OFFICIAL REPLACEMENTS / TOMMY STINSON Thread

[FunkyMonkey]

Interview: Author Jim Walsh on "The Replacements"

by Jeff Baker
Wednesday January 23, 2008, 10:52 AM

Bring your own lampshade, somewhere there's a party, and Jim Walsh will be there.

Walsh is a Minneapolis musician and journalist who's written "The Replacements: All Over But the Shouting" (Voyageur Press, $21.95, 304 pages). It's an oral history of a great rock and roll band, one that mattered to all the misfits who listened to music in the 1980s and still matters to misfits everywhere. There's a tribute concert Monday night after Walsh's reading, and he can't wait. Can't hardly wait.

"A bunch of Portland bands are going to throw down 'Mats' covers," Walsh said. "We're all going to gather for this common moment. In Minneapolis, it was a riot. In New York, everyone was there."

Walsh grew up in Minneapolis and knew Replacements drummer Chris Mars in high school. He became friends with lead singer and songwriter Paul Westerberg and the rest of the Replacements when his band, REMs (later called Laughing Stock), opened for them at local gigs. Walsh wrote about the death of the group's original lead guitarist, Bob Stinson, for the St. Paul Pioneer Press and delivered the eulogy at Stinson's funeral. His friendship with Westerberg has endured, although Westerberg refused to be interviewed for the book.

"Paul and I had talked about a book for years, but he didn't want to sit down and talk," Walsh said. "He didn't want to jeopardize our friendship, and he also said 'unauthorized sells better than authorized.' He said there were tons of interviews out there that he'd done and I didn't need to talk to him or Tommy (Stinson)."

Tommy Stinson, Bob Stinson's little brother, joined the Replacements when he was 12 as the bass player. During the Replacements' heyday, Westerberg once said he thought the rest of the band would one day have to buy tickets to see Tommy Stinson play in arenas. Tommy Stinson is now the bass player for Guns N' Roses.

"Well, Paul always was prescient," Walsh said, laughing.

Walsh said the Replacements' albums are being reissued this year by Rhino Records, giving younger fans a second chance to hear them.

"That happens cyclically with great bands - with (lousy) bands, too," he said. "It happened to the Doors six years ago or so. All these little kids walking around in Doors T-shirts grossed me out. ... I think when you're a teenager or in your early 20s, that's your most voracious discovery period for music. These kids might be listening to Green Day or Nirvana or even Fall Out Boy and hear Billie Joe Armstrong make some comments about the Replacements and find them that way."

Walsh's reading is at 7 p.m. Monday at Borders Books & Music, 708 S.W. Third Ave. The Replacements tribute concert is at 9:30 p.m. Monday at Slabtown, 1033 N.W. 16th Ave.

http://www.oregonlive.com/arts-books/index.ssf/2008/01/interview_author_jim_walsh_on.html

[jarmo]

Long-Awaited Replacements Reissues Due In April

February 12, 2008, 10:45 AM ET
Jonathan Cohen, N.Y.
The Replacements' first three albums and an EP will be reissued in remastered, expanded form this spring, completing a long awaited upgrade of the seminal band's early work. "Sorry Ma, Forgot To Take Out the Trash," "Stink," "Hootenanny" and "Let It Be" will arrive April 22 via Rhino, Billboard.com can reveal.

Originally released on the band's hometown label, Twin/Tone, the albums were prepped for reissue by Replacements manager Peter Jesperson, with involvement from the surviving band members.

The Replacements' debut, 1981's "Sorry Ma, Forgot To Take Out the Trash," introduced its lovably shambling rock style via tracks like "Shiftless When Idle," "Takin a Ride" and "Johnny's Gonna Die." Bonus material includes frontman Paul Westerberg's original four-song demo from 1980, several outtakes and the B-side "If Only You Were Lonely."

The EP "Stink" followed in 1982, tearing through eight songs in 15 minutes. The four bonus tracks on the new edition are all previously unreleased: the outtakes "Staples in Her Stomach," "Hey, Good Lookin'" and "(We're Gonna) Rock Around the Clock," plus a Westerberg home demo of "You're Getting Married."

The Replacements' sophomore album, "Hootenanny," arrived in April 1983, further cementing its status as one of the most exciting new rock bands in America on the strength of songs such as "Within Your Reach" and "Color Me Impressed." Rhino's new edition boasts six previously unreleased tracks, including a demo of "Bad Worker" and an alternate take of "Treatment Bound."

Rhino's final reissue in this batch, "Let It Be," is regarded by many as the Replacements' best album. The 1984 release boasts indelible tracks such as "Unsatisfied," "I Will Dare" and "Androgynous"; it is here bolstered by an alternate version of "Sixteen Blue," the home demo for "Answering Machine" and covers of the Grass Roots' "Temptation Eyes" and T. Rex's "20th Century Boy."

Later this year, Rhino will continue the reissue campaign with expanded editions of the Replacements' Sire catalog: "Tim," "Pleased To Meet Me," "Don't Tell a Soul" and "All Shook Down."

Here is the bonus material for the Replacements reissues (previously unissued tracks marked with *):

"Sorry Ma, Forgot To Take Out the Trash":

"Raised in the City," live, 1980 - demo*
"Shutup," live, 1980 - demo*
"Don't Turn Me Down," live, 1980 - demo*
"Shape Up," live, 1980 - demo*
"You Ain't Gotta Dance," studio demo*
"Get on the Stick," studio demo*
"Oh Baby," studio demo*
"Like You," outtake*
"Get Lost," outtake*
"A Toe Needs a Shoe," outtake*
"Customer," alternate take*
"Basement Jam," rehearsal*
"If Only You Were Lonely"

"Stink":

"Staples in Her Stomach," outtake*
"Hey, Good Lookin'," outtake*
"(We're Gonna) Rock Around the Clock," outtake*
"You're Getting Married," solo home demo*

"Hootenanny":

"Lookin' for Ya"
"Junior's Got a Gun," outtake - rough mix*
"Ain't No Crime," outtake*
"Johnny Fast," outtake - rough mix*
"Treatment Bound," alternate version*
"Lovelines," alternate vocal*
"Bad Worker," solo home demo*

"Let It Be":

"20th Century Boy"
"Perfectly Lethal," outtake*
"Temptation Eyes," outtake*
"Answering Machine," solo home demo*
"Heartbeat -- It's a Lovebeat," outtake - rough mix*
"Sixteen Blue," outtake - alternate vocal*

http://billboard.com/bbcom/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003709827



/jarmo

[Killingmachine]

What is the musical genre of this unknow band?

[Chief]

http://billboard.com/bbcom/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003709827

[PJ]

cool!
i will def buy

[GypsySoul]

Entertainment Weekly >> Issue #984 >> March 28, 2008

The Indie Rock 25
The Replacements!
R.E.M.!  Radiohead!
25 Years of the Best Bands, Their Key Albums, and Essential Tracks



1984
the replacements
LET IT BE (TWIN/TONE)

One way to tell Let It Be was the Replacements? last true indie release:  the very title.  Would any corporate label?s nervous-Nelly lawyers have let them get away with nicking the Beatles like that?  Then again, there was something so unassumingly, charmingly careless about the band that you could almost ? almost - imagine the rip-off was undeliberate. Audacity, or accident?  This Minneapolis foursome often seemed to be treading that fine line, with shows that devolved from mosh-pit rave-ups to drunken looniness, anchored by the acclaimed songwriting of Paul Westerberg, who seemed eager to take the piss out of his own most sensitive efforts.  This 1984 LP caught them at a great transitional moment:  not yet having shed their early scrappiness, while Westerberg came into his own as a writer.  They could do vicious (?Seen Your Video? hardly needed any commercialism-indicting lyrics beyond its title) or go goofball (?Gary?s Got a Boner,? anyone?) and even turn out a pop classic or three ? like the plaintive ?Answering Machine? ? in the midst of the glorious mess.  Essential track ?I Will Dare?

[GypsySoul]

RollingStone >> Issue 1050 >> April 17, 2008

REISSUES

THE REPLACEMENTS
SORRY MA, FORGOT TO TAKE OUT THE TRASH; HOOTENANNY; LET IT BE
4/22*
The Replacements' first three studio albums (plus their 1982 EP Stink) are being reissued with thirty bonus tracks - including the band's original 1980 four-track demo.


*April 22

[GypsySoul]

RollingStone >> Issue 1051 >> May 1, 2008

REVIEWS  REISSUES & RARITIES

The Replacements  * * * * (Four Star Rating)
Let It Be Twin/Tone/Rykodisc/Rhino

Minnesota punks? final indie release still stinks of little-guy triumph ? and beer breath

?Label wants a hit/and we don?t give a shit!? Replacements frontman Paul Westerberg once sang.  Yet the real miracle of his legendarily self-destructive band is that it created masterful pop in spite of itself.  Success wrested heroically from seemingly inescapable failure:  that was the Replacements? magic, as the recent reissue of their first four releases reaffirms.  It still seems impossible that the most indelible of the four, 1984?s Let It Be, came from these booze-crazed gutter punks.  Along with a few bonus outtakes (including a wrenching alternate version of the sexual-confusion confession ?Sixteen Blue?) and covers (a tremblingly majestic take on the Grass Roots? ?Temptation Eyes?), this reissue captures the perfectly turned punk-pop bravado (?I Will Dare,? ?We?re Comin? Out?), the bleeding-heart letters-in-a-bottle (?Unsatisfied,? ?Answering Machine?) and the proud junk food (?Gary?s Got a Boner,? Kiss? ?Black Diamond?).  As critic Gina Arnold says in her liner notes, the set summed up the underdog worldview of fans who saw the band as their personal cracked mirror.  The band would subsequently sign to a major and make another top-shelf record (1985?s Tim), its last with guitarist and wild card Bob Stinson.  But the loser?s heroism of Let It Be was ? for the group and for its fans ? the end of an era.
_{WILL HERMES}

[FunkyMonkey]

Tommy Stinson Interview.....


The Replacements opt for reissues over reunion

Fri Apr 18, 2008
 
By Wes Orshoski

NEW YORK (Billboard) - With 1982's "Sorry Ma, Forgot to Take Out the Trash," Minneapolis' famously ragtag band of misfits, the Replacements, began an inspiring, influential and ultimately anti-climactic journey that has come to embody the very spirit of rock 'n' roll.

Or, at least, the romantic notion of an American rock'n'roll band: four kids in a van making a play for fortune and fame. If they never really achieved either, the band's legend lives on, and has become bigger than ever.

Stoking that flame are archival specialist Rhino's new, outtake-laden reissues of the Replacements' first four albums ("Sorry Ma," "Stink," "Hootenanny" and their 1984 tour-de-force "Let It Be"), to be followed by reissues of the band's four major-label successors later this year. In rare interviews, frontman Paul Westerberg and bassist Tommy Stinson look both back and forward.

WHEN YOU LISTEN TO THESE REISSUES AS A BLOCK, WHAT DO THEY

SAY ABOUT YOU GUYS AS A BAND AND AS FOUR YOUNG GUYS?

Tommy Stinson: We weren't afraid to do anything in particular, and that was the beauty of it. And I think the outtakes kind of show that. Even though they're going to kind of bum Paul out, having his solo cassette demos out there, I think they really tell a part of the story, too. It really shows where he comes from and what he might have been thinking on his own, but was too scared to try with us as the band, because it was too naked, or whatever.

OF THESE FOUR, IS THERE ONE ALBUM THAT MAYBE MEANS A LITTLE

BIT MORE TO YOU THAN THE OTHERS?

Paul Westerberg: To me, they were all just one big long song. I guess "Hootenanny" is the one where we came to the decision -- or I did, at least -- that this loud/fast stuff is not going to get us anywhere, because that was the height of the hardcore movement, and we were on tour, and we were not the loudest and the fastest. I figured, "Well, we can't win that way, so we've got to go the other direction and tap the other vein of our influences." Not that "Hootenanny" is my favorite record, but "Hootenanny" was probably the one where we first started to become unafraid to do things.

SINCE THE BAND'S BREAKUP, THE REPLACEMENTS HAVE BECOME SORT

OF MYTHIC TO SOME FANS. DO YOU EVER GET LOST SOMETIMES IN THAT

MYTH?

Westerberg: I've distanced myself from it a great deal, and I've been sort of forced to embrace or re-evaluate it (with these reissues). I'll tell you this -- I did surprise myself when I listened to some of them. I thought, "Damn it, I was good. I was real. I know what I was saying, and this was real." Me and (late guitarist) Bob (Stinson) were 18, 19; (drummer) Chris (Mars) 17, Tommy 13. Bob and I at least understood that this was the only road up and out. We had no skill -- he was a cook, I was a janitor -- and it was like, "We make it in rock 'n' roll or we die trying."

Stinson: Here's my whole problem with the whole mythology of it all: When I get people coming up to me now and saying, "I saw this show way back when, and you guys were so f--ked up. You didn't even play any of your songs. It was the greatest show I ever saw." (Laughs) It's like, "Well, dude, that just sounds bleak. How could that possibly have been the greatest show you ever saw?" When somebody comes up and says, "I really liked a certain record or song, they mean something to me" -- that, to me, that's the mythology that we actually lived up to. I think we actually were a really good band at times. I think the songwriting speaks for itself.

PEOPLE REMEMBER THOSE SHOWS AS EITHER DRUNKEN TRAIN WRECKS

OR A THING OF MAGIC, WITHOUT MUCH MIDDLE GROUND.

Westerberg: Some nights, yeah, we never gave 100% -- that would be giving yourself to the audience. That would be on a level of someone like Elvis. We wanted (fans) to know that we were there for us, and you could like us or not.

MANY FANS DISMISS THE LATTER RECORDS AND POINT TO THESE

EARLY DISCS AS CAPTURING THE BAND'S TRUE ESSENCE.

Stinson: To each his own. Some of the people who like the latter stuff can't even stand the earlier stuff, because it just didn't sound very good. And that's the beauty of the whole catalog: We grew and changed, and for all intents and purposes, we were actually able to grow and change and go through all that shit without getting our legs cut off, like happens now. We didn't get very far, but we did our thing. I think we had a good little run.

YOU'VE REUNITED TWICE IN THE STUDIO IN RECENT YEARS. YOU'VE

SURELY RECEIVED A SIZABLE OFFER OR TWO FROM THE PRODUCERS OF

COACHELLA, SO . . .

Stinson: We actually talked about it again this year, and I think there was a consensus that, you know, maybe it wasn't the right time (to reunite), or maybe it is the right time. Paul and I were kind of in cahoots talking to them, talking to (his manager) Darren (Hill). There were some things thrown out, and there were other festivals that wanted it too, if we were going to do it. At the last minute, it just didn't seem like the right thing to do, so we didn't do it. But I think Paul and I have something to offer each other still. I think that's pretty obvious when we get together.

Westerberg: I'm very hesitant about dragging the name out there and what damage we could do to the legend. Whatever we did, someone would want something else. If I went up there straight, they'd want us wasted. If we were f--ked up, they'd want us to be this or that. But, I don't know. The records hold the key to the whole thing. So if I was ever going to play, I'd like to play once the whole shooting match is out, because I don't think I could physically get up there and bellow these 18 songs (from) that first record. That's just sheer youth there. I can't find that in a bottle or a pill. I'm just too creaky for that.

Reuters/Billboard

http://www.reuters.com/article/musicNews/idUSN1829664520080419?pageNumber=3&virtualBrandChannel=0&sp=true

[FunkyMonkey]

Replacements Leaving Door Open For Reunion

April 21, 2008, 11:10 AM ET
Wes Orshoski, N.Y.

With the first phase of a long-awaited reissue campaign beginning this week, the Replacements are back in the spotlight 17 years removed from a messy breakup. Even more notable: principal members Paul Westerberg and Tommy Stinson aren't ruling out the possibility of a reunion.

Stinson tells Billboard the group has received lucrative offers to perform at Coachella and other major festivals, and that he and Westerberg were close to accepting this year. The group would have been rounded out by session drummer Josh Freese (replacing original drummer Chris Mars, who has retired from music to focus on painting), and an unnamed lead guitarist (replacing Stinson's late half-brother Bob, who died in 1995).

"We actually talked about it again this year, and I think there was a consensus that, you know, maybe it wasn't the right time (to reunite), or maybe it is the right time," Stinson says. "Paul and I were kind of in cahoots talking to them [and] talking to (his manager) Darren (Hill). There were some things thrown out, and there were other festivals that wanted it too, if we were going to do it.

"At the last minute, it just didn't seem like the right thing to do, so we didn't do it. But I think Paul and I have something to offer each other still. I think that's pretty obvious when we get together."

"I'm very hesitant about dragging the name out there and what damage we could do to the legend," Westerberg offers. "Whatever we did, someone would want something else. If I went up there straight, they'd want us wasted. If we were f--ked up, they'd want us to be this or that.

"But, I don't know," he continues. "The records hold the key to the whole thing. So if I was ever going to play, I'd like to play once the whole shooting match is out, because I don't think I could physically get up there and bellow these 18 songs (from) that first record. That's just sheer youth there. I can't find that in a bottle or a pill. I'm just too creaky for that.

The group's first four albums arrive in remastered, expanded form tomorrow (April 22) via Rhino. Reissues of the band's four major-label successors for Sire will follow later this year.


For extensive Q&A's with Westerberg and Stinson, visit Billboard.com tomorrow.

http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003791810

[kollemann]

The next one ??Hopefully not....


YOU'VE REUNITED TWICE IN THE STUDIO IN RECENT YEARS. YOU'VE

SURELY RECEIVED A SIZABLE OFFER OR TWO FROM THE PRODUCERS OF

COACHELLA, SO . . .

Stinson: We actually talked about it again this year, and I think there was a consensus that, you know, maybe it wasn't the right time (to reunite), or maybe it is the right time. Paul and I were kind of in cahoots talking to them, talking to (his manager) Darren (Hill). There were some things thrown out, and there were other festivals that wanted it too, if we were going to do it. At the last minute, it just didn't seem like the right thing to do, so we didn't do it. But I think Paul and I have something to offer each other still. I think that's pretty obvious when we get together.

Westerberg: I'm very hesitant about dragging the name out there and what damage we could do to the legend. Whatever we did, someone would want something else. If I went up there straight, they'd want us wasted. If we were f--ked up, they'd want us to be this or that. But, I don't know. The records hold the key to the whole thing. So if I was ever going to play, I'd like to play once the whole shooting match is out, because I don't think I could physically get up there and bellow these 18 songs (from) that first record. That's just sheer youth there. I can't find that in a bottle or a pill. I'm just too creaky for that.

Reuters/Billboard

http://au.launch.yahoo.com/080419/11/1pdts.html

http://www.mygnrforum.com/index.php?showtopic=112206

[HBK]

Excelent news, thankz.

HBK *

[randomconcepts]

The Replacements Talking Reunion
Posted by Mitch Michaels on 04.21.2008

Alt rock pioneers might be returning...

With the first phase of a long-awaited reissue campaign beginning this week, the Replacements are back in the spotlight 17 years removed from their breakup. Even more notable: principal members Paul Westerberg and Tommy Stinson aren't ruling out the possibility of a reunion.

Stinson says the group has received lucrative offers to perform at Coachella and other major festivals, and that he and Westerberg were close to accepting this year. The group would have been rounded out by session drummer Josh Freese (replacing original drummer Chris Mars, who has retired from music to focus on painting), and an unnamed lead guitarist (replacing Stinson's late half-brother Bob, who died in 1995).

"We actually talked about it again this year, and I think there was a consensus that, you know, maybe it wasn't the right time [to reunite], or maybe it is the right time," Stinson says. "Paul and I were kind of in cahoots talking to them [and] talking to [his manager]. There were some things thrown out, and there were other festivals that wanted it too, if we were going to do it. At the last minute, it just didn't seem like the right thing to do, so we didn't do it. But I think Paul and I have something to offer each other still. I think that's pretty obvious when we get together."

"I'm very hesitant about dragging the name out there and what damage we could do to the legend," Westerberg offers. "Whatever we did, someone would want something else. If I went up there straight, they'd want us wasted. If we were fucked up, they'd want us to be this or that. But, I don't know. The records hold the key to the whole thing. So if I was ever going to play, I'd like to play once the whole shooting match is out, because I don't think I could physically get up there and bellow these 18 songs [from] that first record. That's just sheer youth there. I can't find that in a bottle or a pill. I'm just too creaky for that."

The group's first four albums arrive in remastered, expanded form tomorrow via Rhino. Reissues of the band's four major-label successors for Sire will follow later this year.

[faldor]

Wait, isn't Freese with NIN's?  What's with these guys switching from band to band.  Not that there's anything wrong with it, just seems odd.

[Smoking Guns]

Sounds cool as hell!  Would love to see that show!

[Axl4Prez2004]

Jesus Christ, I don't know how Axl does it.  Unreal.  1st Robin, now maybe Tommy.  I don't like where this could be heading.  

[Smoking Guns]

And Fortus says he doesn't want to tour this summer....

[Ali]

And Fortus says he doesn't want to tour this summer....

This doesn't mean anything.  Nothing has happened.  And Stinson has worked with the Replacements, Soul Asylum and other musicians on his own solo record and come back to GN'R.

I wouldn't jump to any conclusions.

Ali

[randomconcepts]

I am not really worried at any of this tour mess from the band members. There  is still no release date for the album so i would have to assume they are going about their lives til a date is set. When a date is set I am sure that everything will work itself out. Maybe this is just good press. Maybe Robin with NIN and Tommy possibly doing a Replacements reunion is just a few other ways for their names to be out and about. You could go out on some crazy limb and say that this is just good cheap marketing of the groups members. This just seems to be guys that like to play music and have a good time doing that.

[faldor]

I hear ya, no reason to freak out like we did with Robin.  I just hope Tommy calls Axl and tells him his plans personally.  If not, THEN we can freak out.