra hands on deck meant that the album could be recorded very quickly, in about two weeks: and, interestingly,  it was recorded live in the studio, and only first takes were used -- and there were no overdubs.  Kind of cool.

As for the songs, I think that Anodyne might possibly be Uncle Tupelo's finest album. (All of them are good.) Of course having two singer/songwriters is always going to be an uneasy thing and it's no surprise they broke up, but the contrast between Jay Farrar's country-rock swagger and Jeff Tweedy's bare emotionalism is a really nice one and they found a good balance here, though Jay dominates, as he usually did. 

Therés not really a bad song on this one and a couple that really stand out for me...I always though this one was cute: (Jeff on vocals) Acuff-Rose:


4.5/5

I first bought this on CD on a whim back in Denver in the mid-90s. The sound is pretty good. I don't recall anybody but me really being into Alt Country (how I hate that term) back in the 90s


Coming Up:

A.M. Wilco

A.T.O.M. - Carbon Silicon

ABBA - ABBA 

ABBA Gold: Greatest Hits

Abbey Road - The Beatles

Achtung, Baby! U2

Actually - Pet Shop Boys

Adult/Child- The Beach Boys

Aerosmith's Greatest Hits

After The Gold Rush - Neil Young

Afterglow - Crowded House

Aftermath (UK Version) - The Rolling Stones

Against The Odds: 1974-1982 Blondie (three disc version)

Aimee Mann Live at St. Ann's Warehouse

Aiming For Your Head - Betchadupa

The Album -- ABBA

The Album That Never Was - The Kinks

All Four One - The Motels

All Over the Place - The Bangles

All Summer Long -- The Beach Boys

All the Great Hits -- Diana Ross

All Things Must Pass -- George Harrison

All This Useless Beauty -- Elvis Costello & the Attractions

All-Time Greatest Hits - Neil Diamond

Alluvium -- Eddie Rayner

Almost Blue -- Elvis Costello & The Attractions

Almost Summer - Celebration

Alpha Mike Foxtrot -- Wilco*

The Alphabetchadupa - Betchadupa

Altitude - ALT

American Idiot Green Day*

American Prayer -- The Doors

Amnesiac Radiohead*

And I Feel Fine...The Best of the IRS years (1982-1987) - R.E.M.

Animals - Pink Floyd

Anodyne - Uncle Tupelo

Another Life - Another Life*

Another Music in Another Kitchen: The Buzzcocks*

Another Side of Bob Dylan - Bob Dylan

Anthology: Diana Ross & The Supremes

Anthology: Smokey Robinson & The Beatles

Anthology 1: The Beatles

Anthology 2: The Beatles

Anthology 3 The Beatles

Anthology: North South, East West - Tim Finn

Apple Venus: Volume One -- XTC

Apollo 18 - They Might Be Giants

The ArchAndroid: Janelle Monae

Are the Village Green Preservation Society -- The Kinks

Are Well-Respected Men - The Kinks

Armed Forces -Elvis Costello & The Attractions

Around the World in a Day - Prince

Arthur (or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire) - The Kinks

At My Piano - Brian Wilson

Autoamerican - Blondie

Automatic for the People - R.E.M.

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