Jim Walsh spent several years singing in Twin Cities bands before turning to rock journalism. In 1990 he became the music editor at City Pages, an alternative weekly in Minneapolis. Three years later, he joined the St. Paul Pioneer Press as the pop music columnist and as a feature writer, and in 2002 he left Minnesota to study at Stanford University on a John S. Knight Fellowship. Walsh returned to Minneapolis in 2003, where he lives with his wife and two children, and performs and records as his musical alter ego, The Mad Ripple (www.myspace.com/themadripple and www.myspace.com/madripplemusic).
Publishers Weekly, Oct. 15, 2007
"In this loving, appropriately ramshackle tribute to one of the
most beloved rock-and-roll bands of the 1980s, Walsh gives his
subjects the oral history treatment, assembling a wide range of
associates, friends and famous fans to put their memories on the
record. The band's story is an archetype of the joys and pitfalls
of underground success - a rabid and loyal local following leads to
a major label contract that, with its attendant pressures and
misunderstandings, brings about the band's slow dissolution and
demise. The great moments in their history are all recounted here
in warm detail: lead singer Paul Westerberg breaking copies of his
new record Hootenanny in the local record store; the drunk Oklahoma
City show attended by 30 people that still led to a live album; the
triumphant disaster of their first and only appearance on SNL. The
self-destruction of Bob Stinson, the band's hilarious but alcoholic
guitarist who died in 1995, is a fascinating and harrowing
counterpoint throughout to the band's adventures. Walsh himself
proves to be among the band's most eloquent and thorough defenders
and explainers in his introductory essay and various excerpts from
articles that appear throughout this consistently engaging and
poignant work." Booklist
"The Replacements were a careening indie rock band of the 1980s
that garnered more reputation than commercial success (of which
they received hardly any). Somehow the scruffy Minneapolis foursome
managed to last 12 riotous years. During that time, they staged
some legendary "you had to be there" shows and were worshipped by
fans with the fervor of the recently converted. What was it about
these guys? Was it the goofy-looking guy in a dress, who played
scorching lead guitar? Or the sensitive lead singer-songwriter, who
shredded his vocal cords on cuts like "I Hate Music"? Walsh,
pop-music columnist for the St. Paul Pioneer Press, doesn't try to
answer such questions as much as capture the time and place of the
happening that was the Replacements. His oral history recounts the
differing reactions of musical contemporaries such as Bob Mould of
Husker Du, rock critics such as Steve Albini, and members of the
Replacements themselves. But the best remembrances come from
ordinary fans, who saw in these awkward adolescents kicking at the
status quo something that made them say, "Hey, that's us."
Recommended, maybe must reading for fans of the Replacements and
indie rock in general. Album art, candid photos, and early handbill
posters complement the text.
ALARM Magazine"Having literally grown up with The 'Mats, as their
fans affectionately refer to them, and remaining a friend and fan
to this day, veteran journalist Jim Walsh, author of The
Replacements: All Over But the Shouting: An Oral History, is
perhaps the perfect person to tell their tale...Walsh presents the
'Mats in a multidimensional light, illustrating their talents and
charisma, while also depicting a band that struggled with many
challenges that early success can bring, and showing how easy it
can be to fall into a cycle of self-destruction. But rather than
turning it into a tabloid, the impression he leaves is sensitive
and human. "Compiled from hours of personal interviews and research
extracted from countless articles and reviews from years past, The
Replacements is clearly a labor of love. The memories from those
who were there are convincing enough that even if the reader had
never heard of The Replacements, it is clear how they could become
heroes to their fans. In cities across America, the names and
places may have changed, but the story remains the same." St. Paul
Pioneer Press
"Jim Walsh expertly navigates the divide between the truth and
otherwise in his new book, The Replacements: All Over but the
Shouting. It's a compulsively readable, passionately compiled oral
history of the infamous Minneapolis foursome who spent the '80s
writing a new rock 'n' roll fairy tale while simultaneously ripping
out its pages."
CMJ New Music Monthly
"For those who saw the Replacements in their prime, it's odd to
notice that their lasting influence seems to be congealed into the
sappy sides of middling emo bands who really like Don't Tell a
Soul. But don't blame the Minneapolis slop-rock gods for that
foible. Get a feel of their real ragged soul from this bio, cobbled
together by a guy who was in a Minneapolis band form back in the
drunken daze and saw the Replacements at their very first bar show
and a million times after that as a pal and sometime
roadie....since we've rarely been privy to those fellas' thoughts,
or the cool old pics throughout, this tome is invaluable. Plus, it
also helps cement the truly lasting and fruitful fact that the
Replacements, and the everyman Minneapolis scene, saved punk from
'80s bald-headed hardcore dogmatics." Minneapolis Star Tribune"The
Replacements is uniquely, proudly the story of the Minneapolis band
from the vantage point of the Minneapolis scene...Funny, intense,
sad and joyful."
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