Slimbob Dunlap was one in a million. The outpouring of love for him here in Minneapolis since the news broke is overwhelming. Everyone has a story where he’s kind and funny. No one has a bad word to say about him.<\/p>\n
I was lucky enough to have Slim take me under his wing and show me the ways of a touring band. In 1997 Slim got a chance to tour as the opening act for Son Volt, but his regular bassist couldn’t make the trip. He asked me to do it, never mind that I’d never played bass onstage before in my life. My first gig, after one short rehearsal, was at Irving Plaza in New York. I hope no one noticed me.<\/p>\n
Everywhere we went he had what seemed to be close friends. I wondered how is this possible? Could he have met all these people just in the handful of tours he did with the Replacements? I eventually realized that he just had that rare gift of putting everyone at ease and making them feel valued. People adored him everywhere we went.<\/p>\n
I watched the faces of the young crowd at the Paradise Rock Club in Boston as Slim started his set with me plunking along on bass, looking over his shoulder. The Son Volt fans started out bored and even a little hostile, but as Slim worked his magic, the faces softened, smiled and laughed. He truly was a master entertainer.<\/p>\n
Sadly, since 2012 he’s been lying on his back, unable to even hold a guitar. He could barely communicate, but his mind was still sharp. He remembered personal details\u00a0about his friends, and asked for updates whenever we’d visit.<\/p>\n
I’ll miss him forever, but I’m glad Slim’s magnificent spirit no longer has to be tethered to that crumpled, fragile body.\u00a0The love between him and Chrissie is lesson for us all.<\/p>\n
You’re right, he wasn’t ever rolling in dough, but he was like Minneapolis’ George Bailey – the richest man in town.<\/p>\n
Best,
\nTerry Walsh<\/p>\n
_______________________________________<\/p>\n
In the 1980s, I played guitar for a loud LA-based post-punk act that
\nwas trying to get signed. However, live mixing and various tech crew
\njobs in television production paid my rent.<\/p>\n
In December of ’87, I was mixing FOH for an act that opened up for the
\nReplacements at the Palladium in Hollywood. I was a huge fan of the
\nReplacements — wore the vinyl out and had seen them perform both
\nbrilliantly and sh*t-faced. And here I was, a kid with a dream and in
\nthe same room as his heroes.<\/p>\n
During the interminable sound checks, the ‘Mats new guitar player Slim
\nDunlap was killing time sitting on his amplifier. I struck up a
\nconversation and shared a ciggie with the man during what was an
\nimpromptu smoke break. He was affable and demure, and I probably told
\nhim more about my aspirations than he wanted to hear.<\/p>\n
While talking about the music business and his new-found fortune as
\nthe lead guitarist for the darlings of College Radio, he cut me off.
\nHe pointed across the stage to his guitar tech.<\/p>\n
“See that guy over there?” he asked. I nodded. “He tunes my guitars.
\nAnd he makes more money than I do.”<\/p>\n
I eventually got signed in 1990, but when that went sideways in 1994,
\nI went back to mixing sound full-time\u2014only in television, not rock and
\nroll. I got out. Music was too much of a grind and too little of a
\nreturn.<\/p>\n
Last March, 37 years after my star-struck talk with Slim, I retired as
\nthe Audio Mixer on Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune.<\/p>\n
I took those jobs because I never forgot Slim’s lesson on the
\nEconomics of the Music Business.<\/p>\n
Godspeed, Slim Dunlap. You were a Gentleman and a Savant. And one f*ck
\nof a guitar player.<\/p>\n
Cole Coonce<\/p>\n
_______________________________________<\/p>\n
I knew Slim. I represented Slim . I loved Slim.<\/p>\n
I met him for the first time when the Mats were touring behind \u201c Pleased To Meet Me \u201c . I was a friend of their then manager and went to see them in Houston . I arrived early with the intent of saying hi to them before the show. When I met Slim, I knew he was the real deal by his shoes. He wore \u201cold man\u201c shoes, beaten to hell lace up black oxfords with white socks and old man trousers. It was about 2 in the afternoon, he was drinking a Heineken out of the bottle, and it was pretty evident it was not his first of the day. We talked for half an hour about this and that and I was taken by not only how comfortable he was in his new roll, but what a perfect fit he was with being a Mat. It was years later when the band imploded and Slim recorded his debut album that we reconnected and I wound up as his booking agent. I told him how much I loved the first track, \u201c Ain\u2019t Exactly Good \u201c and how it was the best sounding Stones album they never made. He laughed while casually mentioning that he made the record in a cheap minneapolis home studio in a couple of days for a cost of about 1000.00. \u00a0His follow up album, \u201c Times like this \u201c was just as easy to listen to. But talk about a frustrating position to be in. Here was a guy who was essentially the midwest version of Keith Richards only he couldn\u2019t get arrested. I don’t think the guy ever made more than 5k off any one show. But he was a genuinely good unassuming guy who happened to have an average voice, write better than average songs , and could play the rock n roll guitar like very very few.<\/p>\n
It was really sad when he had his stroke and just as sad hearing of his passing. It reminds me of when I heard of John Prine passing , and I said \u201c we\u2019re all just a little worse off without John in our lives \u201c . Today, we\u2019re all a little worse off without Slim Dunlap.<\/p>\n
Scott Weiss<\/p>\n
_______________________________________<\/p>\n
I worked his second solo record Times Like This. Before the Chicago show I introduced myself and said it should be a great show tonight. Slim responded with, “As long as I make enough money to buy cigarettes and cat food I’m good.”<\/p>\n
The Old New Me is a GREAT record.<\/p>\n
Rest Easy Slim<\/p>\n
Kenny Schnurstein<\/p>\n
_______________________________________<\/p>\n
The band I was in at the time, The Casual Ts, opened for The Replacements in 1987 in Tallahassee. While Paul Westerberg and Tommy Stinson were living up to the ‘Mats myth, Slim, who was quite a bit older than the others, was upbeat, very friendly, and seemed to genuinely enjoy our set. After the ‘Mats delivered an incendiary set at the roadhouse we played (the long gone Kent’s Lounge) we mentioned to Paul how much we thought Slim added to the band, Paul replied, with utter sincerity, that Slim had saved the band, and that they couldn’t believe that he was playing with them. Slim was a local legend in Minneapolis, playing for many years with singer Curtiss A. and with other bands in the area. It was a great scene in many areas back then, where the local legend was a big thing. He was a treasure. Rave on, Slim Dunlap.<\/p>\n
Bob Anthony<\/p>\n
_______________________________________<\/p>\n
Appreciate your mentioning Dunlap here. A lot of this is, as I think you’re suggesting, about “you had to be there,” and there’s nothing good or bad about that really.<\/p>\n
I grew up in the 1980s and the Mats were important to most everyone I knew. Part of all this was seeing them live, and for a while, not knowing what band you were going to get onstage. I finally did see them during their last tour in 1991, at the Marquee in London no less, and it was utter magic. Didn’t matter than Chris Mars wasn’t onboard for this one, or that Bob Stinson wasn’t either. Slim was great, gracious, and an excellent foil for Westerberg.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Marshall Armintor<\/p>\n
_______________________________________<\/p>\n
Thanks for your post about Slim Dunlap. \u00a0As for \u201cgetting\u201d the Replacements, well, you kinda had to be there. \u00a0And by \u201cthere\u201d I mean the gigs. \u00a0You never knew what those guys would or could do at any moment\u2026.sometimes blow your mind, sometimes break your heart. But they were always human and always unpredictable and Westerberg\u2019s tunes spoke directly to the heart of those of us who were Paul\u2019s age and basking in the fun and intensity of the post-punk live rock scene in the 80s. \u00a0I saw every NYC Replacements show from February 1985 to the final 1991 tour. \u00a0Those were damn good times. \u00a0I\u2019m sure Slim and Bob Stinson are jamming, entirely unrehearsed, in the afterlife.<\/p>\n
Mitch Goldman<\/p>\n
_______________________________________<\/p>\n
The Replacements – in all incarnations – were another one of those bands that shifted my early life flight pattern. Seeing Slim play with them numerous times as a late teen was a near-religious experience – they were my dirtbag Beatles.<\/p>\n
Godspeed Slim. And thank you.<\/p>\n
Timothy J. Smith<\/p>\n
_______________________________________<\/p>\n
Please check out Songs for Slim, a tribute album consisting predominantly of covers of The Old New me by Steve Earle, Lucinda Williams, Jeff Tweedy, John Doe, Joe Henry and the Replacements amongst others.<\/p>\n
It was to raise funds after Slim had his stroke.<\/p>\n
You were far from alone in your love for Slim Dunlap.<\/p>\n
Warm regards from Sydney,<\/p>\n
David Ryan<\/p>\n