Jer
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Post by Jer on Sept 3, 2021 16:21:39 GMT -5
Westerberg can be a total hypocrite at times based on these kind of comments, the pot calling the kettle black. 99% of the time, HE did not want to tour, HE did not want to reunite. Exactly what I thought too. Paul speaking off the cuff, not wanting to take blame that maybe he was at least part of the problem. The three and a half guys thing is projecting. There were plenty of times that Slim was the only one up there holding it together. Guys like Paul and Pete Townsend do this all the time - say some spontaneous, controversial things that they probably don't even man and certainly haven't thought out, then people latch on.
Maybe Slim was weary of being a Replacement long before the end. Perhaps he was only along for the ride simply to help "Paulie" out, since he greatly admired his songwriting. In one of the books, Slim claimed he was not officially a member of the band, he did not have a contract or anything, thus not liable for past monetary debts to Warner Bros. Maybe it's true; remember, Ron Wood was not an official full-fledged member of The Stones until the Steel Wheels tour.
I think technically (if I remember correctly) the Ron Wood thing was that he became an "equal" partner on Voodoo Lounge, odd enough only after Wyman quit, so the other three still came out ahead financially. He was a member since he joined, but like you said, not equal till `94. (I think)
Slim probably saw the writing on the wall. Paul was all excited, but as soon as the bus fired up it's the other Paul that wishes he was home instead of whoring himself and self-medicating, and who wants to be around that? His age and experience probably gave him that perspective, but again, Paul is projecting, like "look at old Slim...doesn't wanna go whoop it up." when Paul probably didn't feel a whole lot differently when it came down to it, but now had a scapegoat as to why it didn't happen.
In Jim Walsh's book, a photographer backstage at a Replacements concert at the Gift Center in SF, recalls Slim being very depressed, saying "Why am I on tour anymore? I hate this, I hate everything that's going on". Maybe he and Chris Mars know something we don't.
I dunno, I feel like it was all spelled out pretty clearly in the book. To their credit, it paints a pretty transparent picture. I've always said, it's a great book in every way, very well done, but I hated it. I found it mostly miserable and embarrassing. I don't blame anyone for not wanting to be a part of that circus. It's a miracle that such great music came out of it, and that's the whole point I guess, but I certainly didn't walk away feeling better about any aspect of that band or Paul and Tommy as people.
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Jer
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Post by Jer on Aug 29, 2021 14:49:16 GMT -5
Everything Slim did was for the song. That's why Paul leaned on him so much on those last couple records. His playing lacked the surface flash of Bob's work, but he contributed much more to the way those songs were built in the studio. That kind of thing comes with age and experience, and Paul looked to and learned from Slim to get some of that experience. Bob was incredible, and I think the "hands on the neck" bit was more of an exaggeration than fact. I think without the personal and chemical distractions Bob would have been fine on the last three albums, but Slim's talent and knowledge of how to construct parts in the stuido is something that wasn't there before and is often lost when talking about (especially) DTAS.
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Jer
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Post by Jer on Aug 16, 2021 19:54:51 GMT -5
Husker Du and The Replacements section from The Minneapolis sound documentary. Of course, the boys don’t show up to be interviewed. There’s a funny quote from Bill Sullivan near the end of the segment though. youtu.be/uRIhtn-SWLI
Pretty great. I remember when it aired - still have the Betamax tape somewhere with SNL on it too. The mats part is good even though they're not there. But the Hüsker part is killer. I always wondered if a video of that whole show exists somewhere. And that Christgau guy from the VV ust comes off as soooo pompous. And I miss Grant.
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Jer
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Post by Jer on Aug 12, 2021 12:33:19 GMT -5
Update to my earlier post: Rhino contacted me and has fixed the coupon code so I went ahead and placed an order today. I certainly hope they've fixed their distribution issues and that those of us who pre-order, actually receive ours before those who ordered from another online retailer such as Amazon. I also hope they've tightened up their web security and our personal info doesn't fall in to the wrong hand as it did for another Mats box set. I ordered a couple of the Black Sabbath sets they've issued and got them within a week or so after the release. One was damaged, and they sent me a new one. I also complained about the PTMM placemat, thrown into a box and bent up, and they sent me a (slightly less bent) one. Their customer service is VERY slow - like weeks between responses - but they've at least come through for me eventually. It's inexcusable, but at least it's something. It's crazy because their product is so good...they just can't follow up with the service.
Pre-orders from labels with their shit together (like Merge) usually arrive on release date at the latest, and that's a bummer here, because it probably won't happen, but it's been way better than DMP, where I think I waited months for my copy. Good indie stores will have it on release date if anyone wants to go that route.
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Jer
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Post by Jer on Aug 12, 2021 7:03:58 GMT -5
Everyone's pining for a Tim package, and that would be awesome, especially if there's a remix with it. And I get the trepidation with Rhino - they've gotten better, but not great, and it's been a disaster.
But I think you're maybe getting a bit spoiled with the deluxe editions if you're not stoked about this. Before DMP would anyone have complained about this? There's a lot of stuff here that's never been heard, and the live show will sound way better than the tapes that were passed around 15 years ago. I've been as critical as anyone about what I like and don't like about these editions, but this seems like a pretty good package to me, certainly better than the PTMM box, and short of the Matt Wallace mix at least as good as DMP as far as content goes. Maybe the material/era doesn't move you as much, but as far as the breadth of the project, it's hard to beat. If you don't want to deal with Rhino, order it through your local store - it's a win/win. I wish the books were hardcover or at least some sort of heavy cardstock cover. That's my biggest gripe about these. Look for the live CD to be a 2XLP for a future RSD, or an outtakes/demos LP.
xx
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Jer
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Post by Jer on Aug 10, 2021 7:01:53 GMT -5
I think some of you are thinking that in order for a song, or a joke, or a comment, or a painting, or an attitude to have a political dimension to it, it has to be specific, like: "Here's what I think the International Monetary Fund's position on pork belly futures should be"...It's usually a lot more subtle than that. And the artist's "intent" is relatively beside the point when we're talking about how people react...
I'm all for listener interpretation, and sure, if you dig deep enough, you can apply a political angle to anything, but I think in a lot of these cases it's a real stretch. Trying to determine his intent and removing some of the more vague references, and IMO most listed fall under that umbrella, we'll narrow the field significantly.
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Jer
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Post by Jer on Aug 8, 2021 18:20:31 GMT -5
I don't want to say this, because I don't like it, but everything we do, say and are is political. It can't be avoided. Everything has a social and/or political implication. Saying you're apolitical is political. Not voting is political. Not paying attention is political. Not caring is political. "The Guns of Brixton" is a political song, and so is "Do Wah Diddy Diddy". Link Wray and Dave Brubek are political, and they don't even have lyrics. It's like air pollution; it's just there whether you want it to be or not... I respectfully disagree. Politics implies a public dimension. Much of life is personal. Private, as it should be. Making everything political is your decision to see everything through the lense of power, instead of love. Power judges, discriminates, critiques, manipulates. Love accepts, forgives, just is.Yeah, have to agree with con here. Not every song about every girl, pickup truck, acid trip, or crazy new dance fad has a political angle. Some artists go out of their way to avoid it. Choosing to sing about a girl who broke your heart isn't a statement about society. If you dig deep enough you might be able to make some inference, and there are occasions where it can be both, but it's probably a stretch in a lot of cases.
This thread is a challenge, because it's not something Paul did often. "Bastards of Young", "Hangin' Downtown", "They're Blind", "Customer" (each mentioned above) - if you really want to you make some political connection I suppose, but I think they're much more about a confused, lost, rejected guy than some grand statement about lower-middle class, post-baby-boomer generation struggles in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Even a line like "Got no wars to name us" - it's just putting the listener in a certain time and mindset, it's not a political statement about war.
The fact that so many can relate makes the connection a tempting one, and ultimately, a song means what it means to the listener, but I don't think Paul was thinking that way when he wrote them. Part of his appeal as a songwriter is that he can express what others are feeling but doesn't get on a soapbox about sociopolitical issues. I expect he'd have lost some of us if he had.
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Jer
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Post by Jer on Jul 31, 2021 6:30:54 GMT -5
Glen Campbell’s Ghost On The Canvas re-entered the chart with 3,000 sold and now has 65,000 sold since debuting last fall. (this was from an article published in 2012),this 6 months after it's release. Let's say it doubled to 130,000, and let's say those mechanical royalties are 10 cents each, Westerberg walks away with $26K. Not very much. Let's even say the album in the last decade has gone gold, then he'd get roughly $100K, and maybe the airplay royalties would net him some more money, but really not a lot. It's a lot for 2 songs, but I'm sure the dvd sales for Open Season netted him a lot more and the netflix or disney+ streaming nets him a lot more royalties. Glen Campbell's goodbye, was a ghost on the canvas...great for a indie record, probably not so great for a major label and nowhere near Rhinestone Cowboy days...the number of streams on spotify for Ghost on the Canvas pails in comparison to Rhinestone Cowboy or Wichita Lineman. And even if Westerberg did pocket all the spotify money for those 2 songs, it wouldn't be much. Yes on all this. It was a decent record sales-wise by today's standards, ok by 2012 standards, but there's not a big pile of cash there, and Paul only wrote 2 of the songs - he didn't even play on it. I'm sure they paid him up front for the songs, and he saw some modest publishing income around the release. Streaming is next to nothing - artists get a small fraction of a penny per-play, and Glen would get a share of that too. If Paul makes $2k a year on streaming for his entire catalog I'd be a bit surprised and say he's doing well. It's a horrible model that favors the companies who rake in the cash and the consumer who listens for free (or pays a subscription) but not the artists who provide the product. It's also better for artists with younger audiences who embrace technology more and don't have physical copies of the music. Paul's song was the single, so he'd get publishing royalties from airplay, but radio doesn't have nearly the impact it did a few decades ago, and I doubt that record got played a ton anyway.
The Open Season thing was certainly a good payday, but modern residuals all depend on the deal he got. He may or may not get a piece of DVD, streaming, all that. Same with Friends, but less so, because it was just one (?) song. Who knows what those deals looked like.
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Jer
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Post by Jer on Jul 25, 2021 18:57:20 GMT -5
But the boxed set stuff has to have generated some revenue for him, right? Very little, I expect. They weren't pressed or sold in great numbers, and other than publishing and maybe a little something on the side for participating, Sire probably owns most of the product/material. These labels like it when the artists get involved because it lends credibility and attention to the releases, and artists often will, to provide (or deny) the use of material, promote, etc, but it's not a big cash grab when there's only a few thousand pressed. Music industry money these days is in touring, and to a lesser extent, writing for other artists, and selling your publishing. I could see him writing for others, I don't think his publishing would go for a life-changing amount, and I'd be surprised to see him on stage again. But...he is unpredictable, and time has a funny way of changing people's minds.
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Jer
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Post by Jer on Jul 21, 2021 13:46:39 GMT -5
I don't think he ever does anything public again, ever... I feel the same. Maybe some soundtrack work or the odd song for someone else. But he is consistently unpredictable, so I don't think I'd put money on it.
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Jer
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Post by Jer on Jun 20, 2021 18:31:16 GMT -5
There is some back story about the Crowes and replacements that I never heard of but I know for a fact they went at each other back in the 90s. Long story. Sorry. Back in the day, I used to snail mail trade cd bootlegs. The BCs had a great network and I was getting envelopes in the mail and sending out cds every week. Anyway, I got to know some people from trading and one day I get a extra bonus cd in a pile. It’s labeled with a radio station call letters and the date and the words BC interview. I pop this cd in and it’s a Boston station interviewing the BCs live in the radio. After a while, the dj asks what new music are they listening to. They say something like “the new bash and pop Friday night is great. But that guy is a total F$&@g A&@hole and we were going kick the s$&t out of him and those other guys he used to play with. They’re all a bunch of (beeped out). And if they don’t apologize we’re gonna kick all their (beep.............). The whole band is ripping the Replacements and Tommy a new one. It goes on for a while and the dj finally changed the subject. But then they repeat how much they like Friday night and the replacements. It was weird because everything I ever heard out of the BCs regarding the Replacements was how much they loved them except for this one interview. I wish I knew where that cd is but Its lost and I gave away so many over the years that almost all my cds are gone anyways. Anyone know what went down between these guys to get an interview like that? I mean, I know of a hundred great things the Crowes said about the Replacements. They are big time fans Great to hear what a big fan Chris is. Regarding the interview, maybe they were just having a laugh and putting on the dj? Surely some huge Crowes fan has a copy of this interview. I have talked to a couple on Dime (looking for a show I saw them do in Atlanta for a huge pot festival way back when - Cypress Hill canceled their part of the double bill - f#king shame lol) and they were very knowledgeable and friendly. My thoughts too - I wonder if it was just some inside joke, like they knew it would get back to them and they had a laugh about it. At the same time, The Replacements certainly burned a lot of bridges. But CR recalled that 84 Atlanta show like it was one of the highlights of his young concert-going life.
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Jer
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Post by Jer on Jun 16, 2021 15:27:29 GMT -5
Chris Robinson of the Black Crowes was on the Eddie Trunk show again today. He mentioned The Replacements last time too, I think I mentioned it here, but today he went into depth about seeing them in Atlanta on the Let it Be tour, Bob Stinson in a dress, REM watching from the side, a beautiful mess. Clearly he gets it, more than just casually. That aside, the dude is a great interview - super funny and engaging.
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Jer
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Post by Jer on Jun 10, 2021 19:09:56 GMT -5
Best sequenced album ever? I'm thinking Dark Side of the Moon. So hard to say and so subjective. Great albums are all sequenced well. Sgt. Pepper, Rumours, Quadrophenia...
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Jer
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Post by Jer on Jun 9, 2021 19:55:14 GMT -5
Sequencing is so important. Some approach it as a science with tempos and keys of subsequent tracks. I approach it with a focus on momentum and spacing out the good stuff. I like to start as strong as possible, then build up, go down, and build up again. How one song sounds coming out of another is really important, but with vinyl, there's also a need to keep the two sides at a certain length - so song length is a factor too. You don't want one side at 23 minutes and the other at 17 - it makes mastering a bitch and could affect overall volume. So you're in this constant process of moving songs around to get them in groups of roughly the same collective length while juggling flow.
The process starts while demoing, and then during recording, arranging the rough mixes in a certain order to get the feel, swapping this for that, leaving this one out. Maybe that one won't make the record - better as a B-side or for later use. That one would be a good opener. By the time a decision needs to be made, you're often so sick of the material and the recording/mixing process that it's difficult to look at it objectively.
It's tempting to put all the good stuff at the top because you know it's gonna reach the most ears, but if it's all filler at the end, you'll lose the listener before the record is over. Maybe with "Left of the Dial" they knew they needed something strong late in the game. The last song is important, and with a tune like "Regular" or "The Last" it just makes a lot of sense, but it's the songs before that, late on the record, that are the toughest.
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Jer
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Post by Jer on Jun 7, 2021 14:53:58 GMT -5
Oh god, it looks like this is still happening.... wwd.com/eye/people/nat-wolff-mainstream-the-stand1234818767-1234818767/“Up next, he is set to play his hero Paul Westerberg in “The Trouble Boys,” a biopic about The Replacements. “One of the hard things with that is to do crowd scenes because you need the audience and all that stuff. So that’s still being figured out how exactly we’re going to do that,” he says. “But it’s a dream. I’m going to get to meet Paul Westerberg, we’ll see how that goes. And yeah, I know it’s an incredible story; they were these geniuses and they were almost these beautiful failures in a certain way. Like they wanted to fail, you know? And then at the same time, they ended up creating this incredible body of work and they had these really troubled childhoods and the book is just incredible.”” I don't wanna rain on anyone's parade, but how anyone thinks this is a good idea is baffling. Not only will it be terrible, but there is no audience for it.
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Post by Jer on May 11, 2021 15:27:42 GMT -5
Today on the Eddie Trunk show on SiriusXM Volume, he was doing his occasional "Bands That Should've Been Huge" show and one guy called in with The Replacements. Talked about Trouble Boys, the movie rumors, how they "started punk and hit their stride with PTMM and DTAS." They were on Eddie's radar, mostly because of "Black Diamond," but he said enthusiastically that "I'll Be You" is a GREAT song.
It was a little out of place because the show is mostly hard rock and metal, But he loves Soul Asylum and Pirner, and Cheap Trick, so there's some pockets of crossover. There's a couple things about him that I really struggle with, but any talk show about rock and roll will get my ear.
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Jer
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Post by Jer on Apr 25, 2021 9:52:04 GMT -5
It's an interesting watch - it would make a good introduction to someone who has no idea what they're about. Funny how Paul said he felt Unsatisfied "to the bone" but he's also said he hates that song, and how he says he played the solo on Kiss Me on the Bus, but Tommy Ramone said he played it.
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Jer
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Post by Jer on Apr 13, 2021 13:50:05 GMT -5
Bunch of tracks from the box set not on the initial LP. Not a dream release, but always glad to see them participating. The RSD list is ok - mostly things I have on CD that will be good on vynil. No Cheap Trick for the first time in a couple years.
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Jer
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Post by Jer on Feb 25, 2021 22:36:40 GMT -5
Old interview with Paul from 99 seems to have resurfaced. I remember seeing this years ago..... youtu.be/rq56Z7hYzr0I've never seen that. Suicane-era. It's got a dark, jaded feel to it, like he knows what's up, and it ain't great.
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Jer
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Post by Jer on Feb 18, 2021 18:05:55 GMT -5
Today is the anniversary of Bob Stinson's death. SiriusXM Volume channel is noting the event in their hourly news updates.
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