The Replacements' Bob Stinson's Death is Loss of Inspiration

The Replacements' Bob Stinson's Death is Loss of Inspiration

2.23.95 By Jon Bream; David Chanen; Staff Writers, for the Minneapolis Star Tribune

It took the Replacements only 30 seconds to get discovered.

Peter Jesperson was working at Oarfolkjokeopus, a record store in south Minneapolis, when singer Paul Westerberg handed him a demo tape. Jesperson, cofounder of the influential Twin/Tone Records, didn't even make it through the first song before he realized this band was it.

R.E.M. certainly sold more records, and Guns N' Roses was more famous. But no American band born in the 1980s was more important than those punky garage-rockers Jesperson discovered in 30 seconds.

"The Replacements were about as good as any American band there has been," said Bill Flanagan, editor of Musician magazine. "Their music didn't recognize barriers that trendier bands following them now do."

"The Replacements were the link between the '60s creative explosion of the Who and the Beatles and the whole renaissance of the '90s with Nirvana and Pearl Jam," said Los Angeles Times critic Robert Hilburn, who is on the nominating committee for the Rock 'n'

Roll Hall of Fame. "They'll never get to the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame because they didn't sell enough records, but creatively they deserve to be there."

From 1979 to 1991, the Replacements made eight albums, performed on TV's "Saturday Night Live," received a Grammy nomination, played at Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards' birthday party, toured with Tom Petty and R.E.M. and inspired hundreds of youngsters to pick up guitars and play aggressive rock with pop sensibilities.

Musical models for today's hitmakers

These underdogs from Minneapolis influenced countless bands, from the Wallflowers (featuring Bob Dylan's son Jakob) to today's alternative-rock sensations Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Hole, Green Day and Minneapolis' Soul Asylum. Crash Test Dummies, the Grammy-nominated folk-rockers from Winnipeg, recorded a Replacements tune on their debut album, and They Might Be Giants, an eclectic duo from Brooklyn, recorded a song about the Replacements as a tribute.

On the surface, the Replacements were loud, fast proto-punks churning out inebriated anarchy and cynical teen anthems. Underneath the chaos there was wit, sentimentality and a sensitive soul yearning to be understood. The death late last week of the band's founder, 35-year-old guitarist Bob Stinson, may seem like another rock 'n' roll tragedy involving a misunderstood soul.

Stinson and singer-songwriter Paul Westerberg were considered the architects of the band's sound. As with many celebrated rock bands, it took the magical chemistry between two unlikely forces to make it work.

Westerberg was a poetic punk with a record collection that ran from Kiss to Frank Sinatra to Hank Williams, and an appreciation for the craftsmanship of songwriting. Stinson was a smash-mouth guitarist with an attitude of, "Let's just scream through it." Throw in Stinson's bass-playing brother Tommy - who wasn't even old enough to drive a car, let alone get into the bars where the Replacements played - and steady drummer Mars, and it was an intoxicating mix.

Jesperson, who became the Replacements' manager, recalled his first meeting with the band at what was supposed to be a "chemical-free coffeehouse." Some of the musicians were caught with pills and liquor, and the gig was immediately canceled.

On the critics' pedestal

Fueled by alcohol and youthful enthusiasm, the Replacements made their first album for Twin/Tone - "Sorry Ma, Forgot To Take Out the Trash" - in 1981. From the beginning, critics adored the group, which Westerberg said was a "curse of death" for bands. The 'Mats, as their fans called them, released three more albums for Twin/Tone: "Stink," "Hootenanny" and "Let It Be." With the latter's release in 1984, "It was evident that a truly monumental rock 'n' roll band had arrived," according to Tom Sinclair in "The Rolling Stone Illustrated History of Rock 'n' Roll."

The Replacements' performances were often unforgettable: daring and exciting or anarchic and frustrating, depending on your perspective and sense of fun. Sometimes the 'Mats would become an attitude band, playing only songs - or snippets of songs - by other groups and none of their own material. On other occasions, they played it straight, like a great rock 'n' roll band with a taste for punk, rock, blues, country, pop and folk.

The Replacements reached their pinnacle with the 1985 album "Tim" on Sire Records, home of Talking Heads and Madonna. The Los Angeles Times called it the album of the year.

" `Tim' was a modern-day `Tommy,' " Times critic Hilburn said this week, referring to how the 'Mats captured the isolation and uncertainty of youth in much the same way the Who's classic "Tommy" had in 1969. "No one in American rock chronicled the insecurities and desires of youth more convincingly in the '80s than Paul Westerberg."

After Bob Stinson

"Tim" marked the last time Bob Stinson would play with the Replacements. He was booted out for living a life of drugs and drink. "Obviously the whole band was a mess, in a storm of turmoil, " said drummer Mars, who would leave the band himself shortly after made a final album in 1990. "But it wasn't like we had to save the band by having Bob leave."

In 1986 veteran Minneapolis guitarist Slim Dunlap replaced Stinson, and the 'Mats moved on. Their next album, "Pleased to Meet Me," has been the band's best seller at 282,000 copies, but the group was becoming more of a showcase for Westerberg and his growing talents as a songwriter.

"The Replacements were everything punk was supposed to be, a working-class band that anybody could imagine playing with," said Rolling Stone senior writer Chris Mundy.

There would be two more albums, "Don't Tell a Soul" and "All Shook Down," which was nominated for a Grammy for best alternative recording. The Replacements disintegrated onstage in Chicago in July 1991.

The band never made it big, partly because radio never embraced the 'Mats in a big way. "They had all the quality and heart of the Beatles, Stones and the Who, but they came along at a time when radio was geared toward adult sensibilities," said Hilburn. "Rock radio thought they were too crude, rude or bratty. Their sound was a reaction against '70s rock slickness, and it blurred the songwriting excellence of the band."

"I think during the course of the band it was easy for us to find scapegoats and point fingers at the record company or other bands or the fans, and that's all crap," Westerberg said in 1993 interview with the Star Tribune. "You could list a hundred reasons, but the bottom line is we didn't go for it hard enough."

Post 'Mats

Since the band's breakup, Westerberg made a solo album in 1993 and has contributed songs to the soundtracks for the movie "Singles," which was set amid Seattle's grunge culture, and TV's Melrose Place." Bob Stinson played in a number of local rock bands, including Static Taxi, the Bleeding Hearts and Sonny Vincent. Two years ago Tommy Stinson formed a group called Bash and Pop, made an album for Warner Bros. and moved to Los Angeles. Mars has released two solo albums and exhibited his visual art at galleries in California and Minnesota. Dunlap released a solo album on Twin/Tone in 1993.

As soloists, none of the Replacements has made it bigger than the 'Mats themselves, who never made it bigger than America's biggest cult band. "We did what we were supposed to do," Westerberg told the Star Tribune in 1993, "which is live to tell the tale and influence a few other bands. For every 100 people who saw us, five of them formed a band."