It takes a big man to step into a hurricane and wrestle it into submission. Slim Dunlap, the guitarist for Minneapolis rockers The Replacements was that big man. He passed away on Wednesday, December 18, 2024.
The Replacements will forever be the most incredible band that most people have heard of, but never heard. Coming out of Minnesota in the late 1970's, rockers Paul Westerberg, Bob Stinson, Tommy Stinson, and Chris Mars released album after album of chaotic yet melodic music. There are no bad Replacements albums, only an album you're not prepared to listen to yet.
When Bob Stinson, axe-man on such landmark albums as Tim and Let It Be, was fired due to his drug use/quit on his own accord in 1986, Minneapolis guitar mainstay Slim Dunlap stepped in to tour and record the band's final two albums, Don't Tell A Soul and All Shook Down. He was stepping into chaos.
The band was known for drunken concerts that were more fucking around than actual music. If they weren't feeling up to playing, they'd break out what they called the "pussy set," awful cover songs and sloppy musicianship. Drugs and alcohol were virtually the fifth and sixth band members. (Listen to the bonus tracks of Dead Man's Pop to hear the tanked-up band record all night with an equally tanked Tom Waits)
Slim didn't tame all that, but he, at 10 years older than the other members, steadied them in a way that kept them going for another four to five years. His Fender Telecaster thumb-picking comes through on those final two albums, making them poignant, beautiful works of art rather than an in-your-face sonic assault.
Don't Tell A Soul, while sounding very different from what came before it, was the first Replacements album I listened to, and is consequently my favorite. When the multi-disk re-release of Don't Tell A Soul, called Dead Man's Pop, released in 2019, it was like another chamber had been discovered in King Tut's tomb.
In 2012 Slim suffered a career-ending stroke. The Replacements had disbanded decades before, but Slim was still playing, releasing solo albums (The Old New Me and Times Like This) and gigging around Minneapolis. The stroke pulled a talented musician out of the spotlight well before his time. He didn't accompany the Replacements on their supposed final tour in 2015, but the 2013 tribute album Songs for Slim reunited Westerberg, Tommy Stinson, and Mars for one last studio recording, putting their stamp on Dunlap's "Busted Up" (minus Mars) and "Radio Hook Word Hit".
Pitchfork has the whole story of Slim. I don't really need to rehash it all in fewer words. I just wanted to commemorate the life of a man who loved music and got to join probably my favorite band for their biggest years. It broke my heart to hear that he passed away while listening to the Slim Dunlap Band’s live album Thank You, Dancers!. He lived his life playing with anyone who would have him because he just wanted to play. For him to be unable to get on the stage and rock for the last 12 years of his life is tragedy on a cosmic scale. But we've got the good times, Slim, and we've got your music.
