Jeff Tweedy

It's very infrequent that I borrow an (audio)book from the library and, upon finishing it, rush to buy a hard copy just so I can have such a beautiful thing on my shelves. This has been one of those times. Listening to Tweedy talk about these 50 songs is like the best radio show imaginable, mixing music criticism, broader philosophy, and personal anecdote deftly. (The songs themselves aren't there but the publisher did put out a playlist on at least one of the major streaming services.)

If you know who Jeff Tweedy (the leader of the Generation X band Wilco) is, or if you're of his generation and have perhaps mildly alternative tastes in music, you'll enjoy this book; otherwise, you might not. I'm close enough to his age and Midwestern origins that he and I share a lot of the growing-up-with-the-radio-and-record-stores references, so I liked this book quite a bit. Tweedy surprised me by being a disarmingly expert writer, effortlessly capturing a distinctive voice -- his -- show more and being charmingly self-deprecatory without being cloying about it. To tell the truth, he seems more evolved than I am. Certainly, if I were writing a book of 50 chapters about the songs that have ruled my life, I wouldn't have been able to wait until chapter 31 to talk about how much I loathe "I Will Always Love You." Tweedy does, and then he moves on, having gotten that out of his system, relatively sweetly. I wouldn't have been so sweet, nor would I have been able to stop there.

Like most good-hearted people who've been through the wringer (in his case, substance abuse) and come out the other side, Tweedy prefers to emphasize the positive. He seems to be a kind, broad-minded, and relatively humble man, and he can be extremely funny. (I read the first two pages of his chapter on the Band's "The Weight" to my wife, who loves the song, and she practically fell off the couch laughing.) I'm almost glad I've never met Tweedy, because he can't possibly be this good a companion in real life. I look forward to reading his other books. show less

Jeff Tweedy, the leader of the band Wilco, is an engaging and hilarious writer with a surprising amount of emotional intelligence and a distinctive authorial voice. This is his memoir of growing up in the benighted town of Belleville, Illinois, meeting his Uncle Tupelo bandmate Jay Farrar, leaving Uncle Tupelo to start his own band, and various Wilco-related shenanigans up to 2017, including getting addicted to painkillers and coming out clean (with the help of what sounds like a show more particularly terrifying in-patient rehab clinic).

Lots of laughing aloud from my wife and me as we read (me first, then her). It's an easy, quick, mildly illuminating read that I recommend to anyone who enjoys non-sensationalistic rock memoirs. show less

Jeff Tweedy is always a reassuring voice to me, whether as frontman for Wilco or as an author. His latest book brings together fifty songs that have had some impact on his life, whether as inspiration, a source of joy or amusement, or - in a couple of cases - songs he truly despises, but still was able to extract a life lesson from.

He's charming, self-effacing, and has a deep appreciation of music across many genres. In a year when Bob Dylan released a pretty epic book focusing on a similar show more expanse of songs, Tweedy takes the more straightfoward approach, speaking from a very personal place. Dylan is all about the myths, the storytelling, and layers of connective history. Tweedy simply shares his own experiences and opinions. There's a place for both, and Tweedy's authenticity is refreshing in an artistic landscape where snarkiness and negativity are too often weapons of choice. show less