Let's Go (So We Can Get Back)

October 22, 2018
Alt-rock star Tweedy tells of his musical ascent in this sincere, affable memoir. Growing up in a small crumbling downstate Illinois town “where everybody knows who’s cheating on who, and who’s been out of work,” Tweedy discovered music by following 1980s underground pioneers such as the Minutemen (“Punk rock was an exotic event happening somewhere else in the world”), haunting record stores, and finding like-minded neighbors such as future Uncle Tupelo bandmate Jay Farrar. Uncle Tupelo formed in 1987, but after seven years, Tweedy and the alt-country band split ways in, as Tweedy describes it, a passive-aggressively acrimonious way. Tweedy started Wilco in 1994 and eventually released 10 records, including Mermaid Avenue, a collection of Woody Guthrie songs that the band recorded with Billy Bragg. Throughout, Tweedy writes about his wife, Susie Miller (a Chicago club booker when they met), and touches on his struggle with anxiety and his addiction to Vicodin (it allowed him to write “and not fall into a heap on the floor in a fit of weeping and panic”). Tweedy will delight fans by sharing such tidbits as his favorite moment in the Wilco documentary and how a Noah’s Ark analogy powered the Grammy-winning A Ghost Is Born album. Tweedy tells a wonderfully unassuming story of a music-filled life.

November 1, 2018
The frontman of Wilco on vulnerability, creativity, and taking the long cut.Tweedy (Adult Head, 2004) would like to avoid the usual trappings of the rock memoir: stories of sexual exploits, drug use, and endless road tours. Of course, these elements are present in his memoir, just not in the manner one might expect. The author, lead singer of the American rock band Wilco and founding member of alt-country group Uncle Tupelo, actively demythologizes the rock-'n'-roll hero. Instead of painting a self-indulgent portrait of bravado, unflagging charisma, and innate musical talent, Tweedy relates tales of social awkwardness and panic attacks overcome by hard work and an encyclopedic knowledge of rock history. The author lays claim to vulnerability as his defining artistic trait, a characteristic that fuels an intense openness to emotions, musical influences, and artistic relationships. Fans will appreciate early sections recounting the search for obscure albums and the necessity of playing dilapidated venues. Tweedy also details productive yet embattled relationships with the two Jays, fellow band mates Jay Farrar and Jay Bennett. Some of the most powerful sections cover Tweedy's lapse into, and recovery from, opioid addiction. Jettisoning the hackneyed image of the womanizing rock star, the author also recounts an anguished story about a sexual encounter with an older woman when he was 14. Taken as a whole, the memoir provides lessons in making art from a person who needed to create in order to combat loneliness and despair. At times, the writing meanders, though this could equally be described as the book's changing tempo, as it alternates between plot-driven sections and more ruminative pieces. The introduction, moreover, is discordantly jokey. Sincerity is what bolsters this book. Tweedy writes movingly about his parents, his wife and children, and his desire to find an artistic home for his band.Thoughtful, earnest reflections on family, creative integrity, and a life in music.

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Starred review from November 15, 2018

Tweedy (b. 1967), cofounder of the band Uncle Tupelo and leader of Wilco, has written a memoir every bit as openhearted and captivating as his best songwriting. He states at one point that he imagines the reader sitting across from him, much as he's written many of his songs; that directness sets his book apart. It doesn't hurt that Tweedy has a great way with an anecdote or that he is a master of self-deprecation. Readers who have lived through one too many tales of humble beginnings, struggle, success, drug addiction, band breakups, rehab, and glorious rebirth might be tempted to give this a pass. They shouldn't. Even the most difficult events in this page-turner are edged with humor and the hindsight of someone looking back from a better place. VERDICT Though stories of contemporary musicians occupy a crowded field, this one's a cut above the rest. Tweedy proves himself delightful company, and, as with his music, readers will hear this resonating long after they've finished.--Bill Baars, formerly of Lake Oswego P.L., OR

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