Listening to Tragedy In U.S. History, it’s easy to see why Michael Stipe immediately took to Beggar Weeds. The mostly forgotten Jacksonville, Fla., trio’s glorious noise often sounded a bit like a bluesier R.E.M. But Beggar Weeds’ implosive energy and edgy melodic flair also aligned with the twin pillars of the Minneapolis post-punk scene: the Replacements and Hüsker Dü.
Reportedly birthed in a Taco Bell parking lot and named after a native plant common in yards and fields throughout the South, Beggar Weeds matched their eccentric, loud-and-fast approach with a kinetic, unpredictable flurry of live performances before flaming out in the early 1990s. Available February 20 via Strolling Bones, this long-overdue 13-track retrospective fleshes out the five songs from the group’s 1988 EP with “Seer” and other previously unreleased material co-produced by Stipe and filmmaker Jim McKay.
“We picked up a free Christian fanzine at an all-you-can-eat buffet and were intrigued by a story of the kids in Medjugorje, Yugoslavia, who saw the Virgin Mary,” says Beggar Weeds’ Scott Leuthold, who cowrote “Seer” with bandmate Adam Watson. “With this song, we returned to an ongoing question in the ‘What are we doing here?’ ilk.”
“Michael played piano on the track to build up the song and keep it moving toward the end,” says Watson. “He didn’t want to sing but insisted on a definitive ‘Damn!’—which he delivered to introduce the bridge.”
We’re proud to premiere Beggar Weeds’ “Seer.”
—Hobart Rowland
