Second Pressing!

Good news! There will be a second pressing of the new single, so check back in 10 days or so and there should be an update!

Sold Out!

Hope you were quick to order yours because the new PW/GB/Mr. F record is SOLD OUT.

New Paul Westerberg Music!

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 below, 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.

While I have your attention, if you're in the Mpls area, First Ave is hosting a celebration of the 25th Anniversary of "Tim" (so we can all feel ancient) on Nov. 26, click here for all the details.

Paul Plays Target Field

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).

Paul Westerberg and Glen Campbell

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.

Paul Westerberg on Alex Chilton: Times Op-Ed

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."

Color Me Obsessed

And one more thing today: 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.

Paul Westerberg in SPIN

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 below for a larger view of the cover.



A few more Alex Chilton links to follow-up on yesterday's post:

• Music world, friends, fans pay tribute to Memphis legend Alex Chilton - The Memphis Commercial Appeal

• Alex Chilton, R.I.P: Paul Westerberg, Craig Finn and Patterson Hood - EW

• Alex Chilton Tribute Set For Saturday At SXSW Festival - MTV.com

Alex Chilton Dies at 59

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.

• Memphis music loses ‘Big Star’ — singer, songwriter Alex Chilton dies at 59 - TheMemphis Commercial Appeal
• Underrated Iconoclast: Alex Chilton's Lasting Influence - The Atlantic Wire
• Alex Chilton dies on the eve of South by Southwest tribute - The Chicago Sun-Times
• Alex Chilton dies at 59; mercurial leader of the Box Tops, Big Star - • The LA Times
• A Couple Alex Chilton Songs - Amazing tribute from Alex Pareene at Gawker

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.


I found this picture of Paul and Alex Chilton on this blog , it was taken during a show at Maxwell's in Hoboken in 1987. I love it.



And finally, here's PW doing "Alex Chilton" at the Guthrie in 2002. Sing along, won't you?