PUBLISHED IN THE HAMILTON SPECTATOR Thursday, May 16, 1996
BY NICK KREWEN
When it came to notorious rock 'n' roll drunks, PAUL WESTERBERG and his band THE REPLACEMENTS ranked right up there with the best of them.
Even as the Minneapolis-based quartet won accolades in alternative music circles for their disheveled, dysfunctional garage brand of rock 'n roll and were hailed as innovators of the '80s, their reputation for performing in states of alcoholic stupor often overshadowed the music.
After a series of acclaimed albums such as Let It Be, Tim, and Pleased To Meet Me, The Replacements imploded in 1990 and Westerberg launched a solo career. Six years later, Paul Westerberg is clean and has released a brilliant new album called Eventually.
And he says his only regret regarding his past is the albatross that continues to hang around his neck.
"I guess in a way I regret that I have to forever talk about it," said the cheerful and talkative Westerberg from his Minneapolis home Monday.
"Just as the word `drunk' cropped up in every one of my reviews, the word `sober' has replaced it. I would love to get to the day where neither word would be part of my make up. It would just be, `Paul has made a record. Whether he's drunk...sober...his hair is brown or grey, it doesn't matter. It's another good record.'
"That's what I regret. You know how you pay for things? You don't realize it at the time, but I'm paying more now than I did back then."
Today, Westerberg says he's a bit of a recluse, preferring to spend time at home rather than cruising bars. It's a big change from the '80s, when the songwriter used music as an excuse for a social life.
"All my life, I used to go out. I went out to drink and look for girls. Rock and roll always took third place. It was those other things for me."
Concerning Eventually -- his first album since 1993's 14 Songs -- Westerberg says he likes the album more with each listen.
"I think I have a batch of tunes that I'm going to be able live with for a long time," he admits.
Amidst the strummed acoustic guitar backdrop of the wistful "These Are The Days" and the poignant piano ballad "Good Day" --written in tribute to former Replacements guitarist BOB STINSON who passed away last year -- Westerberg's genuflecting has never sounded more sad or convincing. In his own assessment of music, Westerberg says honesty is his best device.
"It's about all I've got," he says. "I think the marriage of honesty and melody are my two main things. If I'm short in one suit, then I try to overcompensate with the other. It has to be one of those two for me to be truly interesting."
He admits that taking a couple of years to make the album paid off in the long run, as he let songs mature at their own pace. "These Are The Days," for instance, took four years to write.
"I've written 50 songs since the day I tried to write it, and it would still keep cropping up whether I was riding my bike or walking down the street," says Westerberg.
"I listen to that kind of stuff and I know that one day I'm going to bring that to life."
At 37, Westerberg hopes that people judge the music on its own merits, and is planning a summer tour to promote the album with a Toronto date expected in July or early August.
"I'm in a difficult position," Westerberg says. "These are almost the impossible years for a rock 'n' roll singer, or a pop singer, because I'm not quite revered or old enough to be considered an old veteran who would get the respect of a TOM PETTY or a (ELVIS) COSTELLO or a (BOB) DYLAN.
"I'm still young enough where I can be looked at as, `Well, he used to be younger.' Once you reach about 40 or 41, no one expects you to be young anymore. So I'm still battling that stigma, and I think the problem is that I'm ahead of my time. I've always been ahead of myself a little bit. I'm already preparing for people to accept me as to what I am now, and I realize they're not going to until they see me physically hobbling up there on stage, you know?"
He laughs.
"I'll be up on stage with a cane, balding. And they'll go, `He's an old man. Not bad for an old man.'
"You never get the respect. But I think the music has grown very, very gracefully."
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DISCOGRAPHY
REPLACEMENTS
1981 -- Sorry Ma, Forgot to Take Out The Trash -- Twin Tone
1982 -- The Replacements Stink EP
1983 -- Hootenanny
1984 -- Let It Be
1985 -- The Shit Hits The Fans
1985 -- Tim -- Sire
1987 -- Pleased To Meet Me
1989 -- Don't Tell A Soul
1990 -- All Shook Down
SOLO
1993 -- 14 Songs -- Sire/Reprise
1996 -- Eventually -- Reprise
1999 -- Suiciane Gratifaction -- Capitol
COLLABORATIONS
1992 -- Various Artists, Singles
1995 -- Various Artists, Friends
1995 -- Various Artists, Tommy Boy -- The Movie
©1996, 1999 Nick Krewen, Octopus Media Ink