So I Saw This...

And it was great.  There's a boot of it up on the ftp site.  The band came out in matching western shirts and orange (really orange) cowboy hats, with Paul and Tommy wearing pink skirts.  They then proceeded to rip it to shreds for 25 or so songs, including Shiftless When Idle, Can't Hardly Wait, I Will Dare, Borstal Breakout and others.  Paul came out on drums for a shambolic encore (Tommy on guitar, drummer Freese on bass) that made stabs at Hootenanny, Detroit Rock City and Substitute (Paul did his best Daltrey until the mike broke, which he promptly tossed out to the audience). It was all brilliant.  I should also mention that I enjoyed Iggy and the Stooges, Superchunk, GBV, Rocket From the Crypt, some other bands I can't remember, and legalized marijuana.  That will probably be my last travel to a show for awhile.  At least until the next one.

Joe, You Win

I'm pre-jealous of your Replacements/GBV sojourn. It looks like it's kind of for dirty hippies, though - with the on-site camping and all - so that makes me feel a little better. Weren't you supposed to get us all tickets?

Ghost On The Canvas

Glen Campbell has a new album out called "Ghost On The Canvas." It is evidently his last album as he is slowly slipping into the Alzheimer's fog. I've never been a huge fan, but you've got to respect the man's voice and a handful of good songs. Of importance to us is that fact that the title track to the new album was written by none other than Bastardo hero Paul Westerberg. He also does a Bob Pollard song, Hold On Hope, so his hipster cred is solid.

One Man Mutiny

I've been waiting like a kid at Xmas and it's finally here! The First Tommy Platter since Village Gorilla Head!

Amen

Sorry, I just couldn't look at the seasteading post anymore.

Replacements Replacement Dead At 49

Here's the whole article from Reuters:

NEW YORK (Billboard) - Steve Foley, who played drums with the Replacements at the tail end of the alternative rock band's career, died during the weekend of August 23 in Minneapolis. He was 49. According to local media reports, Foley died after accidentally overdosing on prescription medication.

The 1990 selection of Foley, who played in such Minneapolis bands as Curtiss A, Wheelo and Snaps, as the substitute for original Replacements drummer Chris Mars has become the stuff of legend.

According to Jim Walsh's oral history "All Over But the Shouting," frontman Paul Westerberg and bassist Tommy Stinson bumped into Foley at a local bar and procured a ride from him to an audition. In the car was a copy of the brand new Replacements album "All Shook Down," prompting Westerberg and Stinson to look at each other and then exclaim to Foley, "You're already in."

Foley toured with the band until its final show on July 4, 1991, in Chicago's Grant Park. Afterward, he and his brother Kevin joined Stinson's band Bash & Pop. Of late, he was working as a car salesman in Minneapolis.

According to the Minneapolis Star Tribune, visitation will be held 11 a.m. Friday (August 29) at Washburn-McReavy Funeral Chapel in Edina, Minnesota, with burial to follow at Lakewood Cemetery.

Reuters/Billboard

A car salesman? That's rock 'n' roll reality, you bastards. Foley was also the drummer in Bash & Pop.

New Westerberg? New Westerberg!

49 minutes of new Westerberg music for .49 over at Amazon.com.

I'm on it.

A Controversy

Jay and I were discussing the lyrics of "I Will Dare" from 'Let It Be.' Jay Felt That Paul was singing "I ain't lost yet/so I gotta be a winner/bacon and cigarettes a lousy dinner," where I always thought it was 'fingernails and cigarettes.' These people suggest it is 'bacon,' but a guy here claims Paul himself told him it was 'fingernails':

I said, "Could you write, 'bacon and cigarettes, a lousy dinner'?"

He looked up at me through those thick blue Lennon glasses that have become
his solo career trademark, and asked, "What song is that from?"

"It's from 'I Will Dare,'" I reminded him.

At first I thought he was bullshitting, but he just stared at me with a confused look on his face. His eyes like vacant little commas behind blue cough drops. The silence became uncomfortable so I sang the line to him. "I ain't lost yet, so I gotta be a winner, bacon and cigarettes, a lousy dinner."

As he looked at me his puzzled look was washed away with a relieved expression. "No, no, that's not what I say," he said, like he figured out the answer to a riddle we had been working on together, "I say, 'fingernails, cigarettes, a lousy dinner.' You know? Like you're nervous and you're chewing your fingernails and smoking?"

He opened his eyes wide and made a motion like a nervous cartoon character with his teeth chattering on his fingers.

Listen for yourself. But I'm right as usual. Also, in the special place you will find the following:

Al Green - Lay It Down (new - produced by ?uestlove from the Roots)

Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin - Pershing (if the first song doesn't hook you, you can't be hooked)

My Morning Jacket - Evil Urges (Jury's still out)

Now do you like me...?

All Mats All The Time

Teenage Kicks has a very inneresting interview with Peter Jesperson about the Mats and the reissues. It's nice to see them being talked about so much lately. Hopefully I will be able to pick up 'Let It Be' sometime this weekend.

Today's Dial-A-Song

At the CD store, I ambushed the They Might Be Giants double CD of early stuff, B-sides and bonus tracks called Then, which contains the illuminating We're the Replacements. The second CD contains Lincoln, but also 18 other tracks, so I'll go ahead and put it all over there in our happy place.

The Bad News Bears?

Replacements Boots

Two 'Mats bootlegs are Fun To Play. The first is 'Shit Hits the Fans,' which can only be described as shambolic. The second, "Shit, Shower & Shave" can only be described as slightly less shambolic. Both are funny as hell.