Dec. 31, 2011 Happy Birthday to Paul Westerberg and Happy New Year to all!
Nov. 20, 2011
I know this will be of interest to you if you've managed to find your way here (unless you came here via a link in the article, in which case...keep moving, nothing here to see). Today's Minneapolis Star Tribune included an article by Chris Riemenschneider called "Where in the world is Paul Westerberg?". It also includes a side bar summarizing some of the highlights of the past five years
. So where in the hell is Paul and what has he been doing? Here's a few bits from the piece, which Paul didn't comment for, but some other folks did:
• "He's still just hanging out in Edina," his manager, Darren Hill, confirmed with a laugh..."He made a conscious decision after his last tour to hold off and be around for his son's childhood".
• "Westerberg is in good humor, Stinson said, and "very comfortable with the life he's living. If he wasn't, he's in a position to change it up if he wanted.""
• Peter Jesperson: "He's one of those blessed and perhaps cursed people with really exceptional talent, which sets a high bar...Paul won't settle for releasing an album he doesn't feel strongly about."
Also mentioned is the upcoming biography of the band by Bob Mehr, which both Tommy and Paul participated in/collaborated on (details on this book are still TBD but Amazon.ca confirms its existence but lists its release date as August 2013, yikes, we can't wait that long!). Music-wise, Darren Hill says there's a possible Mats live box set and that while Paul won't be releasing a new record any time soon, it will happen...some day.
A reminder for MN folks that for the third year in a row, First Ave is hosting
a Mats tribute show the day after Thanksgiving. This year, it's a salute to "Sorry Ma, Forgot To Take Out The Trash", which was released THIRTY years ago. THIRTY years? Inconceivable!
Nov. 19, 2011
I can't remember the last time a recent picture of Paul was published - the photo at right is Paul with Kii Arens, who directed the "Ghost on the Canvas" video, from
an item in the Star Tribune.
There were two screenings of "Color Me Obsessed" this week (11/16 and 11/17) at the Bowery Electric in NY, with tribute shows each night after the movie. Color me bitter that I wasn't at the Wednesday show but thanks to YouTube, we can experience some highlights from the show vicariously. First though, an interesting tidbit from the Voice article on the movie, A Replacements Doc With No Replacements Music: Color Me Obsessed:
"Replacements frontman Paul Westerberg is notoriously guarded with his image and did not participate in this film and, according to his manager, is working on his own film about the band".
Well well well! That's some news. No more details than that right now, but it sounds intriguing.
And now the videos: The line-up for the Wednesday night tribute show was impressive - Craig Finn, Kevin Kinney, Matthew Ryan, Jesse Malin, Tommy Ramone, Ted Leo and more. Here's a review from
Jukebox Graduate and
a bunch of videos from the show. Below is my favorite clip, Craig Finn and Tad Kubler of the Hold Steady covering "Within Your Reach" and "Color Me Impressed" (starts around 4:30 in and kills).
And Tommy is doing press in conjunction with the GNR tour and the release of his new solo records. Interesting quote from an interview with Punknews.org on how Paul and Axl are alike: "They are both very serious and maybe read a little too much about what people say about them and think about them. I think they both carry a significant amount of baggage and they could really improve their quality of life by just letting go of it."
He was also interviewed by
the Chicago Sun-Times recently and shockingly, they asked about the possibility of a Mats reunion. Tommy's answer: "About as likely as a f---in’ Guns reunion". Alrighty then!
Finally, I've been meaning to post this video of Deer Tick (Providence-based band) doing a cover of Paul's "Mr. Cigarette" for awhile. In an interview with Metromix Atlanta (which you need to check out for the picture of the band, my goodness, those guys look like they might be able to match the Mats for on the road hard-living hijinks), lead singer John McCauley says Paul Westerberg wrote the song especially for then "At least that’s the story we got from his manager..It was pretty cool". Indeed.
Westerberg -- who has been out of the public eye for about five years now and famously didn't appear in the Replacements' video for "Bastards of Young" -- makes a surprising yet typically coy cameo appearance in the video for the title track of Campbell's acclaimed new album, "Ghost on the Canvas." The video actually starts off as a direct homage to and/or imitation of the classic "Bastards" clip, with Westerberg playing the part of the dude loafing on the couch staring at the stereo speaker. Paul reappears throughout.
Did Glen's shirt look familiar to you? PW wore a shirt remarkably like that at the 2002 solo show at The Bowery Ballroom in NYC (see photographic evidence to the right, click on the picture for a larger version). Also seen in footage from this show that was included in the "Come Feel Me tremble" movie.
Thanks to the forum posters for identifying the figures on canvas are Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard, Buck Owens and Glen himself. And thanks in particular to forum poster WeCan'tGetBetter for the screen shot below that shows the figures in detail.
We know you've been asked a lot about a reunion. Do you ever want to say, "Listen, thank you for all the love but we're just not doing this?"
We pretty much don't need to say that. There's not much of a chance of it anyway. I think that Chris [Mars, drummer] has moved on from the music business altogether. Paul and I might play again together, every couple of years we hook up and do something together, whatever. I don't think there's a need to do it. We've done it once and ... I think people would be kind of happy if we did it but at this point, I can't see any point to it. We'd have to do it where we could have fun with it and not be so mindful of the baggage that goes with it. I don't think Paul could do that. I think he's still stuck with being Paul. It would be too daunting of a task.
What do you mean by that?
When we broke up, he did his thing and I did my thing and we moved on from it. He made his records, but I think he never got around the fact that the Replacements will always be bigger than he was to become after. I'm not being cheeky about it. I wasn't Paul Westerberg. I went on to do all kinds of crap, good or bad or whatever you want to call it, but I moved on gracefully from it, more so I think. I think he's still stuck in that mindset a little bit, you know?
Sept. 25, 2011
Just a reminder to keep an eye on the "Color Me Obsessed" site to find out about the latest screenings. If you're in the NYC area, there will be two showings at
the Bowery Electric, Nov 16 & 17. Each night, the movie will be followed by a Mats tribute show, with particpiants to include Jesse Malin, Kevn Kinney, Alejandro Escovedo, Matt Pinfield, Tommy Ramone, Willie Nile, & many more. See you there?
And now Mats fans in the UK will have a chance to see the film too. It's will be showing at the
Raindance Film Festival
on Oct. 6.
Sept. 3, 2011
Yes, it has been quite some time since I updated the page. There hasn't been a lot of specific PW info to report but a few things have come along recently so here's the latest:
• Paul did a short Q & A with the Village Voice, in conjunction with the release of the Glen Campbell CD (see below for more info on that). The most salient point of interest for us fans being Paul on the possibility of releasing any new music himself any time soon: "I'm always writing and I have plenty of songs, but I think the Glen Campbell record is a bit of a test to see if people still buy records. Or go for my stuff. I'd like to go on record and say something concrete, but I can't. So, we shall see." Campbell also covered "Sadly Beautiful" on his 2088 album of covers, "Meet Glen Campbell".
• In March 2010, it was reported that Paul had contributed songs to an upcoming Glen Campbell album, including the title track, "Ghost on the Canvas". The album is coming out now, and also features another PW song called "Any Trouble". This is billed as Glen Campbell's final album and he's also doing a farewell tour in support of it. He has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease.
• If you're thinking the title "Ghost on the Canvas" sounds familiar, it's because Paul released his own version of it 2 years ago, and it is still available as part of a 6-song EP called "PW & The Ghost Gloves Cat Wing Joy Boys", released through Amazon.com.
• Rolling Stone posted a piece called
"Replacements Members Consider Reuniting" a few weeks ago, but if you read the it, you find out that's a rather optimistic painting of the situation. Nothing new, just time for the semi-annual reunion rumor to surface somewhere, I guess. Basically: "You never know, anything could happen but it seems unlikely" type stuff. Paul and Tommy trade what I assume our friendly little jabs in the article (Paul on Tommy: Tommy might be interested "because I think he needs a gig." Tommy on Paul: "He thinks I need a gig? That's funny. I got fucking three or four gigs going at any one time.").
• Aside from the usual speculation, what's of most interest (to me anyway) is Paul's mention of working on a box set: "Westerberg has spent a lot of time recently combing through his past for a planned box set. "On a whim I got to dig through some old tapes," he says. "I found one song I never put on anything for people to hear...I have to close this box set pretty soon because this could take the rest of my life just going through all these things and going, 'God, why was that there.'" Paul on releasing new stuff: "I write stuff, but I haven't written much lately...I wouldn't say I'm working on a record. I have enough stuff to release one tomorrow, but why bother? In this day and age, my thought is to make a song everyday and erase it as a sort of Dadaist protest."
• Tommy fans (and aren't we all?), as Tommy stated above, he's got plenty going on. A new CD called "One Man Mutiny" and a bunch of shows in support of it. Check out Bob Mehr's "Tough Questions for Tommy Stinson" and visit
Tommy's site for everything Tommy-related.
And finally, make sure you keep checking the "Color Me Obsessed" site
for new screenings that just might be coming to your town, there are plenty of dates coming up all over the country. And if it's not playing near you, you can always pre-order the DVD.
Glen Campbell's cover of "Ghost on the Canvas":
Paul's original version of "Ghost on the Canvas":
May 15, 2011
More free stuff! I have another pair of tickets to give away to Tommy Stinson's show at First Avenue on Friday May 20. If you entered the first time around and didn't win, I'll enter you in again this time. If you didn't enter yet, send me an email with the subject line "Tommy tickets" no later than Weds May 18 to enter. Here's an interview with Tommy in the Mpls Star-Tribune where he discusses his new record and Paul's (attempted) contribution to it. And visit Tommy's site to donwnload a free MP3 of a track called
"One Man Mutiny"
.
May 1, 2011
Congratulations to Steve Gunhus, winner of a pair of tickets to see Tommy Stinson at
First Avenue on Friday May 20. Enjoy!
I saw "Color Me Obsessed" on Thursday at the Somerville Theater, as part of the Boston Independent Film Festival. It was wonderful. Yes, I'm pretty much the exact target audience for a movie about the Mats, but just because someone has a great concept doesn't ensure great execution...the execution part is where things normally go awry. In other words, this could have sucked. And it most certainly did not. It's hard for me to imagine anyone who visits this site (and therefore has more than a passing interest in the band) not enjoying the hell out of this movie. That this movie was truly a labor of love for everyone involved was something that came through loud and clear in every frame. It was a blast for me to see some of the people I have come to know over the past 18 years (since I got online in 1993 and made a beeline for other Mats fans) up on the screen. And to see so many familiar names from this site in the list of Kickstarter backers in the credits! Massive kudos to Gorman and everyone involved in the film for telling their story (the band) and our story (the fans) right.
I'm looking forward to hearing reports from the screenings in Mpls next week. Visit the CMO blog
for news about additional screenings (details on a Michigan screening are forthcoming) and the DVD release. If you have seen the film, do take a moment to leave a comment on IMDB, which is really important as a way of spreading the word and raising visibility.
As you may know, there is no music in the film and I had my doubts about how that would work. Turns out, it worked very well and in a weird way, I think it may be a more intriguing story without it. That said, I was certainly in the mood to hear some Mats songs when I left and got my Mats fix in spectacular fashion at a gathering after the screening where Boston bands AM Stereo and The Dirty Truckers tore through a bunch of Mats tunes, plus AM Stereo's song "Bob Stinson".
Finally, I can stretch this to be Paul-related because he also has covered "Daydream Believer", so I leave you today with this delightful clip of the this week's festive gathering in London which we all wished we could have attended...Billy's Big Busk:
April 25, 2011
Free stuff! Tommy Stinson is touring and making a stop at
First Avenue on Friday May 20. If you're in the TC area and would like to go to the show, I have a pair of tickets to give away. Send me an email with the subject line "Tommy tickets" no later the Friday April 29 to enter.
Hope to see some of you at the CMO screening on Thursday!
April 5, 2011
If you're flipping through the channels and think you hear a little PW, you're not having aural hallucinations. You've likely just channel surfed by a new Payless commercial that features "Mr. Rabbit".
More news: A Boston screening has been added for "Color Me Obsessed", on April 28. Visit the movie site for details and to be the first to hear about additional dates.
March 18, 2011
Lots of news about "Color Me Obsessed" , the new documentary about the Mats and their fans. Here's a round-up of the latest info.
Upcoming Screenings:
• Saturday, March 26 @ 7:30pm (World Premiere)
Gasparilla International Film Festival, Tampa
• Saturday, April 2 @ 6:45pm
Wisconsin Film Festival, Madison/br>
• Friday, April 15 @ 6:30pm
Chicago International Movies and Music Festival
• Wednesday, May 4 (time TBA)
Sound Unseen special screening, Minneapolis, MN
(plus an
after-party at First Ave
!)
• June 13-19 (exact time and date TBA)
NXNE, Toronto, CA
Visit the CMO blog for ticket info and news on additional screenings that may be added. Or
like CMO on Facebook
to keep up with the latest happenings.
And here's a great trailer, with a bunch of familar, not-so-familiar and suprising (Tom Arnold?) fans who are interviewed in the film.
Dec. 11, 2010
Congratulations to Tim Howat, the winner of a free copy of "The Very Best of Paul Westerberg & The Replacements". Tim's son will be getting his first electic guitar this Christmas, so this book will come in mighty handy for him!
Dec. 1, 2010
A new Mats goodie for the musicans out there - a song book called "The Very Best of Paul Westerberg & The Replacements", published by Hal Leonard (visit their site for ordering info). It includes guitar tabs for 15 songs, a wide-ranging array of tunes, from "Shiftless When Idle" to "As Far As I Know":
Alex Chilton
As Far As I Know
Bastards Of Young
Can't Hardly Wait
Color Me Impressed
Dyslexic Heart
Here Comes A Regular
I Will Dare
I'll Be You
Johnny's Gonna Die
Let The Bad Times Roll
Merry Go Round
Shiftless When Idle
Skyway
Unsatisfied
And I have on copy of the book to give away to a lucky winner. To throw your hat in the ring, email me with "Book" in the subject line and make sure to include your name and mailing address. Deadline for entering is Tuesday 12/7 and I'll post the winner next week.
Nov. 18, 2010
I bring you a message from Elrod Puce:
The new pressing of the vinyl only single "This Machine" b/w "Foolish Hand Shake" is
now available. Everyone that purchases a single will receive a free instant download of "Grandpaboy's Last Stand" and "Grandpaboy's Last Stand" (epilogue). Download links will appear on your receipt.
"This Machine" b/w "Foolish Hand Shake" were cut directly to vinyl. There are no digital versions of the single available - it wasn't meant to be heard in that format.
The sleeve is more valuable than you think. You may need it one day...
And now a message from me (and First Avenue). They will be hosting a Replacements tribute at First Avenue and 7th St Entry on Friday, November 26, 2010 to celebrate the 25th Anniversary of "Tim".
In addition to having several bands covering the Mats, the evening will include a front to back performance of Tim by a house band and several guest vocalists. Visit their site for full details.
Bonus: If you live in the Minneapolis area and can attend the show, I have 5 pairs of tickets to give away, thanks to First Ave. If you're interested,
drop me an email with "Tim" in the subject line and include your name and address and on Monday 11/22, I will pick 5 winners at random.
Nov. 2, 2010
The initial run of the Mr. F single sold out but if you missed out, there will be a second run, which should be available in about 2 weeks, so stay tuned!
Oct. 29, 2010
Drum roll, please: I have news to share! We have NEW Paul Westerberg music today! The details:
This is a vinyl release - "This Machine" b/w "Foolish Hand Shake", by Mr. F (aka Grandpaboy aka PW)
• LIMITED EDITION multi-colored vinyl with picture sleeve
• BONUS: Comes with free download card which can be redeemed for the epic "Grandpaboy's Last Stand" (meaning in addition to the vinyl record, you get additional music to download!)
• $8 + shipping and handling
• Limit 1 per customer (orders for more than 1 single will not be shipped)
That's the cover at right, click on it to see a larger version. Is it me or does the face look a tiny bit like a van Gogh self-portrait? Note the "Coming soon - Son of a Depression"...a hint of things to come? We can hope.
This is being offered via nimbit music,
just visit their site to place your order, then go sit by your mailbox! And to think, I was considering mothballing my turntable just last weekend. Silly me.
Oct. 10, 2010
I know these updates are getting farther apart...but promise you that when there IS concrete Paul news, I'd be thrilled to post more often! I have been remiss in posting about Tommy Stinson's auction to raise money for Haiti, not to mention his other efforts to help out there.
From
CharityBuzz, here's an overview of Tommy's project: "Tommy Stinson, currently the bassist of Guns N’ Roses and Soul Asylum and formerly of The Replacements, is committed to aiding the fundraising and awareness building efforts in Haiti by working with the Timkatec Centers, three schools located in Petion-Ville, a suburb of Port Au Prince. The three Timkatec schools support 500 children and desperately need financial support."
"This is a First Act Paul Westerberg model guitar. It was bought by Dave Pirner at a thrift shop and given to me as a gift . It was signed by Paul Westerberg, Chris Mars, and myself in June 2010 while I was in Minneapolis recording with Soul Asylum. I left it in the box along with the duct tape on the pickup, as I thought it was charming and ultimately looked like a Replacements guitar. This guitar comes as-is. I want to thank Dave for his contribution to my cause, and Dan Murphy for shipping it for me. Thanks guys!"
The auction closes Tuesday October 12, so HURRY if you are interested. See below for photographic evidence of Paul's signing. And even if you're not interested in bidding, do click through to the listing to see a few other pictures.
Other auction items include 2 VIP Passes to Coachella 2011, an art package from Chris Mars and a couple of Tommy's plaid suits, though I don't think that being the winning bidder guarantees you will look as cool or as handsome as Tommy when you wear it. For more info n the work Tommy is doing for Haiti, including his trip there,
visit his site.
In the Mpls Star-Tribune's
article on the aution, Chris Riemenschneider notes: "The auction site has photos of Paul and Tommy signing the guitar together, which not only authenticate the signatures but are also another confirmation that the M.I.A. Replacements frontman is indeed still living on Planet Earth (and actually looking quite healthy)."
Also: I should have posted this earlier but
FILTER did a Sept. cover story
on "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia", where the cast re-enacted the Let It Be cover (complete with a shirtless Danny DeVito in the window). Click on the image at right for a big version of the cover.
May 31, 2010
Brain malfuntion on my end, I could have sworn I posted this item about Paul performing (privately) at Target Field last week, but it appears I didn't. So here it is - on Wednesday May 19, Paul played 2 songs at Target Field, for an upcoming documentary called "40 Nights of Rock & Roll." About the film, according to their website:
40 Nights of Rock & Roll is the latest undertaking of the rock-fanatic duo Steve LaBate and Scott Sloan. Over 40 continuous days in the summer of 2010 Steve and Scott will drive all over the United States to watch 40 concerts, interview 40 bands, and come up with the answer to one question:
What is the current state of Rock & Roll in America?
Paul played "Dangerous Boys" and "Time Flies Tomorrow" (by request) and was interviewed sitting cross-legged on top of the dugout. There's a very brief snippet of the interview in the video below (too brief):
On another film front, "Color Me Obsessed" is hitting in the road and pulling into Minneapolis next week. They will hosting a meet up for Mats fans at The CC Club on Sunday, June 6 @ 10am. For more info, visit the revamped CMO website, which has some great content. Check out Dave Minehan's story about Joe Strummer, very funny (click the volume knob to hear it).
March 28, 2010 Billboard reports that Paul is just one of the people Glen Campbell has collaberated with on his upcoming album entitled "Ghost on the Canvas." If that title sounds familar to you, it should. it was one of the tacks on the 6-song EP Paul released through Amazon.com last fall. In 2008, Campbell released "Meet Glen Campbell", a covers album that included "Sadly Beautiful". Other folks working with Campbell on the album include Jakob Dylan, Chris Isaak, Bob Pollard (interesting!) and Josh Freese.
April 18, 2010
SPIN posted the Bille Joe Armstrong/Paul Westerberg interview so if you missed the issue on newsstands, now's your chance to read it. Also today, a note from the makers of the Mats documentary:
Hey Minnesota Replacements fans, here's your chance to get your story in the movie: if you're in the Twin Cities area and want to talk about the Replacements in front of a camera, send an email to janradder@yahoo.com with the subject line "COLOR ME OBSESSED."
March 28, 2010 Billboard reports that Paul is just one of the people Glen Campbell has collaberated with on his upcoming album entitled "Ghost on the Canvas." If that title sounds familar to you, it should. it was one of the tacks on the 6-song EP Paul released through Amazon.com last fall. In 2008, Campbell released "Meet Glen Campbell", a covers album that included "Sadly Beautiful". Other folks working with Campbell on the album include Jakob Dylan, Chris Isaak, Bob Pollard (interesting!) and Josh Freese.
March 20, 2010
Paul published a wonderful op-ed piece about Alex Chilton in the NY Times today. "The great Alex Chilton is gone — folk troubadour, blues shouter, master singer, songwriter and guitarist. Someone should write a tune about him. Then again, nah, that would be impossible. Or just plain stupid."
March 19, 2010
Be on the lookout for the April issue of SPIN, which features Billie Joe Armstrong interviewing Paul (the theme of the issue is "Stars grill their idols"). There are three different covers so make sure you get the good one! Click on the image at right for a larger view of the cover.
A few more Alex Chilton links to follow-up on yesterday's post:
And one more thing: Check out 2 teaser clips from the upcoming Mats fan documentary, "Color Me Obsessed": the first one features The Big Takeover's Jack Rabid, and the second video includes Ira Robbins of Trouser Press, Dave Minehan and Jesse Malin. To keep tabs on the progress of the film,
check out the blog; if you're interested in being interviewed and sharing your story about the band,
contact the filmakers here. You can also find them on Twitter and
Facebook.
March 18, 2010
I had been planning to update the site this upcoming weekend, even though there wasn't any real Paul news, just to kinda say "hey". But unfortunately I now have a real reason to post, a very sad one. Alex Chilton died yesterday in New Orleans. He was 59 years old. The cause of death is believed to be a heart attack. Big Star was scheduled to play SXSW on Saturday, and take part in a scheduled panel discussion about the band called (what else?) "I Never Travel Far Without a Little Big Star". The timing is surreal. From what I understand, both the panel discussion and the show will still take place, with the show becoming a tribute show. My source: Twitter, so take it with a grain of salt.
Paul made a statement to the Associated Press:
In my opinion, Alex was the most talented triple threat musician out of Memphis — and that's saying a ton," Paul Westerberg, the former Replacements frontman, said in an e-mail to The Associated Press. "His versatility at soulful singing, pop rock songwriting, master of the folk idiom, and his delving into the avant garde, goes without equal. He was also a hell of a guitar player and a great guy."
Honestly, what more is there to say? If you've made your way to this site, you already know what a huge loss this is, how amazing his music was and how much influence the music of Alex Chilton and Big Star had on the music we all love so much. There's not a lot I can add, so I've put together some links below.
Congressman Steve Cohen commemorates the life of Alex Chilton in the House of Representatives, watch this clip below, you can tell it's from the heart.
Here's a wonderful picture of Paul and Alex Chilton during a show at Maxwell's in Hoboken in 1987.
And finally, here's PW doing "Alex Chilton" at the Guthrie in 2002. Sing along, won't you?
NOTE: The News page was getting disturbingly long, so I have created News archives for 2006,2007, and a combined page for 2008-09, so if you're looking for older info, check those out.
