Editing Wilco (section)

===Formation, ''A.M.'', and ''Being There'' (1994–1996)===
{{Main|Uncle Tupelo}}
Wilco was formed following the breakup of the influential alternative country music group [[Uncle Tupelo]]. Singer [[Jay Farrar]] quit the band in 1994 because of a soured relationship with co-singer [[Jeff Tweedy]].<ref>{{cite news|last=Blackstock|first=Peter|url=http://www.nodepression.net/issues/nd01/sonvolt.html|title=Jay Farrar Traces a Path Away from Uncle Tupelo|work=[[No Depression (periodical)|No Depression]]|date=Fall 1995|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070928002617/http://www.nodepression.net/issues/nd01/sonvolt.html |archive-date = September 28, 2007|url-status=dead}} Last accessed July 9, 2007.</ref> Both Tweedy and Farrar immediately sought to form bands after the breakup, with Farrar organizing [[Son Volt]]. Tweedy's new band included all current members of Uncle Tupelo lineup sans Farrar, including [[bassist]] John Stirratt, [[drummer]] [[Ken Coomer]], and multi-instrumentalist [[Max Johnston (musician)|Max Johnston]]. He even enlisted Uncle Tupelo guest guitarist [[Brian Henneman]] of [[the Bottle Rockets]] to perform, who appears on many of the tracks for Wilco's debut album, ''[[A.M. (Wilco album)|A.M.]]''.<ref name="undertowmusic.com">{{Cite web|url=http://www.undertowmusic.com/messageboards/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=3926&p=26462#p26462|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20081220011754/http://www.undertowmusic.com/messageboards/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=3926&p=26462#p26462|url-status=dead|title=Undertownmusic.com|archive-date=December 20, 2008}}</ref> The group considered retaining the Uncle Tupelo name<ref>{{cite news|last=Sheridan|first=Phil|title=Roger, Wilco|work=[[Magnet (magazine)|Magnet]]|date=February 1995}}</ref> but decided to call themselves "Wilco" after the [[Military and commercial aviation radio voice acronym|military and commercial aviation radio voice abbreviation]] for "will comply",<ref name="Kot 2004">Kot 2004. p. 89</ref> a choice which Tweedy has said is "fairly ironic for a rock band to name themselves."<ref name="CBS News Sunday Morning">Cynthia Bowers (August 23, 2009). "A Summer Song", [[CBS News Sunday Morning]]</ref>

After collaborating with [[Syd Straw]] on a cover version of the [[Ernest Tubb]] song "The T.B. is Whipping Me" (released in September 1994 on the ''[[Red Hot + Country]]'' compilation produced by the [[Red Hot Organization]]), Wilco began [https://web.archive.org/web/20081220011754/http://www.undertowmusic.com/messageboards/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=3926&p=26462#p26462 recording tracks] for ''[[A.M. (Wilco album)|A.M.]]'', their first studio album, at Easley studio in June 1994.<ref name="undertowmusic.com"/><ref name="Kot 2004"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Dawne|first=Vanessa|title=Wilco (interview)|publisher=Pop Culture Press|year=1995}}</ref> A demo tape from the recordings was sent to executives at [[Reprise Records]], a subsidiary of [[Warner Brothers]], and the label signed Tweedy to a contract. Although Tweedy said that he wanted a more collaborative project than Uncle Tupelo, only his name appeared on the Reprise contract.<ref name="Kot1">Kot 2004. p. 92</ref> Tweedy requested songwriting submissions from other members, but only one submission—John Stirratt's "It's Just That Simple"—appeared on ''A.M.''. It was the last song Wilco ever released that was lyrically solely written by a member besides Tweedy.<ref name="Kot1"/>

Stylistically similar to Uncle Tupelo, the music on ''A.M.'' was considered to be straightforward alternative country rock in what Tweedy later described as "trying to tread some water with a perceived audience."<ref>{{cite news|last=Cameron|first=Keith|title=Last Twang in Town|publisher=Vox|date=May 1997}}</ref> ''A.M.'' peaked at number twenty-seven on the ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'' [[Top Heatseekers|Heatseekers]] chart, considerably lower than the debut album of Jay Farrar's new band, [[Son Volt]].<ref>{{cite magazine|title=Heatseekers|magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]|date=April 15, 1995}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|title=The ''Billboard'' 200|magazine=Billboard|date=October 7, 1995}}</ref> The album was met with modest reviews though it would rank thirty-fourth in the ''[[Village Voice]]'''s 1995 [[Pazz & Jop]] critics poll.<ref>{{cite magazine|last=George-Warren|first=Holly|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-album-reviews/a-m-187587/|title=Wilco: ''A.M.'' (review)|magazine=Rolling Stone|date=February 2, 1998|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071001064351/http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/wilco/albums/album/230153/review/5942185/am |archive-date = October 1, 2007|access-date=December 6, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Deming |first=Mark |url={{AllMusic|class=album|id=am-mw0000124792#review|pure_url=yes}} |title=''A.M.'' Review |website=[[AllMusic]] |access-date=September 15, 2024}} {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120603035928/http://www.allmusic.com/album/am-mw0000124792 |title=Original review by Stephen Tomas Erlewine |date=June 3, 2012}}.</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/pnj/pjres95.php|title=The 1995 Pazz & Jop Critics Poll|newspaper=[[The Village Voice]]}} Last accessed July 11, 2007.</ref> Critically and commercially paling in comparison to the reception of Son Volt's album, the Wilco members perceived ''A.M.'' to be a failure.<ref>Kot 2004. p. 97</ref> Shortly after the release of the album, [[multi-instrumentalist]] [[Jay Bennett]] joined the band, providing the band with a [[Keyboard instrument|keyboardist]] and another guitarist.

{{Listen|filename=I Must Be High.ogg|title="I Must Be High"|description=Sample from "I Must Be High", the first track from ''A.M.''. The song is an example of the straightforward alternative country music described by Tweedy as "trying to tread some water with a perceived audience."|format=[[Ogg]]}}

Wilco made its live debut on November 17, 1994 to a capacity crowd at Cicero's Basement Bar in [[St. Louis]], [[Missouri]] (the band was billed for the occasion as "[[Black Shampoo]]").<ref>{{cite news|last=Kuelker|first=Michael|title=New Wilco Satisfies Tupelo Fans|publisher=St. Louis Dispatch|date=November 19, 1994}} Last accessed September 2, 2007.</ref> During the two hundred-date tour supporting ''A.M.'', Tweedy began to write songs for a second album. The lyrical theme of the songs reflected a relationship between musical artist and a listener; Tweedy chose this topic because he sought to eschew the alternative country fan base. Ken Coomer elaborated:<ref>Kot 2004. p. 110–1</ref>

<blockquote>The whole ''[[No Depression (periodical)|No Depression]]'' thing was funny to us because people seemed to forget that Jeff was a bigger punk-rock fan than a country fan. It led to things like us all switching instruments on "Misunderstood," where I'm playing guitar.</blockquote>

Wilco recorded a number of songs with this theme, including "Sunken Treasure" and "Hotel Arizona."<ref>Kot 2004. p. 112</ref> Wilco also recorded a number of songs in the style of ''A.M.''<ref name="ND">{{cite news|last=Blackstock|first=Peter|url=http://www.nodepression.net/issues/nd05/wilco.html|title=Being There, Doing That|publisher=No Depression|date=September 1996|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070507025218/http://www.nodepression.net/issues/nd05/wilco.html |archive-date = May 7, 2007|url-status=dead}} Last accessed July 11, 2007.</ref> Wilco named the album ''[[Being There (Wilco album)|Being There]]'' after a [[Peter Sellers]] [[Being There|film of the same name]]. The band went through some personnel changes during the recording sessions. Max Johnston left the band because he felt that his role in the band had diminished in favor of Bennett; he had also been replaced by violinist Jesse Greene on one track because the band felt that Johnston was unable to play the part. Bob Egan of [[Freakwater]] briefly joined the band in the studio, playing [[pedal steel guitar]] on "Far, Far Away" and "Dreamer in My Dreams", and then became an official member in September 1996.<ref>Kot 2004. p. 115</ref><ref>Kot 2004. p. 119</ref>

Unlike the ''A.M.'' recording sessions, the band had no desire to produce a hit song from their second effort.<ref>Kot 2004. p. 114</ref> The recording sessions produced nineteen songs, too many for a single album release. Tweedy was concerned about the high retail price that a [[double album]] would be sold for (at least $30), so he asked Reprise Records to release it as a double album at a single album price ($17.98 or less). Reprise agreed to this on the terms that they received Wilco's share of the album royalties. It was estimated in 2003 that the band lost almost $600,000 on the deal, but Tweedy was satisfied.<ref>Kot 2004. p. 116</ref> ''Being There'' was well received by critics from several major media outlets, including ''[[Rolling Stone]]''.<ref name="ND"/><ref>{{cite web |last=Deming |first=Mark |url={{AllMusic|class=album|id=being-there-mw0000613155#review|pure_url=yes}} |title=''Being There'' Review |website=[[AllMusic]] |access-date=September 15, 2024}} {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110325044108/http://www.allmusic.com/album/being-there-r241294/review |title=Original review by Jason Ankeny |date=March 25, 2011}}.</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|last=Kot|first=Greg|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-album-reviews/being-there-203447/|title=Being There |magazine=Rolling Stone|date=October 24, 1996|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070619094452/http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/wilco/albums/album/240156/review/5946124/being_there |archive-date = June 19, 2007|access-date=December 6, 2021}}</ref> The album reached No. 73 on the ''Billboard'' album charts,<ref>{{cite magazine|title=The ''Billboard'' 200|magazine=Billboard|date=November 16, 1996}}</ref> a significant improvement from ''A.M.'', and placed fourteenth on the Pazz & Jop Critics Poll for 1996.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/pnj/pjres96.php|title=The 1996 Pazz & Jop Critics Poll|newspaper=The Village Voice}} Last accessed July 11, 2007.</ref> The album's single "Outtasite (Outta Mind)" became the group's first song to enter the ''Billboard'' charts, reaching No. 39 on the [[Alternative Songs|Modern Rock Tracks]] chart and No. 22 on the [[Mainstream Rock (chart)|Mainstream Rock Tracks]] chart.<ref>{{cite web |title=Wilco Awards |url={{AllMusic|class=artist|id=wilco-mn0000254215#awards|pure_url=yes}} |website=[[AllMusic]] |access-date=September 15, 2024}}</ref>