Torn and Frayed: The Story of the Replacements’ 1987 Classic Pleased to Meet Me

So yeah, I don’t have an In the Blogs list this week. I’ve been busy trying to find a job and napping.

However, I just got this awesome story from Ari at Gibson. Yeah, that Gibson. They’ve worked up this excellent piece about the making of “Pleased to Meet Me.” You should go read it. Here’s a little excerpt:
There have been better bands, louder bands, and drunker bands, but there has never been a better, drunker, louder band than the Replacements, and the second two qualifiers wouldn’t matter one whit without the first. Gang Green never changed anybody’s life and you know why? Because they sucked. And on any given night, so did the Replacements—unforgivably. (As can be attested by anyone who ever waited a year and paid $20 to see the band only to find them falling down drunk, with Paul Westerberg inhaling helium before launching into unrecognizable versions of “Born in the USA” and “Whipping Post.”) But in a heartbeat (it’s a lovebeat), they could transform into the American Rolling Stones, but better—all heart, with none of the flamboyant rock royalty nonsense, just cranked guitars, hopeless desperation, and some of the best songs ever written. This was rock and roll as dropout high drama, entrenched in the moment, gut wrenching to witness, with stakes and brilliance only hinted at by the records they left behind.

Go read the rest: Torn and Frayed: The Story of the Replacements’ 1987 Classic Pleased to Meet Me