Jay Bennett, R.I.P.

Jay Bennett, formerly of Wilco, was the alt-rock equivalent of Brian Jones: a temperamental cat who could pick up any instrument and play something brilliant on it.

Like Jones, Bennett was fired from the band he loved for personality and power struggle issues and replaced with a hotshot lead guitarist. Tragically, the parallels to Jones continued over the weekend as Bennett was found dead in his Illinois apartment at the age of 45. (The cause of death is currently unknown.)

Bennett, who shared songwriting and production duties with Wilco leader Jeff Tweedy from 1994-2001, played a major role in the band's evolution from their so-called "alt-country" sound towards something more experimental, chaotic and harder to classify.

As this clip from I Am Trying to Break Your Heart, the documentary about the making of Wilco's 2001 masterpiece Yankee Hotel Foxtrot shows, Bennett also bore an uncanny likeness to Phillip Seymour Hoffman.



Bennett was also on board for the creation of two of the greatest slices of Americana ever recorded: Mermaid Avenue, volumes 1 and 2, wherein Wilco and Billy Bragg took unfinished Woody Guthire lyrics and spun them into pure magic, like "California Stars." (That's Bennett on the Telecaster)


Sadly, Bennett, who was in need of hip replacement surgery and did not have adequate health coverage, recently sued Wilco for royalties he believed he was owed for the documentary and Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. The case was unsettled, but I guess it's settled now.

But rather than get mired in grief, let us remember the talent and exuberance that Bennett brought to some of the best music made in the last decade or so. R.I.P., Jay.