Happy 50th Birthday, Jeff Tweedy!

In honor of his 50th birthday, we have compiled 5 things we like and/or admire about Jeff Tweedy.

5. Sue Miller, talent booker/club owner Lounge Ax

From the time I arrived in this fair city in 1986, Sue Miller has been either a behind-the-scenes cheerleader/tastemaker or a vocal defender of Chicago's diverse indie scene. For the past 30 years, in one role or another, she has been a constant force on the Chicago music scene.

4. Ken Coomer, drummer Uncle Tupelo/Wilco

As a drummer, this writer can totally respect Coomer's embrace of spontaneity, flat-out refusing to play any song the same way twice, but as a band leader, recording engineer, producer or bandmate, that's probably annoying as hell. He, of course, played on Summerteeth, which is all that truly matters, at the end of the day.

3. Jay Bennett, multi-instrumentalist Wilco

This writer will never forget the part I remember about cutting my first solo record down in Champaign-Urbana, IL in the summer of '87. You'd have thought The Replacements and Soul Asylum were local boys judging from the number of C-U bands openly aping their sound and aesthetic. Two bands with seemingly interchangeable line-ups - the Bowery Boys and Titanic Love Affair - were both card-carrying members of the Paul Westerberg and/or Dave Pirner Admiraton Society and the subject of much chatter on the city's burgeoning local scene.

The Bowery Boys sputtered to a halt while Titanic Love Affair continued to fight the good fight until inking a deal with short-lived U.S. imprint of Charisma Records four long years later. At the time, I remember being impressed with Jay Bennett's musical prowess, but saw in him the same "gentle soul with a weak chin" that I saw in Bob Stinson.

Seeing him hitch a ride on the Wilco wagon made a lot of sense if Tweedy used him right. Eventually, he did and the two of them recorded what remains one of the most beautiful albums this writer's ever heard, Summerteeth.

2. Tony Margherita, Manager 
Behind every great act is a great manager who made it happen. Would any of us be talking about Tweedy today if he hadn't had the good fortune to cross paths with Tony Margherita in a St. Louis record store? This writer says, without question, "No". To put it simply, Margherita is to Tweedy what Epstein was to the Beatles.

1. Sue Miller

Okay, sure, we already listed her, but, truth be told, mentioning her twice still doesn't come close to just how much of a positive force Miller has been, regardless of the fact that the iconic club she pushed into prominence beginning in 1989, Lounge Ax, closed its doors seventeen years ago.

Prior to Lounge Ax, Miller had booked bands at West End and Cubby Bear at a time when Chicago was about as far off the map to major labels as any third-largest city in the country could be, but through sheer force of will, helped turn Chicago into an alt. rock mecca capable of giving Seattle a serious run for its money..