The former Wilco guitarist and Titanic Love Affair founding member passed away in his sleep Saturday night. Bennett was a key contributor to the first half of Wilco’s discography, and his contentious relationship with frontman Jeff Tweedy was famously chronicled in the film I Am Trying to Break Your Heart. A few weeks ago Bennett blogged that he was looking forward to completing another solo album Kicking At The Perfumed Air while recovering from an imminent hip replacement surgery, which he could no longer postpone despite being uninsured. Tweedy released this statement today: “We are all deeply saddened by this tragedy. We will miss Jay as we remember him — as a truly unique and gifted human being and one who made welcome and significant contributions to the band’s songs and evolution. Our thoughts go out to his family and friends in this very difficult time.” You can read more on the musician’s career at Chicago Sun-Times.
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This was really awful news to wake up to this morning.
Such a huge loss, what an incredibly gifted and brilliant musician. I still can’t believe how sudden this was.
Seems highly suspect that just a short time ago Jay sues Jeff Tweedy and now he winds up dead. Seems like a clear cut case to me. Jeff Tweedy is a murderer.
obviously thats motive for murder.
get your head out your ass, a man is dead. show some respect.
Come on, can you go at least one day before joking about his death? It doesn’t matter what you or anyone else thought of his personality, the guy was a fantastic musician, and from what I’ve read a really great guy.
Grow the fuck up.
I remember checking out the Summerteeth cassette from my library (they didn’t have the CD) and listening to it every Sunday one Florida summer. I had to go into my sister’s room for the only cassette player in the house, so it was sort of a ritual. I could never figure out which side I was one because of the “hidden” Shot In the Arm reprise. Anyway, sorry if you were expecting a story. Summerteeth was a huge part of my childhood, and probably a lot of others’ too. Thanks for the tunes Jay!
Son of a bitch. This is really a sad day. Jay might have had his troubles with the band but he was sure as hell an amazing musician who contributed so much to their records. I hope he is at peace somewhere now. Thanks for the music Jay! RIP
wilco with jay > wilco without jay
unnecessary
world with jay > world without jay
whatever you think of wilco or jay, its hard to argue that he wasn’t the only thing keeping wilco from being an entirely Jeff Tweedy adventure. Tweedy is great, but I’m not sure anyone in the band right now is pushing him in the ways Jay did. This has no small part in Wilco’s uneven output since YHF.
That’s really upsetting. He was a very talented musician. Why him and not Grizzly Bear?
Has Grizzly Bear entered the realm of, “Oh shit. Getting popular. Must get the fuck out of dodge now before my hipster card is taken away from me” already? Wow. Good for them.
Because you eat your mom out every night.
this is very sad. i always felt like jay got the short end of the stick during his stint with wilco. he was a great musician and in my opinion irreplaceable.
going to play ‘summerteeth’ in his honor. though i’m a some what new wilco fan, it is fair to say that i appreciate the early wilco records as much as the next guy. a sad story indeed…
Pretty good interview that was done with him this past December at http://myoldkyhome.blogspot.com/2008/12/my-old-kentucky-blog-2008-holiday_24.html
The last Q/A is pretty is pretty relevent under the current circumstances…also, there is a link to his last album that he gave away for free.
r.i.p jay, you were the best
I knew Jay through my good friend David Vandervelde, who lived and worked at Jay’s Chicago studio (Pieholden) for many years after leaving Wilco. Me and Dave spent a lot of time with Jay, playing and recording with him and just hanging out in general. We worked on a lot of David’s music and a lot of Jay’s too… Man, I cannot express enough what an enormous inspiration Jay was to me! His work with Wilco was amazing (obviously) and his post-Wilco albums created some powerful and beautiful results as well. Jay was the best sort of friend you could possibly have. He was an incredibly smart and sensitive individual who knew sooo much about music, recording, writing, and countless other things. His advice, friendship, and wisdom is something I will always cherish. He is certainly gone too soon. Jay, you own it dude. I love you.
This is fucking lame.
Very sad news. My heart goes out to his family.
what a sad ending to such a talented musician’s life. Didn’t know him as a person, but either way, it’s way too soon, andvery sad.
Wilco will love you baby. RIP Jay (The Heart and Soul of Early Wilco)
Does anyone know if Tweedy mentioned Bennett’s passing during last night’s Malaga, Spain, show?
Apparently at the start of the show Jeff said it was “a sad day in Wilco camp” and said the band wanted to send its prayers out of Jay’s friends and family and take time to remember “our fallen comrade and fellow traveler.” For the encore he also dedicated the song Monday to Jay.
45 is very young for someone to go. It sucks to see such a talented person go at such an early age. I’ve been listening to Yankee Hotel Foxtrot all day long knowing it would’ve never sound the same without him.
Jay, thanks for the music you gave us.
That’s just so unfortunate news to hear. It’s rather strange that I was also assembling a Wilco mix for my car stereo just the other day. Too bad Jay and Jeff never got to mend fences after the acrimonious split too. You will be missed.
I pretty much stopped listening to Wilco after Jay left the band. I just am not into the direction that they went. To be honest, they bore me.
That’s a shame actually. While I understand Jay’s massive contributions, you should re-listen to A Ghost is Born again. It takes a few listens to get into, but really does fit in well with YHF, Summerteeth and Being There. As for the last record….that’s a whole other story
Condolence to the family and friends
You people are a bunch of fucking retards. Yes, its sad to hear that someone you once listened to died… but quit the shit about ‘my heart goes out to his family’ and ‘jay, you were my heart’ or whatever the fuck you’ve said or are contemplating saying. He didn’t know you, he wouldn’t care if you died, his family don’t know you and don’t want your condolences, they don’t want your annoying god-damned heart, and they certainly don’t read the fucking comment section of a post on Stereogum. Stop acting like a load of twats. If you really feel the need to express your grief, get a RIP JAY shirt printed on an oversized white t-shirt and walk down Main Street pouring out a bottle of fucking Crystal.
Just read the bullshit you took the time to type. You got big time issues.
So did you not celebrate memorial day because those who died in military service “didn’t know you” and “wouldn’t care if you died”? Or is it just Jay Bennett whose behalf you’re speaking on?
Cheap shot for the most hated comment of the year award. Let us not give him any more of the (negative) attention this person is after. And Stereogum, maybe those year-end awards are not such a good idea, since they encourage this kind of vermin.
+1
Wow. This is terrible. I will say that I have recently had a new respect for his music as the Jay Bennett Wilco is so much better than the Bennettless Wilco. Wow. This is very Sad.
Damn, I just found out about this today and am bumming the hardest. Jay was a large part of some of my fav. albums ever (see: Summer Teeth), and his talent will be missed.
Also, shame on the commentators who trounce on his memory so soon, just because you have the anonymity of the internet doesn’t mean you HAVE to be a d-bag, and it doesn’t mean karma doesn’t believe in type, I’m just saying…
For those interested, you can download his 2008 album, “Whatever Happened I Apologize” for free below. R.I.P. Jay, may your family and friends keep your memory well & alive.
– http://rockproper.com/jay-bennett/whatever-happened-i-apologize.html
jeff tweedy looks like a murderer to me. im just saying.
the reason all these losers are trouncing him is because let’s face it, he wasn’t shown in the greatest light in the wilco documentary and they are all mindless sheep. that being said, it’s a sad day- you peeps need to stop overlooking the fact that jay was a major contributing force behind wilco as a “band”.
-Is there a spanish writing person who may read stereogum besides me? (Escriban!!)
La muerte es algo muy seguro en el ser humano, mas sin embargo, pega fuerte cuando menos la esperas.
Yo empece a escuchar al Wilco post-Bennet. Tengo todos los discos apartir de Yanquee… y la verdad el Wilco de Tweddy me encanta.
Hoy mismo voy a comprar al Wilco de Bennet y uno que otro de su solo projecct.
RIP Jay Bennet
alex montoya
Houston, TX
**Sorry for my spanish. Is the best way to expres this isue without miistaks on my writing..
First of all you don’t”celebrate” memorial day. Second of all, are you really thinking about what u are saying? I don’t think you get the point of the original post.Death is sad, we know that, you don’t need to go about bleeding your heart out all over a stereo gum so as to prove how much you cared about somebody whom you most likely never met. How shallow can you possibly be? Appreciate the music he created, but dont pretend like it some personal heartache beyond the fact the you liked the way he played a certain instrument and that a human died. Its fucking self righteous and obnoxious.
From Wikipedia.com
“Self-righteousness is a feeling of smug moral superiority derived from a sense that one’s beliefs, actions, or affiliations are of greater virtue than those of the average person.”
If anyone is acting self-righteous – it’s you. We are just extending our thoughts and prayers to his family, while you ridicule us.
Also from Wikipedia.com
“In addition to remembrance, Memorial Day is also used as a time for picnics, barbecues, family gatherings, and sporting events. One of the longest-standing traditions is the running of the Indianapolis 500, which has been held in conjunction with Memorial Day since 1911.”
Sounds like an awful lot of people celebrating to me.
to me, self-righteousness is trying to prove a point by copy/pasting wikipedia entries on the comment thread of of a blog post about a recently deceased musician, simply to cut someone else down…i agree that the guy was wrong, but he was already twice removed from the entire conversation. let’s just learn to let dumb shit like this slide for once.
…just saying.
that said, i can’t imagine what jeff, john, glenn, and all the ex-wilcos are going through. sad day.
i think it took a lot for jay to finally come to peace with the way he was portrayed in the film
and instead of choosing to fight it he moved on whether the internet liked it or not
yankee hotel foxtrot was an immeasurable influence on my life
thanks jay
leroy you’re somewhere out there too man, we’ll keep you in our thoughts during this tough time
seriously, jeff tweedy fucking killed him. look into those icy cold snake eyes and tell me he doesnt look like a murderer.