Talkin' The Uncle Tupelo Blues!

09/25/09 2:17pm

by Chris Burland (CHARTattack)

Back in the old days of CHARTattack, the Charty Chart Chat featured yours truly talking about the music that met my fancy at the moment. This article originally was published March 13, 2002 when Sony Legacy were reissuing the complete Uncle Tupelo catalogue remastered with extra songs and added artwork.

Over the past 11-plus years, I’ve observed and participated in the growth of a musical genre that continues to bond and divide music critics. Before the explosion of electronic music, the musical genre labeled "country rock," "roots rock," "alt.country" and (my contribution back in '93) "High Lonesome" was the focal point of critical analysis by many music geeks and critics. We traced this resurgence of roots music to one single band, Uncle Tupelo. This trio of musicians from the St. Louis area became the focus of this critical movement that ironically peaked after this band had splintered into the two groups led by UT's two singer-songwriters — Jeff Tweedy (Wilco) and Jay Farrar (Son Volt).

The roots rock movement paved its way for the resurgence of American folk music that culminated with this year’s Best Album Grammy going to a re-recorded version of classic Stanley Brothers bluegrass material. This revisionist version of history is suspect for a number of reasons — most notably that Uncle Tupelo did not exist in a void in the early ‘90s. Groups like The Jayhawks, The Walkabouts, Eric Ampel, The Schramms, The Gear Daddies and many others were recording and playing live music with a similar mix of country-folk music with rock-punk energy.

So, not only was this musical style supported by more than one band, but there were many bands working the underground college radio circuit throughout the ‘80s that were keeping this musical form alive. Bands like Giant Sand, The Long Ryders, Green On Red, Thin White Rope and dozens of other American bands put out independent albums that received critical and fan support.

In Canada, Blue Rodeo, Jr. Gone Wild and Handsome Ned were providing us folks north of the border with country music that wasn't the Nudie Suits of ‘50s, drinkin' lovin' and hurtin' lyrics of the '60s and '70s or the decountrifying of Nashville by the Randy Travises and Reba McIntyres of the '80s.

Through I enjoyed Uncle Tupelo, originally discovering them when I was hosting a radio show at CFMU in Hamilton in 1991, I’ve also been bothered by the simplicity of music writers to tag the label of "seminal" on this one band. Uncle Tupelo released four albums in a four-year period before abruptly splitting up in May 1994.

The first three of the band's albums (originally released on the defunct Rockville Records) have been highly sought after by music afficienados and collectors over the past five years. Currently both LP and CD versions of No Depression (1990), Still Feel Gone (1991) and March 16-20, 1992 (1992) trade for more than $50 on ebay. There soon will be a cheaper and easier way to hear these albums. Over the next couple of months Sony will be releasing these albums each with rare bonus tracks, a remastering job and new photos.

Today, the Uncle Tupelo Anthology will be available as a precursor for what Sony hopes will be a resurgence of interest for this influential band. Uncle Tupelo's acclaim is justified and welcomed by this fan and I hope to speak about the chart success of the anthology in the coming months.

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