Enquiring minds want to know

With Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey, Britney and K-Fed, and Whitney and Bobby, you'd think pop music has the juicy gossip market cornered. But oh no, my friends. We got a little taste of it with the brief and bizarre courtship of Lindsay Lohan and Ryan Adams. And the less bizarre but still slightly scandalous pairing of Steve Earle and Allison Moorer. But while browsing the Internets yesterday, I came upon perhaps the be-all, end-all of Americana gossip.

What could possibly be so exciting in our quiet little corner of the music world? Only shocking revelations about the breakup of Uncle Tupelo, that's all.

I don't know how I missed this, but Relix magazine conducted an interview with The Glorious Jay Farrar in August 2005 in which Jay decided to come clean about the "real" reason, as he sees it, for the demise of Uncle Tupelo. Two disclaimers here, before I go on: First, I realize this is old news. Maybe so old as to be olde. The article ran, what, 10 months ago? And it was covered extensively in other music media, including Pitchfork and this month's Harp. So if you've already heard it, just shake your head at my lameness and move along. Secondly, I'm relying on the secondary coverage, as Relix does not seem to have this article on its online archive. But for the sake of delicious dish, my friends, bear with me.

OK, so according to Jay, the beginning of the end of UT was when Jay saw ol' Jeff Tweedy stroking the hair of a sleeping lady ...

... that lady being ... (wait for it)

...

...

... Jay's girlfriend (now wife).

Oh no he DIDN'T!

More badness ensued, and then it was all over.

Now for another disclaimer: It seems that no one (again, haven't read the Relix article itself, so I could be wrong) bothered to get Jeff Tweedy's response to that allegation, which is bad journalism, to put it mildly. So believe what you will, but here's how I've been working through all this: I'm listening intently to early Wilco and early Son Volt all over again, looking for signs. Because I'm weird like that.

And I could be fooling myself, but dammit, I hear things now. I hear Wilco's "Should've Been In Love" off "A.M.," with lyrics like, well, "We should've been in love." See? SEE???? And then in "Drown," could Jay Farrar be addressing the whole situation? I think maybe so. Of course, I have a vivid imagination.

The point of all this? I have no point. I just love juicy gossip. But I'll tell you one thing: Anything that sends me flying to the CD shelves to re-listen to old favorites from a new perspective is something way better than frivolous. It's fabulous, darling.