The 11 Best Rare Tracks By Wilco

One of the original points of this blog was to do a retrospective of a band leading up to their most recent release.  Only on a rare occassion would I include a new song, but mostly it was a guide to a band's material up until this point.  The only time, I side-stepped that rule was when a band would release their own retrospective.  Material on my list would naturally cross over with the tracklist of the release.  This is especially true in the case of Wilco.  Having heard 95% of these songs over the past two decades, there's nothing new to report except to chronicle the contents.  The retrospective is the retrospective.  A few songs didn't make it onto Wilco's 77-track rare songs LP but for the most part, this set is as exhaustive as they come. Here are the 11 Best Rare Tracks By Wilco:

1. Promising (Chelsea Walls Soundtrak)
2. Glad It's Over (Heroes Soundtrack)
3. Any Major Dude Will Tell You (Me, Myself, & Irene Soundtrack)
4. Panthers (A Ghost Is Born Deluxe Edition)
5. Bob Dylan's 49th Beard (Yankee Hotel Foxtrot Bonus CD)
6. One Hundred Years From Now (Return of the Grievous Angel)
7. Blasting Fonda (Outtasite)
8. Thirteen (Big Star, Small World)
9. True Love Will Find You In The End (Daniel Johnston Tribute)
10. Message From Mid-Bar (The Whole Love Bonus EP)
11. A Magazine Called Sunset (Yankee Hotel Foxtrot Bonus CD)

Buy Wilco's new Rare Tracks Set, Alpha Mike Foxtrot...now!     Don't forget to check out our blog's awesome new book The 111 Best Lists of the 2000s.  Available now!  (featuring Wilco)

The Unknown: Jeff Tweedy - Jesse Theme Song

It's amazing to think how many hidden musical treasures may be out there, burned to some cassette tape, buried in a box deep in someone's garage. When I went to UCLA, I know for a fact, someone working at the campus radio station recorded a mini-set by Nirvana. Has that ever surfaced? Sadly, no. How many concerts? How many demo tracks? How many radio sets will go lost to the fact that technology has just passed them by?

Well, I will not let that unjustice be lost on me. I have finally figured out how to transfer cassette tapes to MP3s. It's humorous that by taking a step forward, I'll need to take a big step back.

First up, Jeff Tweedy's lost theme song to the failed TV show Jesse. Back in 1998, Tweedy was asked to do a theme song to a show called "All My Life." This show was brought to you by the producers of the uber-hit Friends and starred Christina Applegate, David DeLuise, Bruno Campos. Tweedy cut two tracks for the show...but was ultimately too edgy for a show that was being pushed as Friends - Part 2. All My Life was renamed "Jesse." The Tories eventually did the theme song. And after two years, the show was canceled.

These two tracks are Tweedy's demos for the "possible" theme song. Take 1 is rougher quality and a bit harder to hear. This melody was eventually re-used on Tweedy's side project, Loose Fur, for the song "The Ruling Class." As far as I know, Take 2 has never been re-visited. Enjoy.


1. Jeff Tweedy - All My Life (Take 1)
2. Jeff Tweedy - All My Life (Take 2)