If You Didn't See It...Paul Westerberg's Thoughts on the Passing of Alex Chilton

The work of Paul Westerberg and the Replacements is responsible for much regarding my musical proclivities, as well as the main structure of the site that you are reading. (If you're confused by this, Google all but one of its segment titles. Then get thee to Amazon and buy every last Westerberg solo and Replacements record right now heathen.) I learned a lot of new things from the various mentions that Westerberg namechecked in his songs, one of which being the pop-laden beauty that was Alex Chilton's musical catalogue. Thanks to Westerberg penning that perennial song about Chilton for the Replacements' 1985 masterpiece Tim, I'm certain this experience happened to a lot of us.

If you've been living in a cave without newspaper delivery or internet service, Chilton died on St. Patrick's Day at the age of 59. So it seemed utterly appropriate to me when I heard that Westerberg wrote a piece about Chilton in a publication that reached far and wide like the Sunday NY Times. I was at SXSW when the article published, but if you haven't read it, it's a wonderful ode of acknowledgement and gratitude from one musical curmudgeon to another. And given the gratitude I have for Westerberg for introducing me to things like Chilton, I'd be remiss if we didn't publish it here.

Beyond The Box Tops-by Paul Westerberg

HOW does one react to the death of one’s mentor? My mind instantly slammed down the inner trouble-door that guards against all thought, emotion, sadness. Survival mode. Rock guitar players are all dead men walking. It’s only a matter of time, I tell myself as I finger my calluses. Those who fail to click with the world and society at large find safe haven in music — to sing, write songs, create, perform. Each an active art in itself that offers no promise of success, let alone happiness.

Yet success shone early on Alex Chilton, as the 16-year-old soulful singer of the hit-making Box Tops. Possessing more talent than necessary, he tired as a very young man of playing the game — touring, performing at state fairs, etc. So he returned home to Memphis. Focusing on his pop writing and his rock guitar skills, he formed the group Big Star with Chris Bell. Now he had creative control, and his versatility shone bright. Beautiful melodies, heart-wrenching lyrics: “I’m in Love with a Girl,” “September Gurls.”

On Big Star’s masterpiece third album, Alex sang my favorite song of his, “Nighttime” — a haunting and gorgeous ballad that I will forever associate with my floor-sleeping days in New York. Strangely, the desperation in the line “I hate it here, get me out of here” made me, of all things, happy. He went on to produce more artistic, challenging records. One equipped with the take-it-or-leave-it — no, excuse me, with the take-it-like-I-make-it — title “Like Flies on Sherbert.” The man had a sense of humor, believe me.

It was some years back, the last time I saw Alex Chilton. We miraculously bumped into each other one autumn evening in New York, he in a Memphis Minnie T-shirt, with take-out Thai, en route to his hotel. He invited me along to watch the World Series on TV, and I immediately discarded whatever flimsy obligation I may have had. We watched baseball, talked and laughed, especially about his current residence — he was living in, get this, a tent in Tennessee.

Because we were musicians, our talk inevitably turned toward women, and Al, ever the Southern gentleman, was having a hard time between bites communicating to me the difficulty in ... you see, the difficulty in (me taking my last swig that didn’t end up on the wall, as I boldly supplied the punch line) “... in asking a young lady if she’d like to come back to your tent?” We both darn near died there in a fit of laughter.

Yeah, December boys got it bad, as “September Gurls” notes. The great Alex Chilton is gone — folk troubadour, blues shouter, master singer, songwriter and guitarist. Someone should write a tune about him. Then again, nah, that would be impossible. Or just plain stupid.

Paul Westerberg's PW & The Ghost Gloves Cat Wing Joy Boys Out Today

This one went totally under the radar for me (must have been all the preoccupation with Pavement as of late), but Paul Westerberg has a new release out today. Continuing with his recent line of works from the basement, this new one is called PW & the Ghost Gloves Cat Wing Joy Boys, runs a mere 24:07, and is comprised of six separate songs (the title is made up of a word from each track).

None of the tracks commanded a "wait, gotta hear that again" my first listen through on the subway this morning (then again, it was 8:30 am and I was sharing a sardine can-packed train car with someone wearing WAY TOO MUCH Drakaar, that'll kill anyone's rational abilities for sure). But another listen to "Dangerous Boys," (woops) "Love on the Wing," with Westerberg on piano, might change all that. And to be fair, Westerberg's thing that's always knocked me sideways is his way with lyrics. That man can turn a typical phrase into something totally atypical and give it to a whole new amazing meaning. Already I've heard some interesting lines (one off the top of my head is "...ring around the rosary" from "Ghost on the Canvas," a song which appears to be a collection of Westerberg's take on colloquialisms like the aforementioned).

More on it after a proper listening session but it's available here for you to check out yourself.

PW & The Ghost Gloves Cat Wing Joy Boys Track Listing:
1. Ghost On The Canvas
2. Drop Them Gloves
3. Good As The Cat
4. Love On The Wing
5. Gimmie Little Joy
6. Dangerous Boys

The Best Summation of the Replacements I've Heard in a Very Long Time...

My friend AdamAnnapolis is that kid that you're always glad is in your life because he's so quirky and funny and whip-fucking-smart. If you weren't already a music snob in high school or college but had half a brain, he was the kid you looked to because his music taste was always so poignant and interesting. Adam and I discovered we were each other's doppelganger a long time ago because we share so much in common it's like we were from the same embryo. Which is great but also scary (especially because he finds WWF so exceptionally interesting).

One thing we long ago bonded over was The Replacements. As I mentioned, he's ridiculously bright, so I'm not at all surprised he posted the following synopsis of the 'Mats so beautifully. Adam claims that I can capture the essence of live music shows in print well but damn Adam, let me say here publicly that you've captured the essence of the Replacements, and Westerberg especially, in a way I could only dream of doing. Kudos friend...

What Made the Replacements Great
They sound like these angry bratty asshole kids, a gang of 4 suburban disaffected youth who don't even seem to know, care or take seriously that they rock pretty hard.

The lead singer seems like a particular prick.

You want to hate him, and as much of a dick as he comes off, every so often, you hear a song he's written, and he somehow has captured things you've felt your whole life, and never were able to articulate.

And then, he rips your heart out with a seemingly endless string of the most emotion filled beautiful ballads you've ever heard.

And so you love the little shithead exactly FOR being the shithead... who is secretly a genius.

Two More Releases from Westerberg

Paul Westerberg, you just can't ever guess what he'll do these days...after a 4-year quiet, he releases a 43:55 mish-mash mashup of long and short song snippets called "49:00" in late July (our review on it here), then a week or so later came 5:05 in early August, which contrary to initial belief was not the remaining time from "49" but something new altogether.

Now, a couple weeks after that come two more MP3s called "Finally Here Once" and "3oclockreep." Info sent to me on it is as follows:

The two MP3s are "Finally Here Once", which is one song, and
"3oclockreep", which is 20 minutes long and includes lots of overlapping stuff and a couple of distinct songs. It also includes an outtake from the sessions with Tom Waits that produced "Date To Church"**. Said outtake includes Tommy, Paul and Tom Waits trying to figure out the words to "if Only You Were Lonely" and Tom Waits doing some of "We Know The Night". That must have been some night!

Downloading both tracks will cost you $3.99. If for some reason you only want to buy one of the tracks, you can get them individually as well ("3oclockreep" for $3.00 and "Finally Here Once" for $0.99).

"3oclockreep" (Approx. song title/length):
01 Tell 'Em All, Go to Hell 2:49
02 Mash of Outtakes 0:44
03 It's Ridiculous, Everybody Wants to Be Famous 2:53
04 Only Excuse Is 2:15
05 You're Still Mine 1:05
06 If Only You Were Lonely [Mats in Studio with Tom Waits] 1:00
07 Studio Ramblings [Mats in Studio with Tom Waits] 1:15
08 We Know the Night [Mats in Studio with Tom Waits] 3:06
09 Lowdown Monkey Blues [Mats in Studio with Tom Waits] 5:08

**If you don't know "Date To Church", it was previously released on a Sire CD sampler called "Just Say Mao" in 1989, part of their "Just Say Yes" series. And it will be included on the upcoming Sire reissue of "Don't Tell A Soul" (out next month!).

(Editor's note: It was also included on a great bootleg of various 'Mats tracks called Beat Girl that while expensive, is worth every. single. penny. Highly recommended.)

You'd do well to get them sooner than later as "49" and "5:05" were only available for a very short time then poof!, they were gone like a cold beer on a hot day. Both tracks can be purchased here.

The Missing 5:05 to Westerberg's "49" Release Appears

So a few weeks back, Paul Westerberg released his first bit of music since roughly 2004, a 43:55 continuous stream of music clips, fade in/outs, and other assorted oddities entitled "49"(see our review here). Apparently, there was much discussion as to why the thing was titled "49" when there was only 43:55 minutes to it, and where was the remaining 5:05; me, I figured it was just Westerberg being Westerberg.

However, Heather over at I Am Fuel, You are Friends reports today that there really was a remaining 5:05 segment to "49" and it was released for purchase here on TuneCore for either $5.05 or $.99. The sound of "5:05" is reminiscent of Stereo/Mono tracks (Mono specifically) and as Heather states, includes Westerberg's curmudgeon self yelling expletives at the end. Once a punk, always a punk....

Heather also reports that the original download links that were everywhere like Itunes and here are no more. But if you happened to download "49," the photo below is the official back cover, which didn't get released in time for the launch of the download.

Earotica: 49-Paul Westerberg Review

WARNING: DO NOT LISTEN WHILE OPERATING A MOTOR VEHICLE

THIS PRODUCT IS NOT FAULTY - ALL SOUNDS ARE INTENTIONAL AND VALID AS A WORK OF ART

As you may have read here Friday, Paul Westerberg was set to offer a group of new songs via a $.49 download here Saturday, "July 49" (or July 19 to you and me). Technical issues pushed it back until today. Now here at work where I downloaded it, I had to use headphones to listen to it but I highly suggest you do the same so as to catch some of the odder/cooler nuances.

Sans the tracks contributed to the movie "Open Season" a little while back, 49 is Westerberg's first release of new stuff since 2004's Folker. I'd heard that 49 is a collection of things Westerberg has worked on over the past year. If you're a casual Westerberg fan, I don't think you'll care for it, but for the more die-hard types, you'll love it. It's one 43:55 track filled with a couple full songs, song smatterings, smash edits of songs going in and out of each other, a couple covers (Paul doing "I Think I Love You" is pretty awesome), and what I think is Paul playing and singing background behind a child (his son Johnny perhaps?). There are no track listings. Musicially, it covers the gambit. I'd texted a friend about half way through and said "It's sorta alt-country," but then as soon as I hit the Send button on that text, it had morphed into more rock and then some real punk-style sounds. Again, you should listen to it with headphones to catch all the cool strangeness that runs through this.

Westerberg could run with any of the half-tracks and make them into great full-length songs. Maybe that's the reason for 49, to test things out, who knows. But like Tom Waits, Paul Westerberg could write a song about the phone book and somehow make the lyrics into something beautiful you'd want to listen to. 49 is a schizophrenic hot mess and something very few artists could put out without catching flack for it, but Westerberg is one of those few. Consider it like a 43:55 minute look into the mind of a great writer/musician without the need of an interviewer.

Paul Westerberg to Release New Music for .49 on Saturday, July 19; New 'Mats Reissues Out September 23

If you couldn't already tell from the main and sub-titles, we here at Between Love and Like are big fans of Paul Westerberg. That's why we're more than just a little giddy to share with you the following:

On June 49, (that's July 19 to you and me), Paul Westerberg will be releasing 49 minutes of music for just 49¢. Check back (here) on Saturday, July 19 and you'll find a link to download the new tunes.

Definitely good news! Westerberg's last release of new music was 2004's Folker.

Update, July 19: This is from Kathy, the woman who runs the Men Without Ties site, the intended location for the new tracks:

don't want to dampen anyone's anticipation prematurely but I also don't want anyone checking back here at 12:01 AM thinking the link will be live. Things are still being worked out as I type this, but there's a possibility that it may be June 49 + 2 days (Monday) as opposed to tomorrow due to, well, I believe the technical term for it is a "kerflooey". I'll keep you posted.

In other Westerberg-related good news, Rhino records announced yesterday that the final four Replacments reissues from their Sire days will be released on September 23.

Each album features a host of previously unreleased bonus tracks; the entire reissue catalog will also see digital release the same day.

I've heard many of the tracks that are being included, these are definitely worth the cash!