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the minus 5 - a brief compendium Scott
McCaughey. Charioteer, optometrist, master brewer, or corpse? The blatherers
rage on. What HAS been established is that “McCoy” is long addicted to
rock’n’roll and its various sidekicks, at great expense to family and
friends. To wit: Young Fresh Fellows (1983 to present) – songwriter, singer,
instrumentalist; The Minus 5 (1993 to present) – songwriter, singer,
instrumentalist; R.E.M. (1994 to present) – instrumentalist; Tuatara (1996
to present) – instrumentalist, songwriter
With these groups, Scott has made many records (best seller: 5 million;
worst seller: 450), and played many shows (highest attendance: 125,000;
lowest: 8). “McOi” is always available and enthusiastic when it comes to
these activities. In fact, there have been many other bands that have
“benefited” from Scott’s talents (first documented stage appearance: 1972,
with Vannevar Bush & His Differential Analyzers). A complete discography may
never exist, but for more information see Guy With A Pencil - McCaughey’s
Odyssey In Song (Dalkey Archive, Normal IL, 2002).
Thee Minus 5 itself started when McCaughey realized he had a dumptruck-load
of songs that the Young Fresh Fellows would either never get around to, or
would wisely choose not to. His friends and fellow Seattle-ites Peter Buck,
Ken Stringfellow and Jon Auer were quick to volunteer to help Scott capture
his “Let The Bad Times Roll” vision, and these early sessions produced The
Hello EP and Old Liquidator. Many other luminants have since joined the
ranks of the Minus 5 (see list below). It’s a bit like a cancer, really.
the minus 5 vs. wilco - historical background Uncle Tupelo opened for the
incredibly popular Young Fresh Fellows once at the Off Broadway in St.
Louis, 1988. There was an undeniable musical kinship between the bands
(since denied) despite the fact that Jeff was 14 and Scott was 40. Years
later other things happened. Peter Buck produced Uncle Tupelo’s beautiful
March 16-20, 1992 album. Every so often Scott and Jeff Tweedy would find
themselves at their wife’s house in Chicago, playing each other records and
new stuff their bands had recorded. On a night off on R.E.M.’s 1995 world
tour, Jeff learned a bunch of the songs off of Old Liquidator, and played a
set with Scott and Peter at the fabled and much-missed Lounge Ax. Somewhere
along the line Tweedy and McCaughey started talking about the desire to
record together, and they kept talking about it, though nobody listened.
After a Golden Smog show in Seattle, Jeff, Scott and Barrett Martin recorded
a new Minus 5 song "Childhood Lament" (which resides carelessly on the
unreleased Let The War Against Music Begin Vol. 2 album). Wilco toured with
R.E.M. in 1999. McCaughey regularly contributed moogerfooger banjo to
“Misunderstood.” Backstage in Munich came the Tweedy/McCaughey/Buck anthem:
“Lyrical Stance (I’ve Got A).” Later, in Toronto, Scott and Jeff penned “The
Family Gardener” and recorded a rough version of the song with Brian Paulson
in a Raleigh, NC Holiday Inn. In January 2000, a two-week celebration of
Lounge Ax (finally being evicted from its longtime home) brought Scott to
Chicago to perform a set of new material, with no rehearsal, and featuring
Wilco as the Minus 5. This set has been widely bootlegged. Ha!
great moments in the minus 5 Yes, there have been many, but this hardly
seems the time or the place to go into them.
great moments in scott mccaughey (in order) 1. SM weds singer/anthropologist
Christy McWilson April 27, 1980. That night they go to see Roy Loney & The
Phantom Movers at the Inn Of The Beginning in Cotati, CA. 1. October 1994
finds SM performing with R.E.M. on Saturday Night Live and consorting with
Bill Murray and Chevy Chase. In a fashion. Chase has a flask of whiskey in
suit pocket; McOi makes note of this. Later gives Chase unsolicited, in
depth, and quite favorable review of Cops And Robbersons. 3. Young Fresh
Fellows first concert, opening for Sun Ra at the Rainbow Tavern in Seattle
WA, Dec. 1983. SM buys mysterious vinyl album (which features Pharoah
Sanders) from Mr. Ra himself in dressing room. 3. School lunch “sermon”;
jail time. 4. March 2001 - M5 performance of “You Don’t Mean It” on Conan
O’Brien. 1. SM plays the vibraphone, with R.E.M., backing Neil Young on
“Ambulance Blues,” two nights running at the Bridge Concerts, Oct. 1999. 1.
Scott & Christy's children invent a real robot, Kyle. 1. T. Rex / Poco /
Doobie Brothers bill at Winterland, 1972. 2. YFF in-store at Tower Records
Shibuya Tokyo Japan. Members of Japanese band the Circus Posters attend,
perform private concert of YFF songs for SM. 2. 1998: SM writes magnum opus
“There Is No Music”, records both YFF and M5 versions, shitcans them both.
2. Young Fresh Fellows conquer Spain, like Cortez. Spanish insist on yearly
conquerings from 1992 to present. Occasional complying results. Callemacha =
red wine + Coca Cola. 3. SM and Mike Mills play keyboards on “Mindtrain”
with Yoko Ono at the Crocodile in Seattle, 1998. Yoko totally digs SM’s
scene. And vice versa. 11. March 2001 - M5 performance of “You Don’t Mean
It” on Conan O’Brien.
down with wilco - first person account abbreviated, by scott mccaughey “I am
driving by airports practicing retrieval of you.” With this message from
Jeff “Parfumery” Tweedy, I knew that I was finally headed to Chicago to
start working on a long-discussed collaboration with Jeff and his bandmates
in Wilco. And it was a heartfelt and nobel convergence as Jeff, John, Glenn,
Leroy and I submarined ourselves into SOMA Studio Chicago with grande
pianos, Mike Jorgensen, and free-cone resonance on Monday, Sept. 10, 2001.
The next day was not good though. With heavy hands and troubled minds,
sounds so still and confused were cordoned off that week onto whirring
reels. It seemed like all we could do. On Saturday all manner of cookery was
lasered from studio to Abbey Pub tabernacle and we foisted eight of the nine
songs we had managed to magnetize in the preceding blur of days. The new
Wilco then displayed its mighty bench press for the first time. The crowd
was tattered, thirsty, ready to be barked at for some precious hours of
musical release and friendship guzzling.
Two months later Ashleigh Banfield produced five or seven more tracks at
SOMA. She really did. Rebecca Gates planted a tree in the sidewalk. “The
Days Of Wine And Booze” was the last song. Jeff was slumbering in a bad
virus and wouldn’t let me leave without rolling the song up in the piano
carpet.
Back in Seattle, at a pile of logs in the Bastard District, regularge M5ers
jumped to interject. Indeed they could, handily, in the shapes of Peter
Buck, Minister of Tar, and Kenneth Stringfellow, Cautionary Extract. It was
hardly a surplus that Charlie Francis, Christy McWilson and Sean O’Hagan
would llama themselves in, reprising reprievious stints. People feel sorry
for me and will take an hour to cudgel me when asked.
On a stealthy and miserable Mission to London, I smuggled in an analog hard
drive. Charlie made sure the mixes were crenellated. By keeping Howlin’ Wolf
a prisoner in the car, driving by Abbey Road tabernacle every day, and
making the birds sing on cue, the whisky turned to stone so it would be
there always, like a Harry Nilsson demo.
One year later, you hold the frothy ale in your tankard. Or is that simply a
diagram of a cow, with #30 designating brisket?
recommended reading (complete the following novels to enjoy “down with
wilco” to its fullest) The Third Policeman – Flann O’Brien; Gargantua and
Pantagruel – Francois Rabelais (trans. Raffel); Ulysses – James Joyce;
Wittgenstein’s Mistress – David Markson; Cruddy – Lynda Barry
recommended listening (these should be listened to at all times, including
before, during, and after “down with wilco”): Bill Fay – Bill Fay / Time of
the Last Persecution; Howlin’ Wolf – Memphis Days; Nick Lowe – “Basing
Street”
recommended eating a soda cracker and a peanut
recommended drinking Guinness Stout, Single Malt Scotch Whisky (Lagavulin
$$$, or Bowmore $), Diet Coke, Red, Red Wine (Spanish Rioja), Anything
minus 5 discography ALBUMS/EPS Down With Wilco (Yep Roc 2003); The Minus 5
In Rock (Book Records 2000); Let The War Against Music Begin Vol. 2
(unreleased); Let The War Against Music Begin (Mammoth/Malt 2001); My
Chartreuse Opinion (re-issue of 1989 McCaughey LP, Malt/Hollywood 1997); The
Lonesome Death Of Buck McCoy (Malt/Hollywood 1997); Emperor Of The Bathroom
EP (East Side Digital 1995); Old Liquidator (Glitterhouse/East Side Digital
1995; Malt/Hollywood 1997); Hello EP (Hello Recording Club 1994)
SINGLES “A Thousand Years Away” b/w “Echos Myron”/”Wicked Annabella” 45
(Houston Party, Spain 2000)
TRACKS ON COMPILATIONS “I Still Miss Someone” (Love Is My Only Crime
compilation, Veracity, Germany 1994) “Power To The People” (Working Class
Hero compilation, Hollywood 1995) “Find A Finger” (Live At The Crocodile
compilation, PopLlama 1996) “The Vulture #4” (The Big Choice compilation,
Bands We Like 1997) “People Say” (Songs of Ellie Greenwich & Jeff Barry
compilation, PolyGram 1997) “Government Center” (An Evening In Edenbrook
Forest compilation, Book 1997) “Doodle” (More Oar: A Tribute To The Skip
Spence Album, Birdman 1999) “Find A Finger” (Houston Party Compilation Vol.
1, Houston Party, Spa in 1999) “Ghost Tarts Of Stockholm” (Hit The Hay Vol.
3, Sound Asleep, Sweden 1999) “The Great Divider” (Sir Jeffrey Pumpernickel
compilation, Off 2001) “Dear Friend” (Listen To What The Man Said - Paul
McCartney Tribute compilation, Oglio 2001) “Wicked Annabella” “Give The
People What They Want”(Songs of the Kinks, Burn Burn Burn/SubPop 2001) “High
School” / “How Many Bones” (The World of Dr. Illteams compilation, Book
2001) “Get Back In Line” “This Is Where I Belong” (Songs of Ray Davies & The
Kinks, Praxis/Ryko 2002)
future scheduled minus 5 releases on yep roc:
The Minus 5 At The Organ; Big City Dick - Original Soundtrack; Re:
Percussions; Satan’s Sublet; Out Of The Plangedragon And Into The Vespagne
(2-CD); Duets Featuring Leroy Jenkins, Joanne Castle, June Tabor, Robert
Lloyd, Perry Robinson, Mark Eitzel, John Gilmore, Rose Maddox, Beaver &
Krause, Ben Gibbard, David S. Ware, and Rusty Young; Orphan Of The Carnival
- The Songs Of Jimmy Silva; The Minus 5 At The Autoharp; Welcome To The
Dollhouse & Other Favorite Movie Themes; Snug Harbors; The Minus 5 & 96
Strings; Tiger Butter (Instrumentals For Listening); Buck McCoy And The
Cauldron Of Pus; Dangerous Chords Ahead; The Minus 5 Live At The Bitter End
(Live). |