The Story of "Pleased To Meet Me"

Attention PTMM lovers: There's a fantastic new article about the making of the Mats best album (ok, ok, I mean, "what is arguably the Mats best album") up on Gibson's web site, "Torn and Frayed: The Story of the Replacements’ 1987 Classic Pleased to Meet Me". It features extensive recollections from Jim Dickinson and Tjohn Hampton, a longtime engineer at Ardent Studios in Memphis. There's a lot of great stories in the article and you'll also learn the truth about the apocryphal "vomit on the ceiling" story.

More on the Mats: City Pages published the Twin Cities Rock Atlas, a cool map of the rock and roll landmarks around the cities. A couple of Mats mention, as you probably guessed, including the 'Let It Be' house and the C.C. Club.

Happy Birthday Mr. Westerberg

Happy Birthday to Paul (born Dec. 31, 1959), who shares his birthday with an eclectic group including Henri Matisse, Anthony Hopkins, Simon Wiensenthal, John Denver, Val Kilmer and Donna Summer. Which reminds me that Donna Summer was nominated (though not voted in) for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame this year. But that still makes her one step closer than the Mats, who were not even nominated. I firmly believe that John Denver will be voted into the HOF before the Mats will. It's a mean old world.

Boston Drafts Westerberg

Seems like a good time for another round up of links, lots of press for "All Over But The Shouting". Hope everyone is having a delightful holiday season and has remembered to ask Santy Claus for a new PW CD in 2008.

Read "Why The Replacements Saved My Life" by Jim Connelly on his blog, Medialoper.

Mr. Paul Westerberg tops the list of Minnesotans whom The Boston Globe thinks should relocate to Boston. Extra credit to the Globe for a "Nowhere Is My Home" reference.

Crawdaddy interview with Jim Walsh and book review. Includes a link to the infamous Shaved Eyebrows interview on YouTube.

Review of the Nov. 28 Mats Tribute show/Book launch party at First Ave in Mpls.

Dallas Observer "All Over But The Shouting" book review.

Austin Statesmen book review: "The Clash liked to call themselves the only band that mattered, and Johnny Rotten might have snarled "We don't care," but these four mess-ups from Minneapolis were truly the only band that mattered, and they truly didn't care."

Minnesota Public Radio feature on "All Over But The Shouting". Includes a slide show with some classic Mats images, including their star at First Ave and the band rehearsing in the Stinson basement.

Link Round-Up Day

Things have been pretty quiet, Westerberg-wise, since the show in September, but here are a few items of interest:

Blender lists The 100 Greatest Indie-Rock Albums Ever and "Let It Be" comes in at #3.

Bob Dylan included a Mats song in a recent Theme Time Radio Hour on XM (Theme: Smoking. Mats Song: "More Cigarettes"). Click here for an MP3 of Dylan intro-ing the song.

Star-Tribune review of "All Over But The Shouting" and excerpt from the book.

City Pages review of "All Over But The Shouting".

Idolator's review of "All Over But The Shouting".

"The Replacements: All Over But the Shouting" Out Now

"All Over But the Shouting: An Oral History" was scheduled to be out on Nov.15, but it looks like it hit stores early, so check your favorite bookstore for a copy.

Harp Magazine has both a review of the book and an interview with author Jim Walsh.

Jimmy Reed Tribute on "Austin City Limits"

Check your local listings for ACL's upcoming episode (week of 10/27) featuring a tribute to Jimmy Reed. This is Westerberg-related because of Paul's oft-demonstrated regard for Reed. In fact, here's a trivia question for you:

Answer: This Jimmy Reed song title appears in the lyrics of "Can't Hardly Wait".
Question: What is __________________________?

Austin City Limits: October 27: Tribute to Bluesman Jimmy Reed
Joined by blues luminaries James Cotton, Delbert McClinton and others, guitarist Jimmie Vaughan pays tribute to blues legend Jimmy Reed, composer of the classics "Ain't That Loving You Baby," "Big Boss Man" and "Baby What You Want Me to Do."

Interview Videos From "The Craft"

Frustrating! Nearly a month after the Paul Westerberg/The Craft show, the video of the performances from the show have still not been posted. However, the some of the interview portions have been posted on the RRHOF site. You can continue to check The Craft site, where some performance videos will be posted......eventually.