Twelve Reasons Jay Bennett Was Cool

05/25/09 12:21pm

by Steve McLean (CHARTattack)

Jay Bennett — a recording engineer, producer, singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who made news earlier this month when he sued former Wilco bandmate Jeff Tweedy — died in his sleep early Sunday morning in his home in Urbana, Ill. He was 45.

An autopsy will be held to determine the cause of death. But rather than dwell on the passing of this man, we here at CHARTattack want to celebrate the highlights of his life.

Without further ado, here are 12 reasons why Jay Bennett was cool:

1. Bennett was intelligent enough to graduate from the University Of Illinois At Urbana-Champaign with degrees in secondary education, mathematics and political studies.

2. Bennett was a member of Titanic Love Affair, an under-appreciated Illinois power-pop band that broke up after they released three records in the '90s, but inspired the making of the highest grossing film of all time. Don't quote me on that last part.

3. Bennett was working at a VCR repair shop when Tweedy enlisted him to join Wilco as a guitarist in 1994. VCRs were a very important part of a home entertainment system 15 years ago.

4. Bennett expanded Wilco's musical horizons after he joined the band, and was an important contributor to 1996's Being There, the two Mermaid Avenue albums with Billy Bragg and especially 1999's Summerteeth and 2002's Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. Many fans believe this was Wilco's peak period.

5. Bennett's often incendiary guitar-playing, with his dreadlocks flying around and a cigarette hanging out of his mouth, were a major part of Wilco's live appeal during that era.

6. Bennett was a musical whiz who could play almost any instrument, and he was also very adept on the other side of the recording booth. He named his Pieholden Suite Sound recording studio after "Pieholden Suite," a song from Summerteeth that he co-wrote with Tweedy.

7. Bennett recorded four solo albums after Tweedy kicked him out of Wilco. While they couldn't match the work he'd done with his previous band, they had their bright spots. The Palace At 4 A.M. is probably the best one to get if you're interested in checking out Bennett's solo work.

8. Bennett played on albums by Steve Forbert, Tommy Keene, Jim Cuddy, Allison Moorer, Sheryl Crow and David Vandervelde, among others.

9. Bennett lent his production talent to Toronto's Staggered Crossing on 2002's Last Summer When We Were Famous.

10. I had a beer with Bennett in the lobby bar of Toronto's Fairmont Royal York hotel during one of the Canadian Music Weeks earlier this decade. I don't remember much about the small talk conversation, but he seemed like a nice guy.

11. Bennett continued to make music despite severe hip pain caused by years of exuberant jumping on stage. He was awaiting hip replacement surgery and working on a new album titled Kicking At The Perfumed Air at the time of his passing.

12. A number of '80s bands from Champaign-Urbana — including The Outnumbered, Lonely Trailer, Cowboy X and Poster Children, as well as members of Titanic Love Affair and former Wilco member Leroy Bach — had come together to perform on Saturday and Sunday. It was hoped Bennett would appear, but he supposedly texted someone and said he wouldn't make it because he wasn't feeling well. When it was discovered he had passed away, the bands playing Sunday night dedicated their sets to him and asked people to toast his memory.

Bennett and Tweedy obviously weren't on good terms at the time of Bennett's death, but I'll leave you with this 1999 Austin City Limits performance of "California Stars" that ends with the two men hugging: