Jay Bennett (1963 - 2009)

Advertisement for the Philadelphia Bulletin by Richard Decker, 1949

Songwriter and musician Jay Bennett died yesterday at the age of 45. His passing came much too soon - in recent months, he was working on securing the money to pay for a much-needed hip surgery and was not in good health. Like many musicians, Bennett didn't have great insurance coverage and had suffered the crippling pain of serious hip problems for years without receiving help. His cause of death is not currently known - he passed away in his sleep yesterday - but it is unfortunate that he was not able to get the health care he needed in recent years.

I'll admit that I haven't followed Jay Bennett's musical career lately, but there was a time when his songwriting was immensely important to me. He was heavily involved in Wilco during the period when they were my favorite band and he contributed extensively to the albums Being There, Summerteeth, and Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. Summerteeth will always be my favorite Wilco album, and Bennett's fingerprints were all over that one. He has a co-writing credit on almost every song, and he reportedly took control of the production and recording from the other band-members. His bandmates resented this treatment, and this was part of what led to Bennett's dramatic exeunt from Wilco, but I can't argue with the results. Summerteeth has a dense and rewarding pop sound that was largely the brainchild of Bennett himself.

Unfortunately, it is his "firing" by Jeff Tweedy that Bennett is best known for. During the dramatic creation process and record label drama of Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, Tweedy and Bennett had a falling out, some of which was captured on film in the documentary I Am Trying to Break Your Heart. At the time, I'll admit that I sided with Tweedy based on the footage in the film, but I acknowledge that Bennett's side was never completely represented. His subsequent discussion of Wilco in the press sounded like bitter grapes, like feeling the need to detail how much work he had personally done on YHF to the website Glorious Noise. He recently sued Tweedy over the documentary and writing royalties, but, in retrospect, these might have been "last resort" actions from someone who badly needed funding for medical treatment.

I need to go back and listen to Bennett's work with Wilco and maybe listen to some of his recent solo work and the pre-Wilco stuff with the power-pop band Titanic Love Affair. After YHF came out, I wanted to get my hands on the demos, so I could have a more stripped-down song-oriented version of the album. Luckily, the demos were available through file-sharing, and I found several YHF outtakes that were as good as anything on the album itself. These included a haunting Bennett-written number called "Venus Stops the Train". Today, I hope Wilco fans can set aside any past feelings about Jay Bennett and remember the excellent contributions he made to a favorite band.

"Venus Stops the Train" by Wilco