The slacker serendipity of how Paul Westerberg found a place in The Replacements
Vocalist Paul Westerberg’s addition to The Replacements was born out of pure slacker serendipity.
Born in Minnesota, Westerberg describes his childhood in terms of his introduction to music, his father’s lack of ambition, and an accident involving a rope and a car when he was 12. The latter, he says, changed his way of thinking significantly: “It became my nature to do the opposite of what I was told,” he told Magnet Magazine.
By the time he was 17, he had discovered punk music, truancy, and drugs. After leaving school, Westerberg began making music alongside working as a janitor. He recalls walking home by a house from which he heard a band called Dogbreath playing ‘Roundabout’ by Yes. From then on, he walked by that same house every day.
Coincidentally, Westerberg would stumble upon the group again when accompanying a friend to one of their house shows. He recalls being “immediately struck by Tommy. His amp was bigger than him”. Westerberg arrived at the gig as a secret fan of the band he now knew to be called Dogbreath and left it well-acquainted with the members. He took on the role of vocalist, and the outfit changed its name to the Impediments and, later, The Replacements.
Local DJ Peter Jesperson, who worked with the budding musicians in their early years, told Magnet: “For a while there, Paul had no idea how good a songwriter he was”. Detailing further, he continues: “I always said I wanted to work with people who were better than they thought they were. There were nights when it was incomprehensible to me that there was a better band on the planet.”
Despite this belief, The Replacements were never to achieve great commercial success. Still, the American slacker-rockers are remembered for their pioneering, heartfelt alternative rock and their unpredictable live performances. Amidst the prevalence of punk in the 1970s, their early releases were heavily influenced by hardcore punk rock. But in the 1980s, The Replacements pivoted to more minimal guitar and vulnerable lyrics, incorporating the influence of blues and ballads.
Westerberg recalls making the decision to change their sound, stating: “The way punk was going, it was obvious that we couldn’t be the fastest, loudest, toughest band on earth, so I returned to the acoustic guitar. I used to always show those guys new songs on an acoustic, but we always recorded them electric. This time, we cut them with the acoustic.”
Westerberg cites The Rolling Stones’ 1968 record Beggar’s Banquet as an inspiration before he reminisces, “It was right in the autumn, and the weather was beautiful, the nights were cool. There was something in the air that I couldn’t quite put my finger on.”
Their releases during this softer alt-rock period would gain attention from labels and became the sound they’re now associated with – their most successful track, the sweet, slow indie track ‘Swingin’ Party’, from their 1985 album Tim has become their most celebrated.
The Replacements’ slacker beginnings never really left them, as they remained relatively unknown and underrated compared to their peers. Plagued by internal struggles and substance abuse throughout their career, the band have only finally gained their deserved recognition decades later.
