Before Wilco rewrote their rule book, Jeff Tweedy heard a 1969 album that seemed to have none: “There’s a real primal element to it”

Jeff Tweedy has said Amon Düül’s 1969 debut, *Psychedelic Underground*, captivated him with its raw, unpredictable sound and helped expand his sense of what music could be. The record’s freedom from conventional rules offers a possible influence on Wilco’s move from alt-country towards more experimental work.

Tweedy first encountered the album after his older brother brought it home from college and gave it to him. Amon Düül grew out of a political art commune where musicians of differing abilities were encouraged to create without expectations; its chaotic, sprawling sessions helped make the record an early Krautrock touchstone. Wilco began with the more traditional *AM*, but later albums including *Summerteeth* and *Yankee Hotel Foxtrot* explored more abstract sounds.