smoe.org mailing lists
ivan@stellysee.de
| From | "Sager, Greg" <greg.sager@bankofamerica.com> |
| Subject | Re: Did someone say Replacements? |
| Date | Fri, 24 Jun 2005 03:29:55 -0500 |
[Part 1 text/plain iso-8859-1 (6.3 kilobytes)]
(View Text in a separate window)
Date: Thu, 23 Jun 2005 11:53:12 -0500
From: "Durben, Steven" <Steven.Durben@cignabehavioral.com>
To: "'audities@smoe.org'" <audities@smoe.org>
Subject: Did someone say Replacements?
Message-ID: <CD6C59E38692CC4294619611087313761AAD02A5@mccexc02.mcc_genesis.behavioral.com>
David answers Bob..
When it comes to the Replacements, pop-friendliest does not necessarily mean
best. You would likely want to stay away from the earliest records, they
are pretty punky and kind of ragged. As they evolved, they developed a more
rootsy sound. I would try out any of the following three; Let It Be, Tim,
or Pleased To Meet Me.
Yes, but Bob Hutton *likes* "pretty punky and kind of ragged". In fact, the 'Mats are right up Bob's alley. I'm surprised he's never gotten into them.
I Agree! "Don't tell a soul" may be the most pop-friendly but it's probably
one of the last to pick up. Plus, those are the "big 3".
Well, being a Minneapolis guy and Mat's fan..this is like tossing a hungry
dog a bone
"Sorry Ma":. Garage punk, but some really fun stuff. Plus is has the first
jaw drop moment from Paul, the wonderful "Johnny's gonna die". Not the
disc to start with though.
Note to Bob: "Johnny's Gonna Die" is about Johnny Thunders of the New York Dolls, Paul Westerberg's early hero and (unfortunately) lead guitarist Bob Stinson's lifestyle role model.
"Hootenany": retains some of the goofy, adolescent, fun punk...with lyrics
like "red light, red light RUN IT!!!". However, it shows Westerberg getting
more diverse and serious with a few great tracks "Color Me Impressed" and
"Within your Reach".
*Hootenanny* is their transitional album, blending the bored-kid pseudothrash of *Sorry, Ma ...* and the EP *Stink* with the less chaotic and distinctively hookier material that would become their signature sound on succeeding albums.
"Let it Be": Ah, what's their best disc? This has been discussed here
before. I say hands down this is the one (I think as many people on the
list would argue the "Tim" is the one). "Let it be" has many moments of
brilliance: Including "I will dare", "Unsatisfied" (probably my fav mats
tune) and "Answering Machine". One duff throw away track "Gary's got a
boner" but still a masterpiece to my ears.
Don't forget the elegantly wobbly piano ballad "Androgynous" that happens to be the finest example of sand-block percussion ever put to wax.
And I'm with Stewart on this one; I *love* the song "Gary's Got A Boner". The throwaway track from *Let It Be*, IMO, is "Seen Your Video".
"Tim": Very solid, holds together very well. Great stuff, nearly an equal to
"Let it be" but isn't (IMHO). Probably the second one I'd pick up. They
include a KISS cover. Buzz-saw guitarist Bob Stinson was kicked out of the
band somewhere after this disc. While they are still very good after "Tim"
the sound was never quite the same.
That Kiss cover ("Black Diamond") is actually on *Let It Be*, not *Tim*.
Being the world traveler that you are, Bob, the song that'll first catch your ear on *Tim* is their infamous putdown of flight attendants, "Waitress In The Sky". Be reassured, though, that Westerberg undoubtedly wrote this one with tongue planted firmly in cheek, since his sister was a flight attendant for Northwest Airlines.
"Please to meet me". In my book, it has a few songs ("Alex Chilton" and the
should have been a hit: "Can't hardly wait" that are stronger then anything
on "Tim". But it also has some tracks that just are not very good and sound
like the fun is forced...such as "Shooting Dirty Pool" (IMO).
Written about another one of Westerberg's heroes, "Alex Chilton" is a stone-cold classic, one of the best songs of the eighties (IMO), and it also had the ancillary virtue of bringing lots of Generation-X kids around to listening to Big Star for the first time. "The Ledge" is also an outstanding song, good enough to give "(Don't Fear) The Reaper" and "Auf Wiedersehen" a run for the money as the best rock'n'roll song about suicide. But the hidden treasure on *Pleased To Meet Me* is the hilarious, rollicking "I Don't Know". It's probably the song that best encapsulized the 'Mats' to-hell-with-it-all attitude towards fame and fortune, as can be seen in the words of the chorus: "One foot in the door / The other one in the gutter / The sweet smell that you adore? / Well, I think I'd rather smother"
I already mentioned "Don't tell a soul".
All Shook Down: has some very nice moments. I believe this was more or less
Paul's first solo disc.
The band only plays as a unit on one song on *All Shook Down*: "Happy Town".
Anyway, like Dave said. All the albums have some gems. Plus, some have
lyrics that few can pen.
Every Paul Westerberg album to date, whether with the Replacements or solo (under his own name or his Grandpaboy *nom de disque*), has its merits and is worth owning. Simply put, although his output is uneven he is unquestionably one of the greatest rock'n'roll songwriters on the planet. He knows how to fashion a hook, pretty melodies don't embarrass him, and his lyrics are clever and poignant. Even though he doesn't bring the rawk as often as he used to, his songs both solo and with the 'Mats epitomize Townshend's Law: "All good rock songs should have brains, balls, and heart."
As I said, Bob, I think that the Replacements are right up your alley. They played power pop, but they didn't follow the skinny-tie formula for a power pop band. There was nothing tidy, winsome, or wimpy about them. Their albums were recorded under the creed "ragged but right", and one suspects that there was as much Jack Daniels and Budweiser consumed during their studio sessions as their was during their legendarily shambolic stage shows. They were snotty, drunken ne'er-do-wells who were by turns too cynical and too self-doubting to be rock stars and too bored and individualistic to be punks. They've been my all-time favorite band for two decades now. Pete Townshend once said of the Sex Pistols, "I dreamed them up a million times in my head before they ever even existed," and I immediately thought of that line when I first saw the 'Mats in some hole-in-the-wall Chicago bar in the mid-eighties supporting *Let It Be*. They were, and are, the epitome of what I think a great rock'n'roll band ought to look, act, and sound like.
Gregory Sager
For assistance, please contact
the smoe.org administrators.