Jay Bennett dead at 45

Not sure if this is a D_B, but former Wilco member Jay Bennett has died.

Knew he was having a rough time, hope he didn't do it to himself. I was reding an article about him after he was kicked out of Wilco, and his life just completely went in the crapper.

Shame, such a talented guy. Sorry for his family.

http://blogs.suntimes.com/derogatis/2009/05/jay_bennett_dead_at_age_45.html

 

Wow. That really, really sucks. Whatever you think of his bickering with Tweedy, he was a huge part of what is essentially my favorite album of all time. Fucking awful.

 

There is a scene in "I Am Trying To Break Your Heart" -- the fascinating documentary about the making of Yankee Hotel Foxtrot -- in which the camera focuses on Bennett walking off the stage, looking over his left shoulder, waving good-bye, and the shot is frozen on the screen. This was the first image that came to mind when I saw the thread title. And, knowing what we now do about what happened to him after the breakup, I can't help but wonder if that was the last time we really saw Jay Bennett.

Sad, sad story. RIP.

 

You know, he came through my town a few years back with some new songs and played a concert that, unfortunately, was very lightly-attended.

Didn't know the guy, but I heard a couple of his songs post-Wilco and they were pretty good. Probably should have found a way to get out of work and see his show.

I recall the local alt-weekly doing an interview, and of course he got all pissed off when the writer brought up the battles he had with Jeff during the making of YHF.

Yes, it's a very sad story ... the worst part to me is that he never could get past what happened between him and Jeff, and just be proud of his significant contributions to a couple of great, great albums like YHF and Summerteeth.

RIP, Jay Bennett.

 

hey, i should coco ... not sure this is true ... people who spent time with jay the last few years said he never once had a mean word to say about tweedy or wilco or anybody in the band, that he just loved making music and had moved on from that period.

very sad story. love the guy's solo work.

 

W-T-D: I hope what you heard about Jay is true. As you say, a great musician whose health gave out on him much to soon.