Jan 25, 2008

Music critic writes friends' oral history

'80s rockers paid deserved tribute

By Bernadette Harris / Staff Writer

The Replacements are a hard band to love.

If you saw them during their heyday in the '80s, you might have caught a show where they cut their set short, stopped a few notes into their songs or played more covers than originals. The very energy that lured many could implode into chaos at any moment.

But when they were on, they were rambunctious and reckless - costumed on occasion, drunk more often than not and ready with an arsenal of songs that could articulate any feeling. The 'Mats, as they are known to their die-hard fans, have inspired innumerable bands, even though most people can't name a single song they've released.

Minneapolis native and ex-rock critic Jim Walsh, a former John S. Knight Fellow who studied at Stanford University, never wanted to write a book about The Replacements.
But Walsh and his friends were swiftly moving into middle age.

"My friends started dying, and their stories went with them," Walsh said. "I had to write some version of this band that meant so much to so many people."

"The Replacements: All Over But the Shouting: An Oral History," released in November, is Walsh's answer to his "reluctance to write a straight narrative."

"I didn't want (the book) to be a God's-eye view," Walsh said.

Inspired by George Plimpton's oral history "Truman Capote: In Which Various Friends, Enemies, Acquaintances and Detractors Recall His Turbulent Career," Walsh has woven personal interviews with dozens of people that were in the thick of the 'Mat's 12-year career, like former manager Peter Jesperson and "replacement Replacements" Slim Dunlap and Steve Foley, along with printed interviews and articles about the band.

Writing the book in an oral history format "is as impressionistic and as (messed) up as the band was," Walsh said.

To get over the fact that he was writing about his friends, Walsh pretended that all involved were dead. After four months, the resulting book became a meticulous encyclopedia of the myths, legends and truths of what the February 1989 issue of Musician magazine called "The Last, Best Band of the '80s."

Sometimes accounts are contradictory, but that is exactly what you would expect. "Any one thing isn't the truth, this (oral history) is a living thing," Walsh explained.

Walsh had been on the Minneapolis music scene at the same time as the 'Mats. He was the lead singer of Laughing Stock (formerly known as REMs) and had become friends with the members of the 'Mats - lead singer and songwriter Paul Westerberg, drummer Chris Mars, and brothers Bob and Tom Stinson, guitar and bass, respectively.

In 1984 Laughing Stock released an album, the 'Mats released "Let It Be" (the band's breakthrough album) and Prince and the Revolution released "Purple Rain." Needless to say, it was a good year for Minneapolis music.

"Looking back, there was a greatness that was eruptive," Walsh said, "but I didn't know that we'd be talking about it 25 years later, and (people would be) genuinely interested."

After seven years of working the music scene, the then 27-year-old Walsh studied journalism at the University of Minnesota. He spent the subsequent 20 years writing about music, then "pulled the plug" on his successful music journalism career to study at Stanford. There, he found he had songs "burning to come out." He now performs again under the name The Mad Ripple.

The book has been received well, described by Nick Hornby, author of "High Fidelity" and fan of the 'Mats, as "... the book they deserve." The people interviewed by Walsh have told him that the book is one they couldn't put down, and fans have thanked him.

As for the band? True to their nature, "They could care less," Walsh said.

Walsh remarked that someone recently asked him if the time was finally right for The Replacements, who were often viewed as before their time.

"That's a little too optimistic," Walsh said.

E-mail Bernadette Harris at bharris@dailynewsgroup.com.