The Mats Files (i.e., everything else)

This page contains the following two articles from Skywayer Charles Ford:

Collecting The Replacements II: 'Seen Your Video?'

Collecting The Replacements III: Outtakes And Rarities

plus

some feedback from fans about the articles

Collecting The Replacements II: 'Seen Your Video?'

by Charles Ford
Tapers Quarterly Magazine

I was somewhat surprised by the response I received from my previous Replacements article in Issue #3 of TQ [Taper's Quarterly] Magazine. The overall reaction to the article seemed to indicate that a great many people at least find the subject matter intriguing. Due to this interest, I think it would be of value to continue our focus on this fascinating band and pursue elements of the Replacements in greater detail. Since this issue is dedicated to the topic of video I think it is appropriate that we examine a rare and much sought after product--Replacements live video.

To my knowledge there is not a wealth of available live Replacements video. My personal collection, I am sure, is very incomplete. I encourage readers who may have information on other videos to please write. If nothing else, this article may serve as the seed for a Replacements video forum where we may discover other available material. I would definitely be interested in additional information.

In my observation, there is very little video on the Replacements prior to around 1986. There are a couple of reasons for this void. First of all, The Replacements always professed a hatred of the video medium, particularly of the MTV variety. This video-shyness probably spilled over to a distrust of the camera in general. The band did not encourage these things. One only has to listen to 'Seen Your Video' from 'Let It Be' to recognize this sentiment. Therefore, any authorized live video from this early era is probably all but nonexistent. After 1986, audience videos of the Mats began popping up in trading circles in greater frequency. The reason for this may have something to do with the increased popularity of the band, but it also has to do with emerging technology. The late 80's was the period when video cameras began to shrink, thus making the unauthorized taping more of a reality for the enterprising camera-person. The trend in video equipment has been going in the 'easier-to-hide' direction.

So, lets start from the beginning.

I have mentioned that 1986 marked the beginning of Replacements live video. The band began by teasing the public with their MTV video for 'Bastards Of Young' which contained no live footage at all--only a still shot of a stereo speaker. I have seen evidence of some 1986 bar videos (a nine minute soundcheck tape from 2/4/86 before their Maxwell's gig in New Jersey has been making the trading rounds for some time) but the first live tape that I witnessed was their Saturday Night Live appearance in January of '86. While not particularly rare (it could be taped directly from public TV, of course) it is interesting in that it reveals one of the only video performances with Bob Stinson in the band. There is reportedly an 'uncensored' version of this tape as well, in which Paul directs an obscenity at Bob, but no such exchange is apparent on my, presumably, 'censored' copy.

The SNL video essentially introduces the world to the Mats. While Chris and Paul dress in their usual conservative fashion (Chris in overalls, Paul in t-shirt and slacks), Tommy is more rock star attired in torn jeans and black jacket, and Bob has on some sort of goofy clown suit. They rip into a scorching version of 'Bastards of Young' first. For the second number, 'Kiss Me on the Bus,' Paul, Chris, and Tommy exchange clothes. This little activity tends to highlight Bob as the odd man out, since he was way too heavy to participate. At one point during this song, Tommy walks to the microphone with a gleeful grin and says, 'Darn It,' or something like that. I guess this is a joke having to do with those things you cannot say on TV. For the grand finale it is Bob who provides the 'Mats-ism' by flinging his guitar over his shoulder to the floor. Feedback rings as the band leaves the stage.

The 1987 tour produced a respectable number of audience videos of the Replacements. I managed to acquire three of these prizes from various sources. My first 1987 video was 7/31 at The Pier in Raleigh, NC. This video represents audience taping in its most basic form--a shaky, hand-held camera at a poor audience vantage point. This video is shot from sharp stage right. Tommy, for the most part, is hidden behind a speaker cabinet, Chris is not seen at all, but Paul and Slim are captured reasonably well. The band appears in good form, belting out rockers such as 'Hold My Life,' and 'Bastards of Young.' The usually buttoned down Paul is almost shirtless except for a light vest. My copy is only forty minutes long so it is unclear if this is a fragment of the master or if the master was an incomplete show.

Two additional 1987 videos are in my collection, unfortunately I do not have the exact date or location for them. (Maybe the readers can help!) Both of them are twenty five minutes long and probably are samples from longer shows. The first tape is shot from a very steady camera, probably using a tripod, from a fair distance above. This position could be a balcony as even at full zoom the band looks small. The show begins with beer cups and towels flying. The bouncers appear to be working overtime with stage crowding. They do "Bastards of Young," "Can't Hardly Wait," and many other originals. The band appears to be dressed primarily in white. The sound is not particularly good.

The next 'unknown' 1987 show begins with 'Hold My Life.' It is shot with a hand held camera directly from the floor by a rather short person. The camera concentrates on Paul between the bobbing heads of the audience. Paul is wearing a short sleeved sports shirt with horizontal strips. Slim is seen from time to time, all that is seen of Chris is an occasional cymbal crash, and Tommy is almost never seen. Oddly, during 'The Ledge' Paul chooses to not play any guitar. This decision forces Slim to struggle with the song a little bit. Sound quality of this video ranges from acceptable to awful as the camera operator shifts positions.

I have also seen reports of a 9/15/87 Bloomington, Indiana video. While I have not actually seen the video, I have seen the set list so I know it is not one of my 'unknown' 1987 shows.

From the 1989 tour I only have two video performances. Undoubtedly there are others, but they have not been heavily promoted to my knowledge. Where were the video tapers for this tour? Fortunately, the two readily available videos from 1989 are quite good.

The most easily obtainable of these two '89 performances is the 5/31/89 International Rock Music Awards which was broadcast in primetime on network TV. This event marked the Mats second opportunity to present themselves to the masses. And they did not let the chance go by. 'What the Hell are we doing here?' is Paul's introductory remark as the band launches into 'Talent Show' from the "Don't Tell a Soul" record. Paul looks particularly strange with a new short curly haircut and he mugs the camera somewhat--at one point sticking out his tongue. Once again there are reportedly censored and uncensored versions of this tape. On my copy the entire line, 'Feeling good from the pills we took' is silenced. Overall it is a spirited performance which TV critics at the time generally acknowledged as the highlight of the show.

The only other 1989 video in my possession is the 8/18/89 Orange County Speedway, NY show. This is an arena show taken from the Replacements ill fated tour with Tom Petty. The band was unhappy on this tour and frequently performed little stunts in an effort to cheer themselves up. For this show Paul walks on stage wearing about five coats. As the band plays stripper music (Benmont Tench from the Petty band on keyboards) Paul removes the coats one by one. Following this little intro the band finally begins its regular set. The film is shot from the floor and is of surprisingly good quality. There are few obstructions and the camera is extremely steady for hand held. The operator is close enough to also make effective use of the zoom lens. The performance is quite good. Paul looks only slightly uncomfortable--not nearly as miserable as later reports indicated he and the band were on this tour. Even the audience seems to be supportive by shouting encouragement and requesting songs. Paul wears another one of those battered short sleeve sports shirts he is so fond of, Slim wears a blue jean jacket, and Tommy is in his velvet coat which he made famous on the '89 tour. Many selections from "Don't Tell A Soul" are performed. A couple of interesting covers are performed as well--the great T-Rex song 'Raw Ramp' and a peculiar choice of "Knockin On Heaven's Door" in which Paul takes the guitar lead. "Bastards of Young" ends it after forty six minutes of play.

The final '91 tour saw an increase in video taping activity. I acquired three shows from this tour without really even trying, so I am certain that more exist. Unfortunately, the '91 tour, while technically proficient, was possibly the least interesting tour from an esthetic point of view. Founding member Chris Mars was out--replaced by a hack drummer named Steve Foley--and it was general knowledge that this was to be the final tour, giving the proceedings a 'wake-like' quality. Also, Paul chose this tour to test out his new sobriety, therefore insuring that stage antics would be kept to a minimum.

Not far into the tour, a 1/31/91 show was taped in St. Louis, Missouri. This show begins as a very jittery, hand-held, almost unwatchable exercise. The camera person cannot seem to locate the stage for several minutes shooting long sequences of the ceiling and floor. Finally the operator finds Paul dressed in a long sleeve pullover and the video becomes a little more organized. It is shot from the balcony, but the camera has a good zoom so visibility is decent. I can actually make out the chords that Paul plays (one of my pet observations) on "I Will Dare." The band seems to be in a good mood. Tommy does a good deal of chattering with the audience, even introducing Steve at one point, and Paul joins in as well. Slim (in red pants) even gets in on the act with some uncharacteristic guitar rock star posturing. They do a nice "Achin To Be" and lots of material from "All Shook Down." Tommy (in silk shirt and vest) gets his turn on his own song, "Satellite," which was a '91 tour standard. "Swinging Party," a song from the 1985 album, "Tim," was resurrected for the '91 tour and is performed here. One peculiar incident occurs. At one point Paul knocks over his mic stand and strolls into the audience only to emerge a few seconds later as if nothing happened. Tommy says something cryptic such as 'we will see this on the video tele-prompter.' (?) The video ends after about fifty five minutes during 'Askin Me Lies' as the camera is apparently hidden away.

On 3/8/91 the Replacements were once again captured on video at the Ritz in New York. The show begins with 'Achin To Be' in progress. Once again the camera operator has trouble getting oriented and wastes quite a bit of film taping the ceiling. This tape is also another balcony shot. (A popular place to hide.) The camera finally focuses in on Paul who is wearing a long sleeve, button up number. There is quite a bit of traffic in front of the camera as people keep walking past. There is also a fair amount of glare on the video image as the stage is often bathed in exceedingly bright light. Tommy wears a spiffy white sports coat which he later sheds. The band plays their typical '91 set list, but leans a little heavier on the "All Shook Down" material than usual. They even perform an unrehearsed sounding version of the rarely played "The Last" from this album. The audience seems to be in high spirits and sings along with "Skyway." By "Can't Hardly Wait," even Slim has become animated. Toward the end the viewer has an opportunity to witness drummer Steve Foley totally screw up "Hold My Life" which seems to irritate Paul who stops the song dead in its tracks. This tape is worth having in that it is almost a complete show clocking in at 85 minutes.

My final Mats video comes all the way from Europe--4/10/91, Rotterdam, Holland. This video turns out to be the best one in my collection for several reasons. First, it is technically superior to the others. It is a good, clear, close shot of the entire band, and it almost has a professional look to it. Also, it shows the band in an interesting situation--overseas and slightly out of their element. It's fun to watch them struggle with the semi-indifferent Dutch audience. Finally, it is a complete audience show and my longest at an hour and fifty five minutes.

The video begins with a cheesy prerecorded musical introduction of 'By The Time I Get To Phoenix' from the show. Paul walks to the spotlight and delivers a "sermon." "..Satan's tool. Do not be deceived, Bretheren." (The quiet and somber audience has inspired the band to launch a series of 'church' jokes as well as slower versions of several songs.) The high stage gives the camera, which is aimed at center stage, excellent visibility. Paul is wearing another one of his long sleeved ivy league shirts and Tommy is decked out in his trusty velvet jacket. The stage appears incredibly smoky at all times, but there is no smoke machine. Europeans are still unapologetic smokers. The audience is very quiet and unresponsive so the band decides to start off with the appropriately titled 'Night Club Jitters.' Slim seems to be enjoying himself in spite of the dead crowd. Tommy takes a chance and asks if anybody has ever heard of them. 'NO,' is the overwhelming response. 'OK, so we can do what we want,' is Tommy's reply. What they choose to do is a slow, dirge-like version of 'The Ledge.' They try to liven things up to no avail by doing, 'Another Girl/Another Planet.' (I bet they felt like they were ON another planet!). Time for some more church jokes. Tommy offers the crowd an open invitation to come backstage after the show. Paul decides to play an obscure tune, 'One Man Guy.' (?) The crowd warms up a little bit. They continue struggling in this manner for several more songs. What the heck...they eventually take 'Androgynous' out of moth balls for a rare performance. (!) Then the ancient 'Customer' is played. The crowd, which was beginning to liven up some, becomes quiet again. Time for a little 'soft shoe.' During "I'll Be You" Tommy and Paul exchange instruments. They have Slim sing "Hey Good Lookin" which is actually great. Somebody requests "IOU" and they play it, preceded by a dirge-like "Never Mind." Later, an interesting encore is performed. Tommy and Paul walk out in the audience and do an acapella duet of "Hello Dolly" after which Paul is lifted back onstage by the crowd to complete the show. Paul has lost his energy by this time and performs the next song, a medley of the Door's "Roadhouse" and their own "Hootenanny," from flat on his back. They leave the stage, but come back for the finale of "Alex Chilton" and "Kissing in Action" from the "Don't Sell or Buy..It's Crap" promo CD. I highly recommend this video.

Every video in my collection has now been described in a fair amount of detail. I have attempted to provide some insight into the quality of these videos and especially their content. My sole source of information has been the videos themselves with some additional information provided by reading the lists of other traders. My purpose is to simply make you aware of some of the material that is available. (Emphasis on the word 'some.') These videos are readily available through trading circles so be sure to check the want-ads of publications such as TQ if you are interested. Now let's hear about all the Replacements videos that are NOT included in this article. The ball's in your court.

Collecting The Replacements III: Outtakes And Rarities

by Charles Ford
originally printed in Tapers Quarterly Magazine

This paper is the third in a series devoted to the topic of Replacements collecting. The first article was a brief introduction to the subject, the second focused on Replacements live video, and this, the final article, concentrates on what I believe to be a very rewarding aspect of collecting any band's material--their unreleased studio outtakes and other works which never saw an official record release. Generally, the unreleased studio outtakes are of great value in the eyes of the collector for these are usually of good sound quality and are representative of work the band at least seriously considered for public release. It is also possible that the studio outtakes could appear on some future band anthology such as a CD boxed set. However, I will, from time to time, consider material that was written by the band and performed live, but never actually recorded to my knowledge. (Of course, just because I have never heard a recorded version of a particular live song does not mean that a recorded version does not exist somewhere.) Finally, the extent to which these cuts might be considered "rare" also adds to their collectability, just like any item. Obviously, you cannot just go out and purchase these recordings off the shelf. Some enterprising individual generally must make an unauthorized dub from a master copy and distribute it through trading circles. In the past, the low generation, high quality dubs would have been considered to have the greatest value, but with the advent of the DAT unit this distinction is blurred somewhat as "all dubs can be created equal."

Once again, the source of much of my information comes from my own personal collection. However, for additional verification and insight into much of the unreleased Replacements material I have relied on the often published words of one time Replacements manager and current Twin Tone Records representative, Peter Jesperson. Jesperson has boasted to the press that he owns hundreds of hours of unreleased Replacements material. He frequently cites specific titles as songs he would like to see released. This type of information has been very valuable in identifying songs in my collection. Through Jesperson's efforts we may one day see that Replacements boxed CD set.

The availability of Replacements studio outtakes follows an interesting timeline. In my video article I observed that unauthorized video output on the band grew with their career--with very little available early on but increasing with each tour. With studio outtakes almost the opposite effect can be seen. There appears to be a great deal of studio material available (demos, outtakes) from the early years with a mushrooming occurring in 1987 with the 'Pleased to Meet Me' sessions. Beyond 1987 I have seen less of these items. The obvious implication is that the band (i.e. Paul Westerberg) became aware of this "leaking" of their tapes and exercised greater control in the later years. I am certain there are hundreds of hours of studio outtakes somewhere that even Peter Jesperson is not aware of. (In fact, I highly suspect that Jesperson is the source of much of this "leaked" material.) He was, after all, abruptly fired by the band in 1986 and not involved with later works. For the post-1987 material to see the light of day I suspect that Westerberg himself will have to be involved.

The Replacements first album was titled 'Sorry Ma, I Forgot to Take Out the Trash,' and it was an impressive collection of typically short, fast songs. The original Blackberry Way studio demos for this album are available in trading circles as is an early, unreleased mix of the album. Ultimately, everything contained in these tapes found its way to the final product. Peter Jesperson tells us of at least three songs from this era that were recorded and never released. "Shape Up" and "Don't Turn Me Down" are reportedly songs from the Replacements very first demo tape--the tape which Westerberg slipped to Jesperson on that fateful day in 1980 with hopes of landing a gig at the Longhorn Bar. I cannot say that I have ever heard "Shape Up" performed live, but "Don't Turn Me Down" appears on several popular Replacements audience tapes. This song is an obvious tribute to loudness written in sort of a Ted Nugent rock style. Jesperson also mentions a song recorded in this era called "Junior's Got a Gun." (Aerosmith, were you listening?) Although, I've never heard the studio version, a decent live version appears on the popular "Zoogie's/1981" tape recorded in Minneapolis. "Junior could use a little action...And he's taking it all very seriously.." is a principal lyric. The "Zoogie's" tape provides us with a vast array of other disposable Replacements songs from the beginning era. Such numbers as "Off Your Pants" ("yea, yea, yea, yea, take off your pants!"), "Like You", and "Skip It" are scattered about. There appears a humorous funk tune called "Mistake" ("Just the other day I was hesitating--I was masturbating in the door. I made a mistake"). There is also an anti-drug song (I guess) presumably called "Drugs." ("Thinking of you, and the drugs that you do.") Additionally, this tape contains a confusing song with indecipherable lyrics called (possibly) "Get Lost."

The next releases from the Replacements included the not particularly well acclaimed "Stink" EP, followed up closely with the vastly different "Hootenanny" album. Outtakes from this era might have gone on largely unheard by the general public were it not for the efforts of our pal Peter Jesperson. Jesperson showcased three interesting tracks around this time on KFAI radio in Minneapolis, a broadcast which was preserved on tape by diligent fans.

The first of these tracks is a live rendition of "Goddamn Job," originally a punk anthem, performed in a delightful Country/Western style. The next song is a "Hootennany" outtake called "Don't Get Married." This song is a nice ballad in which Paul paints a bleak picture of an upcoming marriage--"You're like a guitar in the hands of a man who just can't play/You're like an inmate counting the days." The final song from this presentation is an admittedly unfinished number called, "Shoot Me, Kill Me", an urgent rocker which basically says little more than "Shoot me, kill me, love me...cock it, shoot it, spin it all around." Jesperson states that he lobbied hard to have this song included on the album for it's potential, but the band never perfected it.

In conjunction with the "Hootenanny" album, the Replacements released a single called "Lookin For You." This song is nothing more than "Lovelines" with a more traditional vocal track and lyrics--"Lookin for ya baby, let's get along. Got no place, got no song." The single was released on a now rare compilation album called "Trackin' Up The North" in 1982.

With the "Let It Be" album another round of demos was leaked to the devoted fans. My copy contains five unreleased recordings. First, an interesting version of "Sixteen Blue" appears. This recording is similar to the album version except that it contains a dominate piano track which buries the soaring guitars heard on the official release. Next is a rather unremarkable rocker called "Who's Gonna Take Us Alive." It seems to follow another one of those "Replacements against the world" themes. A faithful cover of the old hit "Temptation Eyes" appears on the demo, but the band probably hesitated to include a second cover tune on the album, having already committed to the popular Kiss tune, "Black Diamond." One of Jesperson's favorite songs, "Street Girl," appears as well. ("You won't find her in the country... she ain't no fool, she's a street girl.") Finally, the demo contains a version of "Seen Your Video" with different lyrics, but it is unclear what the title of this version might be ("Stranger Than Fiction?"). Apparently there were multiple incarnations of "Seen Your Video." Audience tapes exists where Paul introduces the song as "Look Like An Adult" and sings an entirely different set of lyrics than what appears on "Let It Be."

In late 1985 the Replacements made their major label debut with the Sire release, "Tim." Originally Alex Chilton was slated to produce the record and some demos were even produced, but at the last minute Chilton was mysteriously dropped and replaced by ex-Ramone, Tommy Erdelyi, a Sire crony who may have had more clout than Chilton. It is the Chilton demos which provide us a glimpse at some "Tim" outtakes.

I have acquired two companion tapes, from different sources, which have the claim as being from the Chilton demos, but I believe only one of them to be authentic. Peter Jesperson has confirmed that Chilton was actually only involved with the production of three songs, "Nowhere Is My Home," "Can't Hardly Wait," and "Left of the Dial."

"Nowhere is My Home" starts the tape off. This song was documented as Chilton's work and appears on a British import called "Boink." "Nowhere" is a great rocker which would have fit well on the "Tim" album. Next up are the infamous "Can't Hardly Wait" tracks. Much has been written about the history of this song. The Replacements had wanted to release it long before it showed up on "Pleased to Meet Me," but somehow they were never pleased with the results. Chilton produced two versions, a mid tempo, drunken sounding track, and a slow, acoustic version. The acoustic version is popularly known by collectors as the 'airshaft' version due to the extensive use of reverb on the recording and/or the rumor that this take was recorded in an actual 'airshaft' of some sort. Both versions contain lyrics which are different than the modified released version. The original seems to be about suicide--climbing to the top of a "crummy water tower" and presumably jumping off. "I'll be sad in Heaven, You won't visit me there." Another sample lyric, "I'll be there in an hour, if there's a hole in the gate," seems to suggest "the pearly gates" of Heaven. This song was reworked for "Pleased to Meet Me" to make it more user friendly. Rather than "hardly waiting" for death, Paul could now "hardly wait" to be home to his girl friend--a change which Jesperson considers a dilution of the song. But, Westerberg may have justified the change because by 1987 he had another suicide song with a more interesting point of view called "The Ledge."

The last song from the Chilton tape is "Left of the Dial." This production sounds remarkably like the "Tim" version. In fact, Jesperson has stated that the Chilton production of this song was in fact used on the final album.

I received another mysterious tape labeled "Chilton demo," however, I question its validity as Chilton's work. At any rate, it is a studio production. The tape contains an interesting version of "Kiss Me On The Bus" performed as an all out rocker. It also contains a rendition of "Little Mascara" which is almost exactly like the "Tim" version except for some additional background vocals at the end.

After "Tim" was released but prior to Bob's departure, the Replacements went back into the studio to cut some demos for what was to be their next album. Bob has confirmed in the media that "Pleased to Meet Me" tracks exist with his guitar playing on them. I have heard the tape which seems to bear this out. This tape contains early versions of "Valentine" and "Red Red Wine" in which Bob's distinctive noodling is clearly present. In my opinion the "Red Red Wine" track is actually superior to the released version in that it captures the spirit of the song better. It's a slightly slower, more rock steady version with an intoxicated, playful feel to it--exactly what is needed to make this song work.

On this same tape are some unreleased outtakes. "Bundle Up" appears and certainly seems to be a one shot sort of song. It is obviously a reworking of "Jungle Rock" ("The Gator and the Hippo were sharing a scarf."), but it is changed into a twisted Christmas song. "P.O. Box" ("Put An Ad In The Paper--Empty is Your Heart)" is a meandering rock song about love in the want ads that owes homage to "Lovelines", only not as much fun. A song called "Birthday Gal" (often referred to as "Birthday Carol"-- there is some debate as to the actual title) shows up. This song is a nice up tempo ballad about growing older--"Did you wish there weren't as many candles that you have to blow?" The final song from this session (to my knowledge) is a frantic rocker called "Time is Killing Us" with sample lyrics, "Time is killing us, not the other way."

After ejecting Bob from the band, the Replacements regrouped to record "Pleased to Meet Me" in earnest. There is a great wealth of available studio output that is attributed to these sessions. The first tape that I received from these contains seven rough cuts, three of which did not make the final album. The first track is a very nice version of "Nevermind" without words other than the initial intro. It highlights the glorious chord progression of the song and could have been used as is, in my opinion. "Birthday Gal" was again reprised, this time with a little more punch, and a slightly different lead break. A rough sounding "Alex Chilton" and "Red Red Wine" are represented. "Election Day" is a slow groove that was eventually released on a limited edition German Sire import called "The Ledge." "Kick It In" is a catchy pop song about television in our society--"Plug it in, turn it on, get up, kick it in, kick it in." The tape ends after a wordless version of "Valentine."

I have heard another rough studio tape containing all of the songs from the final album including "Can't Hardly Wait" with organ accompaniment in place of the strings and horns heard on "Please to Meet Me." This tape is distinguished in that it also contains cover versions of "Jungle Rock," which was also released on the German import, and "Cool Water," which was released as a 'B' side, with Chris Mars singing the lead. One other interesting outtake that appears on this tape is a beautiful ballad called "Learn How to Fail." It contains the following advice to a child, "First you must learn how to fail, before you're allowed anything real." They should have kept this one.

Recently I came across yet another tape which is reported to be from the "Pleased to Meet Me" sessions. This tape contains six obscure outtakes which I had never heard on any other source. "Run For The Country" is an acoustic based ballad about emotional escape where Paul offers, "Have you decided where you belong? You're still invited to leave them all behind." This song is followed up with a whimsical rocker called "Beer For Breakfast" where Paul celebrates irresponsibility--"All I wanna do is drink beer for breakfast...Hallelujah I'm a bum." He continues in this humorous fashion with another rocker called "Nude." ("Me and you, we ain't through, do it nude.") An essential cover tune is also on this tape. The band slops through a piano and sax based jam on "Think I'm Going Out Of My Head." Finally, we are treated to two of Tommy's outtakes. One of them is a Faces-style romp called "If There's Trouble On the Way" followed by a sentimental number called "I Tried to Make This Your Home." ("I let you wear my robe--you didn't like the smell.") Both of these songs would have worked well on the debut Bash & Pop album.

After the prolific "Pleased To Meet Me" sessions, the supply of Replacements outtakes dried up somewhat. The band went on to record two more albums, but the unreleased material from them (I am assuming that there are always outtakes) remains under tight control. Of course, I am only basing this conclusion on the fact that I, personally, am not aware of this material. Outtakes and demos could pop up in trading circles at any time.

It is quite possible that what you have read is not the complete story. There may be other outtakes which have yet to surface or that I have not been privy to. I am still waiting for the "Don't Tell A Soul" and "All Shook Down" material to appear. I only hope that what I have presented so far has been accurate since throughout the article I was forced to make a few assumptions.

UPDATE 1996

As I predicted when I originally wrote this story in 1993, additional Replacements outtakes continue to surface. Both the "Don't Tell A Soul" record and "All Shook Down" are now represented by leaked outtakes.

From "Don't Tell A Soul" two outtakes are now available to the diligent fan. An early version of "Rock and Roll Ghost" is the first that I heard. It is somewhat different than the released version. While it still remained basically an acoustic guitar and bass duet, the outtake version is spare, and slightly uptempo. Thankfully subdued is the background orchestration which is very prominent on the CD.

A more interesting "Don't Tell A Soul" outtake is "Wake Up," a punk rock number that sounds like a "Pleased To Meet Me" reject. But, the orchestrated cellos at the end give it away as being primed for "Don't Tell A Soul." The lyric "wake up and wonder where you are" pretty much sums up this song as being about the Mats party life. It's a cute little song, but it would have stuck out like a sore thumb on the slick "Don't Tell A Soul."

Another recently discovered item are the demos for "All Shook Down." These tracks are of particular interest because they contain a previously unknown Westerberg song called, "Only If We Must." This song is in keeping with the personal nature of "All Shook Down," perhaps dealing with divorce. "Forgive me if need be, forget about us. Only if we must" is a sample lyric. Musically, the song has a unique Latin feel to it more in keeping with the "Please To Meet Me" outtake, "Run For the Country." At any rate, it's another example of Paul abandoning a great song.

The "All Shook Down" demo tape that I have heard actually consists of two distinct sessions. One session is a very spare, four track, guitar, vocal, bass, and drum machine demo which includes the previously mentioned "Only if We Must," along with versions of "Kissing In Action," "Someone Take The Wheel," "One Wink At A Time," a very primitive version of "Happy Town," and "Attitude." Another session appears to include the full band and contains "Nobody," "My Little Problem," and another version of "Someone Take the Wheel." "Sadly Beautiful" also appears with steel guitars so prominent the song almost passes for C&W. Additionally, "My Little Problem" is found sounding more 'Stones-y' than the released version and minus the vocal contribution of Johnette Napolitano. Also present is the brief "Torture" and a rather well developed demo of "When It Began" with the drum machine accompaniment. Noticeably absent from this demo tape is the Westerberg live mainstay, "Merry Go Round" leading me to believe that this tape is an incomplete fragment.

Going back to the earlier era, and of considerable interest is a forty-five minute demo tape titled, "Blackberry Way Studios, MN." I would date this tape as spanning from a period between 1981 to 1983. It features Paul Westerberg solo, performing fifteen tracks which can be interpreted as complete songs or song fragments, and numerous 'snippets' of Westerberg noodlings. (One of these 'noodlings' sounds like it could be the seed of the "Can't Hardly Wait" riff!) Several of these tracks are of very low quality so I would be surprised to find that they were all produced at Blackberry Way. Some sound as if they were taped on an inexpensive home machine, but it is possible that the sound heard on my tape is the result of years of dubbing. To my knowledge, many of these songs have not been heard by the general public on any other bootleg.

The first song on this demo tape has been titled, "What Did I Do?" It features Paul at piano, ranting some rather disturbing lyrics about murder. The song has sort of a Randy Newman feel to it until it goes over the edge into hysteria. It's easy to see why Paul never followed up on this song.

Next up is the first of a pair of songs that appear on this tape with "working" themes. The specter of a straight job was obviously something that haunted Paul in his early years, although the only Replacements song to be released bearing this subject matter was "Goddamn Job." "Bad Worker" is performed on acoustic guitar with sort of a folky feel. Paul vents his attitude on working by singing, "I'm a bad worker, my father would be ashamed...minimum effort for a minimum wage." It's of interest in this song that Paul chronicles his days spent as a janitor by singing about how he would "drag my vacuum."

"Don't Get Married" is performed acoustically on this tape as well. Although this song was never released, I think many people have heard it since it has appeared on other well known demos and live performance tapes.

Next, a song called "Suspension" appears. ("Hold me in suspension.") In this tune Paul does his best John Lennon impersonation with the use of falsetto. The song contains an interesting metaphor regarding chipped paint and faded love, but it is clearly incomplete. Following "Suspension" is a brief sample of a song called "Gimme Torture." It is a playful tune which introduces us to Paul's habit in this period (early 80s) of writing about drinking. "Do you wanna get loose, do you wanna get drunk?" is one of few decipherable lines.

In keeping with the "drinking" theme Paul next spends a considerable amount of time working on a song called, "A Little Bit Drunk." Actually, two versions appear on the tape. The first version is very unfocused and Paul may well have been drunk as he was performing it. The principle lyric is, "Hey kid... I'm just a little bit drunk." Paul must have felt that this idea had some promise, because in the next track he returns to this song (sober this time) and embellishes it into a structured piece. This time he sings, "SHE'S just a little bit drunk.. You don't need to worry she'll forget you in a hurry."

What happens next on the tape is quite fascinating. In four songs we hear what appears to be the evolution of "If Only You Were Lonely." In the beginning we hear a song called, "All That We've Been Through Together." It's a very different sounding song for Paul. The guitar part features finger picking and it has sort of a "talking blues" feel to it. Paul then takes basically this same chord progression, replaces the finger picking with regular strumming, and calls the song, "I'll Still Be Waiting." It is in this song that Paul first comes up with, "somewhere there's a drink." Also during this song Paul suddenly sings the line, "I wish you were lonely," and builds yet a new song around that phrase. Finally, Paul slows the whole thing down a notch and returns with the completed song, "If Only You Were Lonely." Obviously, Paul was not quite through with the song, because what was finally released as a B side to "I'm In Trouble" contains slightly different lyrics than what are heard here.

Next, "Fuck School" appears. Interestingly, it's not the same song that appears on "Stink." This version sounds more like a Springsteen anthem than the popular punk tune that was released.

The second of the pair of "working" songs is then played. "Gas Station Attendant" is a piano based lament where Paul sings, "fill you up with lead, got a wrench in my pocket, got no credit, nothing said." Perhaps Paul saw this situation as his ultimate fate in those days.

A very brief "snippet" of a song called "Mama Said" appears next, followed by a couple of versions of a song called "Cool My Jets." Paul plays electric guitar on this rocker and sings, "Nervous boy was born to sweat." The first version is just a straight forward rock song in the Springsteen tradition. Perhaps the band sent him back to the drawing board on this one, because when Paul repeats "Cool My Jets" it has been transformed into a burning punk rocker.

Finally, two very similar rehearsals of "Answering Machine" appear. These are very much like what appears on "Let It Be"--complete with funny vocal effect to make Paul sound like he is singing into a telephone. The most notable thing about the appearance of this song is that it would seem to be the most recent contribution--leading us to wonder, are there more tapes like this available? We can only hope.

To be continued......(as material surfaces)

Charles Ford

Date: Fri, 3 Jun 94 13:32:27 CDT

To: [skyway@novia.net]

Subject: Feedback

I have received some good feedback from my two Taper's Quarterly articles, Mats Outtakes, and Mats Videos that I posted on Skyway recently. I received several comments and offers to trade. I'll share some of the info I received.

1) 'Mats Outtakes' - I received a convincing correction. The song that many traders refer to as 'Birthday Carol' is probably actually called 'Birthday Gal.' (I know, the title 'Birthday Carol' did have a nice ring to it, but it's incorrect in all likelihood.)

2) 'Mats Videos' - I got the most comments on this one, as I expected, since it was the more incomplete of the two. I've even received some new videos out of the deal. I've received:

Mats - Alumni Hall: Bloomington, IN 9/15/87 - This video turns out to be one of the 'unknown' videos I refer to in the article. 70m.

Mats - Grosse Freheit: Hamburg, Germany 3/31/91. - This is a pretty good quality video. It starts off with a shot of the club from the outside which gives the video sort of a documentary feel. It's a good, still, shot of the three principle Mats from sort of a stage left angle. Drummer Steve Foley is totally invisible (who cares?). It's a full two hour workout.

Mats - Madison Square Garden: NYC 6/22/91. This video captures only 30 minutes of the Mats openning for Elvis Costello. The camera operator lost the first 15 minutes. It's hand held and sort of clumsy but the operator is able to zoom in close enough to view the entire band. Not bad.

For those that are interested in post Mats stuff (and I assume everybody is) there is a wealth of Paul Westerberg '93 concert videos floating around. I've seen the 7/22/93 San Diego, CA outdoor show (excellent). I've also heard about an 8/5/83 Irving Plaza, NY show and a 8/20/93 1st Ave. Minneapolis show. (I have not seen them, however) And of course there is Westerberg's SNL appearance back in 12/93 which everybody has. Also, I'm sure everybody is also aware of the Bash & Pop appearance on Letterman back in 2/93.

Charles ('Chuck') Ford