the // skyway \\ issue #85 (may 26, 2005) web page at www.theskyway.com send your submissions to skyway@novia.net list guy (stop by and say hi) matt@novia.net subscription info: send in the body of a message to majordomo@novia.net to subscribe: 'subscribe skyway' to unsubscribe: 'unsubscribe skyway' always thanks to bob fulkerson __________________________________________________________________________ In honor of my current extended stay in German-speaking Switzerland, the headings for this month's Skyway are in the little German I know, or more often, what some translation site spits out. 0. In die Stadt hängen (as in The Replacements song) - Matt I. Hallo (Hello) - Dave Megrey, Mark Velasquez, Doug Cawker, II. Die Wiedereinbaue (The Replacements) - Ray Reigstad, Mara, Maureen Conklin III. Paul Westerberg (which is already German) - Hansi Oppenheimer, Valerie Polichar, Todd McDowell, Pope Nick, Dave Ritter, Drew Blank, Jade Robledo IV. Tommy Stinson (likewise) - John Anderson, Flor Batin Jr., Jade Robledo, Derek Robertson, Hansi Oppenheimer, Charles Ford __________________________________________________________________________ 0. HANGIN' DOWNTOWN Hey, this is late! And this is the third time I've put this issue together, but I'm hoping that the third time is a charm. Disk crash, lost luggage, Latin American riots, you name it. Personally, it's a king-sized bummer that after some great times in 1993, 1996, and 2002, I didn't get a chance to see Paul this time around, his first time in a decade with a full band. I was either getting ready to go to Ecuador, being in Ecuador, getting ready to move, or moving to Basel, Switzerland for a couple months for my job. And that's where I am now, on the steps of the church that's older than the U.S., where the kids hang out and drink $5 beers from the local Co-op on Sunday night because when there's nothing open, there's nothing to do. You come a couple thousand miles and some things never change. Interestingly, of the people who saw Paul more than once this time around commented on how different each of the shows were, whether it was Paul's mood or which twenty-two year old rarity or 60's cover he threw in the set. Unlike the other bands from the 80's that are on tour today, it doesn't feel like Paul is a nostalgia act. Most of the Replacements albums musically and stylistically could've come out today -- certainly, lyrically they're as timeless as ever. Looking around, it's always Sixteen Blue all over again, even here on the steps of some church in Switzerland. Meanwhile, I'm hanging out here, going to work and waiting for some big life revelation. And if that doesn't happen, at least I can walk to France or Germany in five minutes from this town, and I never knew cheese could taste so good. I can't understand my mail most of the time, but hey, I'm going to Vienna for the first time in my life tomorrow. Congrats to John Anderson, who's been on this thing for twelve years, and just got married this past weekend. He first got me into Tommy Keene and made me a mix tape that I listened to on drives up and down drives on the East Coast and on mosquito-filled summer camp nights in Vermont and defines the summer of 1996 for me. Playing his living room was one of my favorite house shows ever. - Matt P.S. I just got here, but if you want to see pictures of this placid, idyllic fantasyland, I'll keep throwing pictures up at http://www.pbase.com/tomich. P.P.S. Luckily, the reports of the death of First Ave. were greatly exaggerated. The place is under new management and is still keeping the rock alive. __________________________________________________________________________ I. HALLO From: Megdog61@aol Date: Mon, 3 Jan 2005 12:29:54 EST Subject: the replacements and me Hey kids, Let's see, I'm 43 yrs old and worked with a friend of mine who passed away several years ago named Gary. One day I was wearing a Cure tee, and the people I worked with knew nothing of music. So Gary comes up to me and says, "Robert Smith is an eccentric individual". and I say, "You know who he is?". and from there we became friends. We used to do this thing were we'd turn each other on to music. I'd give him some CD's/cassettes, and he'd do the same. I gotta say, I don't know if I influenced Gary's musically taste at all, but he definitely influenced mine - he always said that I kinda mellowed him out with my pop sensibilities, and he kind of warped my taste with his twisted collection. One day he gives me like ten cassettes to check out. We got to a point that he would bring in one of those long cassette holder plastic boxes, and pack it to the rafters with stuff I've never heard before. One night at work listening to my Walkman I popped in Pleased To Meet Me and was floored. I still remember those last 3 songs on side two that were so perfectly in order, and thought, damn these guys are good. That was my first initiation to the Replacements. In fact, years later when Gary passed away I went to his wake and told his sister this story and took a CD of Pleased To Meet Me and asked her if I could place it in his coffin. I hope that it’s still resting with him. I since went out and bought another copy, and can't help thinking of Gary at every listen. I saw the Replacements on their farewell tour (for All Shook Down) at the Cleveland Agora and they were great. I remember thinking throughout the whole show that I had so many ideas for songs (I'm a novice songwriter). I felt very inspired. Then I think I went home and had a beer and went to bed - so much for that. I saw Paul many years later on his solo tour for Stereo/Mono. I was determined to get a tee at the merch table because I could kick myself for not getting the "wet dog" tee from the All Shook Down Tour. So at the merch table they were selling limited edition posters and if you bought one, Paul would sign it after the show. Cool. I'm buying one dammit. So the show was great, and during Here Comes The Regular, I was determined to buy a shot of JD, and when he sang, "I drink a great big whiskey to you anyway", I was gonna do the shooter with my friends (yes that means you Chris). Well as you could guess, I got pretty wasted and had to go talk to Paul after the show. I was with my wife Kim, and she being more sober, I asked her to be my buffer. Let me preface this by saying I've always had a fear of meeting musicians who I've respected. I'm afraid that they'll be a total dick, and then how can I go back and enjoy their music if they treated people like shit. So my wife's gonna be the buffer, OK. So Paul is sitting on the steps of his tour bus, and there are like 200 people waiting for him to sign something. I was wearing a Ramones tee, and Kim and I walk up to Paul and I blubber something about he's the greatest lyricist in rock and roll, and how I love his songwriting. And he looks up from his dark shades and quietly (protecting his voice I assumed later), looks at my tee and says that he had just talked to Joey Ramone earlier in the day. But I was so jazzed that I got my poster signed, I mumbled, oh yeah, that's great, and walked away. as I was walking away with my wife, the whole surreal experience started to settle in, and I realized Paul wanted to have a conversation about the Ramones with me and I blew it. OH MY GOD. What an idiot. My wife kept saying, "You were fine Dave. you were fine" but all night long I kept reliving the moment and stressing. Oh well, such is life. At least Paul was very cool. That I was very happy about. So that was my brush with greatness. Hope some of you enjoyed it as much as I did writing it. Dave Megrey Cleveland, OH Date: Sat, 9 Apr 2005 02:32:34 -0700 (PDT) From: MARK VELASQUEZ I've been a 'Mats fan since the glorious day when I by chance I came upon my older brother’s copy of a Let It Be record, which he had purchased at a used record store. I was fourteen the year was 1987 and after listening to the opening chords of I Will Dare I was hooked. I became so infused with the words and music that I felt this band and their music only existed to make sense of my existence as I entered high school and later college. I was fortunate to enter a relationship with the greatest rock band of all time at a point in my life that seemed to be as unpredictable and destructible yet meaningful and beautiful as a 'Mats set. I became a disciple of the words according to PW and only later realized how much of an influence the genius of their music helped shape my identity. I committed to playing the guitar because I wanted to sing their songs. This led to a life of playing in bands(one band we named "Tim") and meeting many wonderful and talented people including my lovely wife with whom I have two incredible daughters. I've been fortunate enough to attend many Replacements and later PW shows. The most memorable one for me was when Paul Westerberg played at the Troubador here in LA around 97. I remember going to the show and sitting in the car with my wife sharing a 12-pack with her before the show. We were listening to a bootleg early mats live recording and were having such a good time that when we eventually got around to walking in the club the place was already filled to capacity. We were barely able to squeeze in ended up on the side of the stage against a wall right by the exit door. Not the greatest view but the spectacular show that ensued made up for our latecomers vantage point. While Kiss Me on the Bus was being played, I felt a person walk up behind me and instinctively I turned around and my eyes come upon one of the wildest and truest souls of rock-Tommy Stinson. I give up a quick hey what's up with my head and went to back to enjoying the solid performance that Paul was displaying. Then it happened. Everyone could feel that the show was drawing to an end although everyone wanted it to last forever. Anyway, a piano player started playing the chords to Androgynous when Paul placed a cigarette in his mouth and turned to his left where we were standing and signaled for a light. The stage hands all made the gesture for feeling their pockets for a lighter with negative results. I remember earlier taking a book of matches from the bar so I without hesitation I walked up to security and told them I had a light for Mr. Westerberg as I was in a position to see what was going on. Security gestured for me to go up on stage and as I walked up to the legend he turned to see me approaching a seemed a bit apprehensive. As the notes of Androgynous continued on filling the club with its emotional melody, I struck a match and held it up to light his cig but before I could make contact it blew out. I nervously struck a second match and as he successfully inhaled to ignite the cig I stood speechless before him and could only muster the pathetic words "You're some mutherfucker man." Before I walked off the stage allowing the legend to continue with his masterful performance I quickly leaned over and planted a loving kiss on the cheek of one the greatest influences in my life. The was the least I could do. As I walked off the stage and took my place behind my wife holding her a female that seemed to be at the show with Tommy leaned over and stated, "now that's the highlight of your life I'm sure." I smiled and for a second pondered on that remark. Because the music of the Mats was instrumental in my formative high school and college years and helped grow into a confident individual I responded to that female with these words, "No. That would've been when I said 'I do' to my wife." From: "Doug Cawker" Subject: 'mats & stuff Date: Mon, 04 Apr 2005 05:29:58 -0600 i've been an avid replacements nut for close to twenty years now and have been reading the skyway for the better part of the last decade as well - i was surfing around after a small bout of insomnia last night and read your latest issue and felt compelled to drop you a quick note and say HI. i live in los angeles now (for the time being) but over a decade and a half ago i was living on toronto and my old band, the dundrells opened for the 'mats on the TIM tour. bob stinson was obviously with them at that time too and it was a good night for the band.. not too hammered and they had their moments of greatness in their show. a great cover of 'rocky mountain high', if i recall.. to be completely honest with you here, i'm also one of those guys that sort of lost a bit of interest in the band after "pleased to meet me" and don't really keep up with many of paul's solo releases.. i've heard bits & pieces and they seem spotty and although we've all grown up over the years, he seems to have gone "soft & mushy" in the song writing department. i had a ticket to his recent show here in l.a. too but i THREW IT OUT! (don't ask..) & have since learned that the show wasn't very good so apparently i didn't miss much.. when i see pictures of him and check out the odd song now it just makes me feel old! keep on rockin' there! regards, doug p.s. i also play music on occasion and if you're at all interested here's a link to some tunes: http://music.download.com/themalcontents/3600-8588_32-100101390.html?tag=listing_song_artist __________________________________________________________________________ II. THE REPLACEMENTS Date: Thu, 03 Feb 2005 12:02:58 -0500 From: Reigst@aol.com Subject: Bob Stinson, Lyndale Legend In the spring of 1986 Bob Stinson asked Reipo (John Reipas) and I (Ray Reigstad) to stand up for him at his wedding. He was marrying a girl from Long Beach, California whom he’d met through our roommate Tom 'TC' Cook. Up until then she (the bride to be) had been dating a guy name Earth (a.k.a. Mark Lauer) who was playing in a band with TC, Go Great Guns. Anyhow, Bob fell in love with 'Bunny' (as he referred to her) and Bunny dumped Earth for Bob and the wedding was held at the Blaisdel Manor on 24th and Blaisdel in South Minneapolis. Reipo and I wore white retro tuxedo jackets we’d bought at Tatters on Lyndale, and black Southern ‘Colonel Sanders’ ties. When everybody asked Bob who we were, he shrugged and unwaveringly answered; "They’re fishing buddies from Florida." It was a freaky scene. The band he’d founded, The Replacements, were at the zenith of their popularity and about 400 people attended the ceremony. Standing up there under that stuffed elk head and looking out at the audience was farcical at best and hilarious at most. It felt and looked like a movie set. A comedy movie set. Lots of rockers (all dressed up) interspersed with family members, distant relatives, friends, fans and media people. I remember seeing Bob’s brother Tommy in the front row wearing an all red outfit with white shoes, hair coifed up as always. He looked like one of The Romantics. About two seconds after the official "I do," Old Bobby Stinson, Paul Westerberg (singer for The Replacements) and I went into the men’s room. (Name deleted) produced a packet and proceeded to draw out long rails of blow on the aluminum tray that ran the length of the mirror. This is the guy who once said on stage (pointing to Bob first) "He’s got a drinking problem and I’ve got a big nose." Side note: Later that year, Prince released Sign of the Times and the title track’s lyrics were published on the back of The City Pages. One of the verses went: "Back home there are seventeen year old boys and their idea of fun, is being in a gang called The Disciples, high on crack and totin’ a machine gun." Over in a basement practice room, on Garfield Avenue South, I’d changed the words in a briefly lived derision to: "At home there are CC patrons and their idea of fun, is being in a band called The Mats, high on coke, and totin’ a Gibson." I would sing it to Stinson when he’d come over to our duplex. He’d say, "That’s," pause, "not entirely untrue." Anyhow, back at the wedding of the century, Reipo and I briefly quibbled over who was to sign the marriage certificate as neither of us wanted the friggin’ huge-ass responsibility. I ended up autographing it before going into the men’s room. The photos that were taken that day out on the front steps are classic. As soon as they were processed they already looked about thirty years old, at least. Nine years after that wedding Bob died and many of the same guests showed up at his funeral. In January of 2000, Reipo, Mike Josephson and I finally got the Static Taxi CD "Stinson Blvd." mixed, mastered and pressed. I will now put the liner notes here and hopefully that will fill in some of the gaps. Anybody who has a copy of Stinson Blvd. might want to skip this part. June 1st, 1988, 1 a.m. We’re sitting in my graffiti covered Monte Carlo at 24th and Blaisdel (coincidence?). We have two 1-gallon jugs of keg beer from a party sloshing around on the back floor of the vehicle. I just ran a red and the cops have us pulled over. Me, John, Bob, and Chris. The policeman comes back to my window to give me back my license. "You’re living on borrowed time, get lost." He says, all cockey and flips the plastic card at me. We had just picked up Chris "The Cub" Corbett moments earlier at MCAD. John knew him from art school and told Bob and I that this kid could really play bass. Anyhow, we went into the basement of Uptown Pizza and played all night. Bob, John, and I had been hanging around together since 1985, and had been jamming together since before his departure from The Replacements. Now we were four. Now, we were Static Taxi. The next few weeks were spent in the musician’s greenroom in the Minneapolis Art Institute. When that free ride expired, we were forced to find a place of our own. John got a hold of a guy in the classifieds named Ed Larson. He was a Minneapolis old-timer, and he had an old warehouse/grain elevator over by the University of Minnesota, behind Williams Arena. We rented the office of the otherwise abandoned building. A rather spacious room that was carpeted and even had a bathroom. Along with the new rehearsal space came drinking buddies. Since the Scarehouse was located along the train tracks it had become a meeting place for transients, winos, Vietnam vets, drifters, dropouts and people with no other place to go. A loose community galvanized by cheap vodka and beer, camaraderie and a general appreciation for freedom. A forgotten demographic constituting "The Compound," Kerone was the one in charge with Charlie 'Hillbilly' Buchanon right by his side. The two head honchos were from Ireland and Corothers, Kentucky respectively. Honorable mentions: Brother John (WW II POW) Jim (a lost alcoholic kid about our age from California) Cherokee Lee (the part-time repo man, from Cupertino, CA) Michael Target (crack addict and petty thief) King Ed of the Tramps, Packrat, Leo... We became friends with these guys. They were at most of our rehearsals. Our audience. After we‘d unloaded a hundred rounds of .25 caliber bullets into one of the clothes bails that didn’t get sent to Africa, Ed’s wife Lorraine, insisted on booting us out. So Larson put us in one of the five boxcars he had outside on a piece of track that had been cut off from the rest. He often bragged that the aluminum inside the refrigerator cars made him seven times the money he had spent on acquiring them. "The boxcar Kids!" He’d say, laughing. Throughout 1989, fueled by LSD and beer, we, as Bob put it 'Forged our sound' in that boxcar. "Art blues!" He added enthusiastically. Some rehearsals went into the next day. Chris and I were both driving cabs for a living, and many Blue & White drivers took breaks to have a cold one and listen to us practice. There would be taxis parked outside the huge, safe-like sliding door. And inside there was red carpet that had been thrown out from the Radisson, colored lights and friendly conversation between assorted displaced persons. And always, there was music; Kerone screaming, "Take a walk on the wild side!" We battled two cold winters in the boxcar with four kerosene heaters. Got it up to about 50 degrees Fahrenheit. That was nice when it was -20 outside. Then in the summer of ‘90, in August, the warehouse burnt down, along with it went our power supply and Static Taxi’s spirit. From that day on things unraveled. The party was over. We tried to hold the band together but nothing could stop the bleeding. We decided to fold in the summer of ‘91, Mike Laheka playing bass on the last few shows. As we watched our friend Bob kill himself we felt helpless and scared. We were always saying it would be a dream come true to kidnap Bob, bring him to an island to clean up, and then record the ultimate rock album. I guess this is as close as we’ll get, 'living on borrowed time'. And that’s pretty much the story of our band Static Taxi. The Boxcar Kids. On the side of our boxcar were the letters WWTX, painted in white on maroon. We always called it ‘World War Texas’ Bob's old band, The Replacements, folded in 1991 as well. In July, at a gig in Chicago. Bob had been replaced with Slim Dunlap, who happens to be a real stand-up guy and The ‘Mats drummer (and Bob’s friend had quit and been replaced by Steve Foley). Since then their music and myth has achieved legendary proportions, sort of like a flower that keeps blooming. People are always asking me to tell them stories about Bob. The funny thing is, when I met him-when my friends and I met him-we were not big ‘Mats fans. Reipo and I met Bob in the summer of 1985. Musically, we were more into local acts like The Suburbs and The Urban Guerrillas at the time. Of course, we had heard most of the albums that The Replacements had put out, but the band was not that huge back then. The first time I laid eyes on Bob he was in Bunny's red pickup truck (he’d met her at our duplex one night at an after hours party and I was somewhere else). Anyhow, he was stretched out across the seat of Bunny’s truck, in our driveway at 1202 West 28th Street. His face was gray. His face was actually fucking gray, like ashes. My first reaction was to call 911 if you want to know the truth. He looked awful; one of those three day benders of his. Later that week, Reipas, Mike Josephson, Bob, and I walked over to The Uptown Bar to get some beers. On the way there we cut through an alley behind Lagoon and Hennepin. Bob kicked in a garage window and yelled, "Run!" I guess that's a fair way to describe his nature. He seemed to live for those existentially out-of-place, self inflicted/induced moments. Always doing the wrong thing, on time. I remember him telling Bunny this real sketchy story one time about his whereabouts. He had been on another binge and went missing for a few days. When he resurfaced, he claimed that he’d ridden up to Duluth with a guy who had a truck-load of explosives, and that he (Bob) had to ride along and talk to the driver to keep him from falling asleep, driving off the road, and consequently blowing everything up. The Replacements were recording their album Tim at the time for Reprise, a Warner Bros. subsidiary label, and Bob spent a good deal of the time at our house when he wasn't in the studio. One evening in July, Reipo and I were sitting at the kitchen table reading The City Pages when we saw an ad for a Replacements show at First Avenue, in downtown Minneapolis. It had started, or was supposed to about twenty minutes ago. We woke up Bob who was passed out on the couch and drove him downtown. The place was packed and the other guys were milling about onstage, probably wondering if their lead guitarist was going to not show up again or what. That was typical Stinson behavior. Not tell us about the concert and arrive late. It was a great rock show, one of the best I've ever seen. About as rock-n-roll as it gets. Another time he urgently dragged us to the Uptown Bar, no explanation. Once inside he said that we had to meet a friend of his. We walk into the room where the stage is and there sitting at a booth is Weird Al Yankovic. Bob had had a beer with him earlier and I still cannot believe how fucking bizarre it was to be introduced to Weird Al by even Weirder Bob. Once in 1986, John did a cartoon drawing of Bob on the back of a long sleeved military shirt someone had given me. In the rendition, there was an eight ball and chain hanging from a shackle on his ankle. Looked exactly like him. It was in a basement room called 'Rhythms' at 3017 Garfield that Bob would come over and do Guess Who covers like "No Sugar Tonight" and "Hand Me Down World" and other oddball stuff like "Radar Love" when he was still a Replacement. I was singing and playing bass. Reipo was drumming on a chrome kit he bought at the pawnshop at Lake Street and Grand, and of course Bob was playing guitar and singing backup. "La la la la la la la la la la la la la" in a super-high voice. I believe the principal reasons Bob instantly took to us is because, one; we were not fans of his, did not want anything from him, and two; we all shared the same oddly defined yet sophisticated cavalier sense of humor, sort of a highly illuminated light-heartedness. Adroit, fast-paced but thought out humor was consequential to the old boy. Standing at the little wooden podium, speaking at his funeral in 1995, I laughed and cried at the same time. As crazy as it sounds I always sort of thought of Bob Stinson as the older brother I never had. Some oddball connection I could never really define. Reipo and I called him Neil Winston. Sometimes it was Neil Lyndale. I’m not glamorizing him or anything, he could piss me off to no end sometimes. He didn’t try to, but he didn’t try not to either. It was just Neil Lyndale’s brain. Complex to the point of simplicity, and back around. He always looked older than he was too. The doctor who did the autopsy on him said he had the body of a seventy-year-old man. Just like Charlie 'The Bird' Parker. They were both thirty-five years old at the time of death and they were both musical pioneers with their respective instruments. Guitar and Alto saxophone Puissant players. They both died broke and they both drank a lot of booze. They both liked heroin toward the end too. To Neil Lyndale, Static Taxi’s boxcar must have been the ultimate hide out, as much as he loved trains and beer and rock and amplifiers. There were nights when I’d think to myself, "I can’t fucking believe the wild sound in here." At times it was utterly inestimable. But of course it was totally sloppy sometimes, nowhere near alchemic. Occasionally, we'd see Paul Westerberg staggering down Lyndale Avenue on our way to pick up Stinson for band rehearsal (we all knew how to play so it wasn’t called ‘band practice’). "Saw Paul on the way here..." We would say to Bob in the backseat. "Was he drunk?" Bob would in turn ask. "Yeah, it looked like it, he looked pretty fucked up." And he'd just roar laughing. Static Taxi’s first official gig was July 25, 1988, at First Avenue in the main room. It was a twenty-minute cameo and they lowered the curtain back down when we started playing "Light My Fire"! November of 1999 saw the authorized bootleg release "Take City" by Mark Lindquist’s Duluth punk label, Shaky Ray Records and we (John and I) put out "Stinson Blvd." in April of 2000. We had 1000 copies pressed. Then, in April of 2003, LA based Birdman Records released Static Taxi’s 'Closer 2 Normal'. That’s a whole other story. A lot of people try to sound like Bob but no one ever will. You have to realize how intensely complicated of a person he was to even begin to understand his playing. He was an eccentric, friendly, too-smart fruit in the truest form. At one point, I heard a writer sum up his style saying something like: Everything Stinson ever listened to as a child and in his early teens, all of his musical influences if you will, filter through that weird mind of his and come out as his own style/sound, the way he wants to hear it, or wanted to hear it the first time. Back in the late 80’s, Bob and I used to go into The Knut Koupe Guitar Shop, when it used to be on 28th and Hennepin in Uptown Minneapolis. First we would slam a few cans of cold beer down on the nearby railroad tracks in the afternoon sun. Usually PBR or Special Export. Anyhow, once inside the store he’d take down a Firebird or a new Les Paul (always something really nice and kind of expensive) casually plug into a Marshall amplifier and start tweaking knobs. If you ever saw Stinson play guitar, you know what I’m talking about. While jamming out "Mean Town Blues" by Johnny Winter (really fucking loud, mind you) he’d incessantly be twisting, turning, flipping switches, volume, bass, treble, mids, amp/guitar, one pick-up/two/pick-up/all pick-ups/one and three, tweaking and concentrating; yet appearing to be effortlessly running up and down the neck with his other hand. His face sort of gave the impression that he was after a particular tone and when he found it, it would be somewhat elusive. Almost like somebody trying to put their finger on something, some sound, that keeps moving and changing shapes and disguising itself as something else. But he kept ripping at the mask, sometimes just running his fingers affectionately over the contours and other times brutally abusing the instrument, trying to get to the fucking truth, if there was one. By now, a substantially large crown has gathered around us and people are turning to one another, "Hey, that’s Bob from The Replacements, seriously!" or "Is that really him? No way, that guy looks like a bum! That ain’t Stinson!" Lots of pimply-faced wannabes looking for a first amp or the usual Wedge crowd of local musicians, all pushing to get a closer look but simultaneously acting like they’re too cool to care. The guys working at the counter let Bob Stinson blast the Marshall and pound on the guitar as long as he wanted to. It was always about ten or twenty minutes before he would unplug and carefully hang the guitar back up on the wall. If it was, say, $1,200.00 he’d turn to one of the employees and ask, "You don’t think that’s a little steep for that guitar?" or else he would say something like, "Those necks are made in Russia, did you know that? I’m not kidding. Those are Russian. You didn’t know that did you?" Then we’d go down to Lake of the Isles and sit on the train bridge, have a couple more beers, and look at the sunfish. Saturday July 9th, 1989: Las Vegas, Nevada. Static Taxi played last night at a club called T-Mex and we have another show tonight at a redneck bar named Doc & Eddy’s. Bob and I are sitting around our motel room. Room 19. I’m asking Bob stupid questions. He’s flipping through those free stripper newspapers. He really digs them. He collects them. He's got three it looks like, and he looks at them constantly. The only time he ever looks up is to the race on TV or when one of my questions is extra preposterous. "Anything in them things?" I ask. "All it is advertising, that’s all it is." He informs me, eyes dead set on the paper. "All ads?" I question, over from the second bed. "Uh-hmm." Bob replies earnestly. He puts one down, picks up another, puts that down, picks up the first one again, puts down the first one just for a second, picks it up again, etc. Then sometimes he picks up the third one and appears to be making some kind of comparison with the first. "Do you think you’re weird Bob?" I ask, laughing. "Nuh-uh, but I don’t think I’m normal either." He says innocently. Date: Wed, 13 Apr 2005 15:56:37 -0400 To: chugchanga-l@chugchanga.org From: spamless@aol.com Subject: Replacements story redux Hi all: Sorry to revive a long-dead thread, but I talk to Peter Jesperson occasionally for work so I asked him about whether or not the Replacements really threw their masters in the river. The definitive answer is below. Best, Mara <> From: "Maureen Conklin" Date: Wed, 23 Mar 2005 08:39:17 -0600 What ever happened to Carton (as in, "Carton's asleep at the wheel")? yours, Mo ================== ~ Twinkle, dammit! ~ __________________________________________________________________________ III. PAUL (For all the latest Paul Westerberg news, as well as show reviews from every town, check out Kathy's page at http://www.paulwesterberg.com) Date: Mon, 16 May 2005 11:52:11 -0700 From: "Oppenheimer, Hansi" [Hansi is putting together a documentary on PW and the Replacements.] We should have a :60 promo cut in about 4 weeks. I'm going to shop it around and will be selling stickers to raise funds too. The footage looks great! But I need early photos of the Mats and MPLS if anyones got them (that they have the rights to) since most of my stuff is of current PW and Tommy tours. Folks can send them to me digitally at Troubledgirlfilms@yahoo.com. I'll send you a copy, when its done, of course! You can see my page at http://www.myspace.com/troubledgirlfilms and the blog for the film at http://blog.myspace.com/troubledgirlfilms WELCOME TO BESTERBERG Twin-City Troubadour's Best Of Available May 17 >From Rhino Records LOS ANGELES -- You are now entering BESTERBERG, home to 20 classics from former Replacements frontman Paul Westerberg. Rhino Records assembles the singer-songwriter's best songs along with previously unreleased and rare tracks for Westerberg's first solo-career retrospective, available May 17 at regular physical and digital retail outlets and at www.rhino.com for a suggested list price of $18.98. BESTERBERG: THE BEST OF PAUL WESTERBERG includes choice selections from five of Westerberg's solo albums -- 14 Songs, Eventually, Suicaine Gratification, Stereo, and Come Feel Me Tremble. Featuring such indispensable tracks as "World Class Fad," "Love Untold," "It's A Wonderful Lie," "Let the Bad Time Roll," and "What A Day (For A Night)," this collection confirms Westerberg's versatility as a singer-songwriter who can shake the room with sweaty abandon one moment and break your heart the next. In addition to album tracks, BESTERBERG also brings together Westerberg songs that have appeared on soundtracks: "Dyslexic Heart" from Singles: Motion Picture Soundtrack, "A Star Is Bored" from Melrose Place: The Music, "Stain Yer Blood," from Friends: Music From The TV Series, and a cover of The Beatles' "Nowhere Man" from Music From And Inspired By The Motion Picture "I Am Sam." Several rarities round out BESTERBERG, including a pair of outtakes from the Eventually sessions ("All That I Had" and "C'Mon, C'Mon, C'Mon"), an alternate mix of "Once Around the Weekend," as well as "Seein' Her," and "Man Without Ties," which first appeared as B-sides on the U.K. single release of "Knockin On Mine." The album's insightful and candid liner notes include a track-by-track commentary penned by Westerberg. "This tune was written for a girl named Kelly from Boston to help launch her country music career," writes Westerberg about "Dyslexic Heart." "Unfinished, it was a bit too cutesy for me. Nevertheless, when Cameron Crowe called, I added the 'na na na na's,' and he dug it for his film. So I lied and said I wrote it for Singles." Paul Westerberg burst onto the American underground music scene in 1981 as the singer and chief songwriter for Minneapolis' The Replacements, disbanding the acclaimed group ten years later to embark on a solo career. Since then he has recorded six solo albums, as well as two albums and an EP recorded under his pseudonym Grandpaboy. He is currently on tour supporting his latest album, Folker, which was released in 2004. BESTERBERG: THE BEST OF PAUL WESTERBERG 1. DYSLEXIC HEART 2. KNOCKIN ON MINE 3. WORLD CLASS FAD 4. RUNAWAY WIND 5. THINGS 6. SEEIN' HER 7. MAN WITHOUT TIES 8. A STAR IS BORED 9. STAIN YER BLOOD 10. LOVE UNTOLD 11. ONCE AROUND THE WEEKEND (Alternate Mix) * 12. ANGELS WALK 13. IT'S A WONDERFUL LIE 14. LOOKIN' OUT FOREVER 15. NOWHERE MAN 16. HIGH TIME -- Grandpaboy 17. LET THE BAD TIMES ROLL 18. WHAT A DAY (FOR A NIGHT) 19. ALL THAT I HAD * 20. C'MON, C'MON, C'MON * * Previously Unissued Date: Sun, 27 Feb 2005 23:25:29 -0800 (PST) From: "Valerie E. Polichar" Here's the set list for Paul Westerberg at the Belly Up in Solana Beach, California (San Diego area), 2/27/2005. I got all but one: 1. Merry Go Round 2. Someone Take the Wheel 3. ?Thunder? I'm not sure what this song was. Only lyric fragments I caught were "cross the river," "live forever," and "kiss tomorrow." It's probably something I know well and will be embarrassed when you identify. 4. Making Me Go 5. Let the Bad Times Roll 6. No Place For You 7. As Far As I Know 8. Take Out Some Insurance on Me Baby (Beatles) 9. AAA (with a bit of Anyway's All Right in middle) 10. Final Hurrah 11. Only a Hobo (Bob Dylan) 12. Achin' to Be 13. Little Mascara 14. Heart of Stone (Rolling Stones) "Here comes the lead of my life..." [it was a pretty smokin' solo!] 15. Kansas City Star (Roger Miller) "That's the best weed I've ever smelled in my life" 16. Valentine 17. First Glimmer of Light 18. Crackle & Drag 19. Skyway [crowd goes utterly nuts, having yelled for this all night] 20. What a Day For a Night 21. Waitress in the Sky [took off his tie at "she don't wear no tie", and kicked the drum set, hard, several times] 22. "Uhh... this is a true-life story.. about.. uh.. him.. and.. uh.. her." Love Untold 23. Another Girl, Another Planet 24. Whole Wide World (Monkees) 25. Kiss Me on the Bus 26. Now I Wonder 27. Can't Hardly Wait ENCORE: Comes out wearing false mustache... 27.5 Can't Hardly Wait reprise Paul slips and falls on his ass. "This is the slipperiest stage we've ever played on." 28. I Think I Love You (Partridge Family) 29. Knockin' on Mine "Thank you very much. We've got something else to do now." 30. MPLS "You can sing. I don' wanna." 31. Born For Me (duet with some cute little pregnant blond chick in a cowboy hat, dunno who she was) 32. High Time Cheers! for me it's high time I went to bed... Valerie Polichar Date: Mon, 14 Mar 2005 10:00:35 -0800 (PST) From: todd mcdowell Just saw Paul in Denver for the first time since 14 Songs. It was a great show with the typical ultra brilliant moments like the final two songs, Can't Hardly Wait and Folkstar. Paul looked like he was having a really good time despite a fully bandaged leg which required him to take his pants off during the second half. The Odgen was packed and Paul was very appreciative yelling, "I love you!" to the crowd during Folkstar (I think it was Folkstar). Anyway, Paul seemed to be in fine form and loving touring once again. Thanks for keeping the feel alive, Todd McDowell From: SunKing23@aol.com Subject: Re: [SKYWAY] Paul Westerberg, St. Andrew's Hall 22 April 2005 Great show. Early show. Lasted over two hours. Our party arrived at St. Andrew's Hall in Detriot (sic) around 7:25 p.m. and PW and his band took the stage not five minutes later. A spry performance all the way through, including Paulie kicking over his amps and microphone stand (repeatedly for the latter) and knocking out several covers ("I Think I Love You", "Different Drum", "Only a Hobo") and the best fucking encore i have ever experienced @ a Rock N' Roll show. The remainder of the set was "Skyway," "Here Comes a Regular," "Alex Chilton," Neil Young's "Don't Cry No Tears," and "Left Of the Dial". "A-" for this concert. I can only want him to do a return visit if he does another leg of this tour. Peace and Happy Earth Day--Happy birthday to my good friend Jill in Phoenix today. Yours, etc., +<:-P <--Pope Nick, Executive Secular Consultant To the Swiss Navy From: "David & Kathy Ritter" Date: Thu, 28 Apr 2005 17:02:22 -0400 Something from the Neil Young Rust list. I thought you might like. Take care, David From: "Sal" It's not often that Paul Westerberg comes up on the Rust List so I thought I'd pass this along. I saw Paul last night at the Supper Club here in NYC. Very early in the show when asking for requests he jokingly offered to play a 23 minute long version of "Down By the River" and then before you knew it he and his band blasted into a terrific take of "Don't Cry No Tears". I never took the man to be a huge Neil fan, but I guess he is. It was an early highlight in an evening full of them. Simply amazing show. From: "Drew A. Blank" Newsgroups: alt.music.replacements Subject: Does Folker really flow harmonically? Date: 17 Jan 2005 21:30:11 -0800 Harp: Your new album was originally supposed to have been released last year shortly after Come Feel Me Tremble and Dead Man Shake. Why the delay? Paul Westerberg: I kinda wanted to keep firing 'em out after taking a hiatus for three years. But Vagrant felt there was some life left in the other albums so we decided to wait. It probably wasn't a hundred percent complete last fall, anyway. Like the last song, "Folk Star" I wrote that afterwards. As I was writing the other albums every now and then I would write one specifically for the Folker record. I wanted the songs on there to flow together, keywise and harmonically. This is the first time I ever took any real time to make a record flow like a classical piece would. Where the keys kinda go in a circle and stuff. Date: Thu, 03 Mar 2005 14:02:48 -0800 Subject: MP3s of Paul Westerberg on Jonesy's Jukebox From: jade robledo Another item that you probably already know about, but just in case . . . A link to MP3s of Paul's visit to Steve Jones' (ex-Pistols) radio show in LA: http://paulwesterberg.proboards23.com/index.cgi?board=generalpw&action=display&num=1109198212 Jade __________________________________________________________________________ IV. TOMMY From: JohnFA2@aol.com Date: Fri, 4 Feb 2005 10:27:18 EST Subject: Fwd: The Irreplaceable Tommy Stinson (from the post) The Irreplaceable Tommy Stinson By Richard Harrington ICONIC AS BOTH bands are, differences between indie-rock standard bearers the Replacements and hard rockers Guns N' Roses would seem too huge to allow much commonality. After all, Minneapolis's much-beloved 'Mats never came close to reaching the level of commercial success attending Axl Rose and Co., never selling more than 100,000 copies of any of their eight albums. True, both bands seemed to have an appetite for self-destruction, but somehow you'd never imagine a musician from one band showing up in the other. Meet Tommy Stinson, who started his career in 1979 when his 20-year-old brother, Bob, taught him to play bass so he could join the band rehearsing in the basement of the Stinson home. Tommy was 12, 14 when he started playing in clubs and touring. By the time he was 24, the Replacements were history, with a legacy that included those eight albums (one, "Let It Be," considered a rock classic) and a tragi-comic reputation for live shows that imploded in aggressive, alcohol-fueled shambles. Cut to 1998 and an invitation from a Mr. Rose to fill the bass slot previously held by Duff McKagan. Welcome to the jungle, indeed. "I didn't really ponder the enormity of it until I played a few shows with them, and then it was like, "Oh, jeez, this is like [expletive] bananas!'," Stinson recalled recently from Burbank, Calif., where he's lived for the last dozen years. Enormity "in a good way," the 38-year-old Stinson adds, "like, 'I can't believe to how many people Axl's like a [expletive] rock icon, though he's still too young to be a rock icon!' The whole thing is pretty crazy, but I didn't think about that when I first joined. I thought it just seems like kind of a cool thing, I should check this out." Of course, there is quite a difference between the size of venues Stinson plays as a solo act -- he'll be at the intimate Iota on Friday -- and those he plays as a member of Guns N' Roses -- arenas and soccer stadiums. "It's a cool thing for me, and I get to wear as many hats as I want to in this life," Stinson says. "I've worn a couple of different hats now, and I like the way all of them fit for different days." Actually, hats probably don't fit too well on Stinson's head, which still sports the spiky hair that made him one of the few genuine heartthrobs of '80s indie-rock. One suspects this did not hurt his prospects when Rose came calling, especially since Stinson has admitted that he was no more of a Guns N' Roses fan than Rose was a Replacements fan. Still, he's probably surprised that eight years after joining the band, Guns N' Roses has yet to release an album (its last album of new material came out in 1993) and has done minimal roadwork (the revamped band's only tour ended disastrously in December 2002 when Rose failed to show for a Chicago concert). On the other hand, that left Stinson plenty of time to record "Village Gorilla Head." Though Stinson's first post-'Mats album was released in 1993, it came out under the group name Bash and Pop; a 1997 album under the band name Perfect wasn't even released until last year. "Village Gorilla Head" is the first album to actually sport Stinson's name, not that he was actually looking for a solo career. "When I got into GNR, I threw myself fully into it," he says. "And after being in it for a while, I realized that there was time to do other things, and I could do whatever I want and still be in GNR." And, yes, the long-awaited GNR album, "Chinese Democracy," is apparently on the horizon, though some suspect we'll see democracy in China long before we see the 10-years-in-the-making-and-counting project. The latest rumor is April, but that didn't come from Stinson. "There's nothing that I can divulge, but suffice it to say that when it does come out, we'll tour behind it." The only hint Stinson drops is that the album's awesome. "The cool thing about it, which was also the biggest learning experience for me, was the collaborative effort," he explains. "It really was eight guys writing a record together, eight guys from absolutely different places with regard to their musical backgrounds. Axl really produced this record himself in that he got all of us to bring things to the table and put us in a position to write together." "I never knew the Nine Inch Nails camp, so I wouldn't have had a chance to work with people like [guitarist] Robin Finck and collaborate on what I think is going to be a really amazing record. Axl's obviously a great singer, but his real gift is the way he can pull people together and get the best out of them. Hopefully it will be worth the wait." At Iota, Stinson will be playing with guitarist Dave Philips, who used to be in Perfect and plays in Pixie Frank Black's other band, the Catholics. Black also played a role in "Village Gorilla Head," which mostly consists of songs Stinson had written over the last five years. When the Pixies took their reunion tour to Europe in summer 2003, Black let Stinson use his home studio. "It's very expensive to make a record these days, and I was basically given a studio and space to do it for very, very cheap," Stinson says. Though it features a few guests -- drummers Gersh (who played in both Bash and Pop and Perfect) and Josh Freese from A Perfect Circle, GNR keyboardist Dizzy Reed and guitarist Richard Fortus, and Philips -- "Village Gorilla Head" finds Stinson handling all the lead vocals and bass, some guitar and keyboards, and even some of the backing vocals on what is his most personal album to date. The album evokes multiple influences, from Faces/Stones-style swagger, Johnny Thunders-like punk and Dylanesque folk to meditative pop ballads and a trip-hop-style title track that features sax, cello and piano. The oldest track, album closer "Someday," dates back a decade and includes the line "someday something of use will come of the blood and the blues of this wasted youth." Incidentally, Perfect's only album, "Seven Days a Week," finished in 1998, was finally released in September on Ryko as "Once, Twice, Three Times a Maybe." It was originally recorded for Restless, which had released Perfect's EP, "When Squirrels Play Chicken," in 1996. "When we got through mixing, the record company started getting cold feet about how they were going to promote it," he explains. "Then the GNR thing came up, and some other things, and I knew they were about to shelve it and not do anything good by it. It was a bit of a bummer, and I didn't write anything for about a year after. . . . Now, Ryko's put it out, and I hope it sells and people like it." Ryko put it out because it now owns the Restless catalogue, which leases much of the Twin-Tone catalogue. As a result, later this year, Ryko will release the first four Replacements albums in digitally remastered form, including "Sorry Ma, Forgot to Take Out the Trash" (recorded when Stinson was 14), "Stink," "Hootenanny" and "Let It Be." As for a possible Replacements reunion, Stinson is inclined to let it slide even as "I appreciate the whole Replacements legacy that we left behind. When I turned 30, I had not so much an epiphany but a realization that it's all been really good, that I've been pretty blessed with what I've been able to do and the places I've been able to go and people I've met and all that." But there had always been certain tensions with the group's domineering singer and songwriter Paul Westerberg, who didn't help matters a few years ago by claiming a potential 'Mats reunion had been thwarted because Axl Rose wouldn't let Stinson do it (untrue, Stinson insists). There were other blocks as well: Bob Stinson, who had been fired from the band in 1986 for substance abuse, died of an overdose in 1995; his "replacement," Slim Dunlap, has kept a fairly low profile leading his own bands. Original drummer Chris Mars hasn't recorded since 1996 and has been pursuing a successful career as a visual artist. "There are multiple issues," Stinson says, "and I don't necessarily think that Paul or I probably actually have the time to do it over the next couple of years. I just saw him a couple of weeks ago working on some track for some cartoon thing he's doing [the Sony Pictures animated feature 'Open Season'], and I've got my hands full with my record stuff and GNR coming up." Sounds like Stinson's not that anxious to revisit the past. "Not really," he admits. "I'll be honest: If they were going to bandy around the kind of cash that they were throwing at the Pixies, I might have to think about it. But realistically speaking, I'm not overly keen on going back and playing 'I Will Dare' again. I've played that a thousand times, I don't really need to play it again. If people miss it, I'm sure Paul will play it when he comes to town." In fact, Stinson includes no Replacements or GNR songs in his repertoire. "If I'd sung or written any of those songs, I would totally do them, but I didn't," he explains. "I do my thing, though you might hear a Partridge Family song, you might hear a Pretenders song, you might hear any number of things from me." It's been more than a quarter century since the Replacements' "Sorry Ma, Forgot to Take Out the Trash" earned the group its reputation as the ultimate basement band (the cover of 1984's "Let It Be" found them posing on the roof of the Stinson home). For more than a decade, they toured in vans, playing for little or no money even as they earned the undying devotion of small cadres of fans and critics. Now, Stinson's 15-year-old daughter, Ruby, is in GarageBand -- but only when she turns on her Apple computer. GarageBand is a program that, Apple promises, "turns your Mac into an anytime, anywhere recording studio packed with hundreds of instruments and a recording engineer or two for good measure." Which is very different from Tommy Stinson's garage-band upbringing, and for which he's thankful. "I don't know that I could actually stomach the thought of her going through what I've gone through to do what I do," he says. "I like my gig, I like that I'm a musician, I enjoy it a lot, but it's not an easy road by any stretch, no matter how gifted you may be. It would be hard for me to imagine her going down that road as I have, through the same trials and tribulations and heartbreak and blah, blah, [expletive] blah." Anyway, the Replacements were so long ago and Stinson doesn't actually spend much time discussing the hard road with Ruby. "She's into the new stuff on the radio, and she hears enough about it from reading stuff about me in the press." From: "Flor Batin Jr" Newsgroups: alt.music.replacements Subject: Paul Westerberg in Contra Costa Times Date: 22 Feb 2005 23:54:36 -0800 Concert review: Alt-rock icon Westerberg's still bloody got it By Tony Hicks CONTRA COSTA TIMES Paul Westerberg was halfway through a song Monday night, on his second guitar in about two minutes, when the thing went out again. He turned as if to look for his roadie, then calmly pulled the strap over his head, holding the guitar by the bottom ... and suddenly smashed it over his amp, sending splinters everywhere. Then he pleasantly turned back to the mic and kept singing, ignoring the roadie holding a towel, waiting to stop the blood running down the side of Westerberg's head from a shrapnel wound. Then, looking dazed and mumbling to the crowd that he might have to go, since he "(expletive) split my head open," Westerberg abruptly took his next guitar, knelt down, and held it out for his bassist to repeatedly try kicking in two. While they were still playing. So much for Paul Westerberg, gentle folk singer. The whole thing was absolutely beautiful for fans of the Replacements, the legendary '80s Minneapolis alt-rock band fronted by Westerberg. It was a band that drank, fought, and made enough amazing guitar rock for some to believe it would become America's Rolling Stones, until the band fizzled around 1991. Westerberg has since made some good rock music, and some hit-and-miss, slowed-down acoustic stuff. He's become a father, stopped drinking, started again, and done solo tours that didn't produce much spark. Which is why seeing him have some loud, sloppy fun Monday at the Great American Music Hall was such a great time. Anyone who showed up to see the Paul Westerberg whose last record, "Folker," made it sound like he'd given up the rock ghost, had to be disappointed. In two hours, Westerberg rolled through old Replacements' songs, knocked out some sweet acoustic music, destroyed gear, and admonished his band for sounding like "a drunken Holiday Inn band," right after which he laughed and said "Hey, I saw Tommy a couple weeks ago and I didn't (expletive) recognize him." He was referring to old Replacements baldpate Tommy Stinson, now stuck under contract and paralyzed in the hard rock hell that is Guns N' Roses. Warming up with "Merry-Go-Round" and "Someone Take the Wheel," from the Replacements' last record "All Shook Down," Westerberg came out looking appropriately not put together, in some kind of beanie, sunglasses, a green coat and red, black and white scarf. By the time he got to "Bad Times Roll," he was back in classic form -- a bit ragged around the edges, but clearly bringing out the roots-influenced riffs that play canvas to his signature vocal choruses. He introduced the Replacements' "On the Bus" by pointing out "it reached No. 97 on the charts," dragging the song along until he took the guitar solo, coming alive with a brief and powerful burst of noise. Westerberg still brings that slight hesitation on stage that suggests maybe he doesn't always know what he's doing, but will eventually land on his feet, which leads to great moments. After getting pushed by his band through a good "I'll Be You," he dropped his guitar, looked around, and announced through the feedback "It's hotter than two rats (expletive) in a wool sock. Whaddaya want to do now?" Destroying what started out as a beautiful version of "Skyway" was, ironically, one of the night's best moments. His white guitarist walked back next to the black drummer and started to shake some maracas, sending Westerberg into a brief calypso episode, before stumbling and laughing. "I knew it was a white man shaking those," before trying to go back to the song. The next five minutes featured Westerberg trying to apologize, while the guitarist complained. Naturally, they couldn't get the next song right either, with Westerberg finally cursing his band. Things settled down by the time they played "Love Untold," which morphed into the Partridge Family's "I Think I Love You." Then, after big crowd favorite, "Can't Hardly Wait," came the guitar-smashing bloodletting during "I Will Dare." It was almost like a Replacements' show by then. With a brief acoustic interlude, Westerberg and band finished strong with an inspired "Alex Chilton," and with the song so many screamed for all night, a powerful version of "Left of the Dial," which, of course, inspired huge screams with the part about San Francisco being better than L.A. The only thing missing by show's end were the rest of the Replacements. Maybe next time -- if he can keep from bleeding to death. Tony Hicks is the Times pop music critic. Reach him at 925-952-2678 or thicks@cctimes.com. Date: Thu, 03 Mar 2005 12:04:54 -0800 Subject: LA Times article on Tommy Stinson From: jade robledo >From the Los Angeles Times, Calendar Section, March 3rd to help promote a show at the Hotel Café (1623 1/2 N. Cahuenga Blvd, Hollywood) at 11 pm on Friday, March 4th. Nowhere else to go but forward It was a fast start for Tommy Stinson and the Replacements. His solo career has been another matter. By Susan Carpenter Times Staff Writer March 3, 2005 When Tommy Stinson released his first solo album, his goals were modest. The former bass player for legendary '80s rockers the Replacements wanted to begin making his own records, to find a label, to build an audience. The results, unfortunately, were equally modest. Since Sanctuary Records released "Village Gorilla Head" last August, it has sold just 15,000 copies and received almost no radio airplay "There's always an excuse for why. All you can really do is say, 'OK. Cool. I made another record, put it out, toured, and I'm going to keep doing it because that's what I do,' " said Stinson, who's scheduled to play a solo show at the Hotel Café on Friday. Now 38, Stinson was just 12 when he and older brother Bob formed the Replacements in their Minneapolis basement. He was 13 when they fleshed out the lineup with drummer Chris Mars and singer Paul Westerberg, 14 when the band made its recording debut with "Sorry Ma, Forgot to Take Out the Trash," 15 when the group started getting a lot of attention and 18 when they reached their creative peak, releasing the seminal punk album "Let It Be." When the band split up, the Replacements had eight records to their credit. Stinson was only 24. He now lives in Los Angeles. In the 12 years he's been here, Stinson has never had a car; he gets around via bicycle and public transit. He still "gets his drink on," he said, but not to the point of stumbling around onstage, as the Replacements were known to do. His thin frame and face topped with tousled two-tone hair, his wrist carrying a cluster of jewelry, Stinson is still very much the rocker. In the mid-'90s, he formed the short-lived groups Bash & Pop and then Perfect. Since 1998, he's been the bass player for Guns N' Roses. Musicians from each contributed to "Village Gorilla Head," including Perfect drummer Gersh and Guns N' Roses' keyboardist and guitarist, Dizzy Reed and Richard Fortus. For his part, Stinson not only plays bass on the record but six-string guitar, keyboards and, on one track, drums. He also sings - both lead and backing vocals. "I wanted to switch it all up," Stinson said, "not just say, 'Here's the one good song and eight others that sound like a crappier version.' " As a whole, he has succeeded. His first solo record is a multifaceted life snapshot of lessons learned the hard way. The record is rock with a spit shine - its guitar-driven melodies steeped in disappointment, its lyrics ping-ponging between pessimism and hope. Vocally, it's clear Stinson's picked up some tricks from Westerberg. His delivery has the same energy, sneer and sarcasm of his former bandmate, but there's an endearing, wounded-puppy sensitivity beneath it all, belying a life that's had a lot of downs along with its ups. Stinson credits the Replacements with saving him from a life of delinquency. Before forming the band, he'd been arrested twice for stealing. Later, the band caused a family rift when Stinson sided with his bandmates to throw his own brother out of the group. Bob later died from alcohol abuse at age 35, in February 1995. Fourteen years since the group's disintegration into alt-rock also-rans, Westerberg in particular remains a source of bitterness and disillusionment. Stinson and Westerberg saw each other for the first time in eight years in January, when the two collaborated on music for Sony's upcoming animated feature "Open Season." Ask Stinson about future collaborations with Westerberg, however, and his mood quickly darkens. Will there be a reunion tour? "No," he said, directing his full attention to the meatless burrito he was eating at the 101 Café in Hollywood. "No," he repeated without further prompting. It wouldn't be fun? "No." After a long pause, Stinson explained. "If they were throwing the kind of money at us like they were throwing at the Pixies, I would have to look into it because I'm in this to obviously sell records and make a living, but they're not," Stinson said. "And would it be fun even if they did throw that kind of money around? I don't know. It doesn't really entice me. Do I really want to go out and play 'Alex Chilton' again? I've done that. I don't know if I want to play with Paul live again because I've done that." At Westerberg's initiative, a Replacements box set is in the works, but Stinson is getting involved only because "otherwise I'll get screwed," he said. Stinson seemed much happier on the subject of Guns N' Roses and his work on one of the most talked about unreleased records in history, "Chinese Democracy." He and the other seven members of the group worked tirelessly on the album from 1998 to 2002. "There are so many different musical textures and different things going on, you can't pinpoint it as just another drugs, sex and rock 'n' roll record, which is kind of what they celebrated back in the heyday. There's elements of that sort of a musical vibe in a way, but it's a lot more diverse," Stinson said. "That record's really close to being completed and put out," he added, but declined to guess when exactly that will be. "It's been scheduled every month for the last 10 years," he deadpanned, adding that once the record's out "there will be a flurry of chaos that I'll be thrown into." Until then, he's focusing on his own music, which has been getting a slight boost from local station Indie 103.1, which added Stinson's "Moment Too Soon" last fall. "It's Tommy Stinson," Indie 103.1 music director Mark Sovel said of his rationale for adding the song. "I grew up on the Replacements, and even if the record wasn't getting widespread play, it was still good songwriting and a good record. If he doesn't deserve a shot, who does?" Susan Carpenter can be reached at weekend@latimes.com. Copyright 2005 Los Angeles Times Date: Tue, 8 Feb 2005 09:10:34 -0800 (PST) From: Derek Robertson Subject: great tommy show I was just writing to tell you how awesome the tommy show was at Local 506 in Chapel Hill, NC on Saturday. He was everything I expected, very energetic and humorous. I thought it was just going to be an acoustic show which there was alot of but there was also electric stuff too. Dave Phillips was along with him, Tommy joked about Dave being the only one that would go on tour on the winter. I'm really glad that he was with him because he sounded really good playing slide. The set was awesome with some songs from Village Gorilla Head and songs from the Perfect album that recently came out, which I love. They did a great cover of Big Star's Nightime. I never thought I'd hear someone cover that one. Later into the set tommy said he was bored and to follow him to bar for a drink. At first people were kind of like what the hell but he said get over here fuckers. He had a drink and started playing acoustic songs at the bar, it was great! He did cover of come on get happy which everyone sang along. He finally back on stage for a couple more songs. We all got him to come back on for an encore in which he played a couple of Bash n Pop songs, Nothing and Friday Night is Killing Me. I was very pleased to hear those. It was an amazing show and I'm so glad I got to see him. Now if I could just see Westerberg! Date: Mon, 7 Mar 2005 11:14:10 -0800 From: "Oppenheimer, Hansi" To: "Matthew Tomich" Tommy @ Hotel Café 3/4/05 I was able to shoot almost TS's entire show Friday night. I was sitting in the front and rolling non-stop. TS seemed to be playing to the camera. I've heard he doesn't like to be video or audiotaped, but he didn't seem to be bothered by it Friday night. The show was really good and I got some great stuff. But my favorite footage is when he did his set from the bar. The bar was at the other end of the club and it was so dark that I couldn't see him at all, so I turned on my camera light. I had no idea how bright it was and it lit up the room like a fucking floodlight blinding him and making everyone turn around and gawk at me. He yelled, "You're fired, fool" and gave me the finger. I was laughing and like "Oops, sorry, man!" After that I was kind of afraid to keep shooting, so I missed about 4 more songs. But it was pretty fucking funny, I thought. From: "Charles Ford" Newsgroups: alt.music.replacements Subject: Tommy Stinson/SNL I haven't watched in awhile, but in tonight's episode of Saturday Night Live (Ashton Kutcher host) a Tommy Stinson flyer clearly appears on the pole during the first commercial bumper.. Other's have mentioned this before, so it must be a regular thing.. Charles __________________________________________________________________________ fin. "The better the singer's voice, the harder it is to believe what they're saying." - David Byrne