The Replacements Live At Maxwell's 1986 & Shows # 695, 696, 697

On February 4th, 1986, The Replacements played a live show at Maxwell’s in Hoboken, New Jersey. It wasn’t a new venue for the band to play, in fact, they had played there several years before in 1983, during their first East Coast tour. This live show was recorded by Randy Ezratty on a multi-track mobile studio. The mobile studio that was used for this recording was the same New York-based Effanel recording unit that was used for U2’s Under A Blood Red Sky and The Unforgettable Fire album. This show captured the band in what many are saying is one of their last great live performances featuring original guitarist, Bob Stinson. Prior to this, the recording of this show had only been available in bootleg form.

In 1985, the band had signed to Sire Records and released their critically acclaimed album, Tim. This live show was recorded to capture and document The Replacements in their live element, it was intended to be used for some sort of promotional purpose. Head of Sire Records, Seymour Stein suggested a live recording of the band, he had seen them perform live in December 1984 at New York’s Irving Plaza, which led to them getting signed to Sire Records. This recording was set up by Michael Hill, the band’s A&R man at the time. It took place shortly after The Replacements infamous Saturday Night Live appearance in 1985, which earned them a lifetime ban from NBC.

For Sale: Live At Maxwell’s 1986, features 29 tracks made up of a collection of B-sides, covers and a mix of songs from all of the band’s albums up to that point in time. “Hayday” opens the album. Originally featured on 1983’s Hootenanny. This blistering take on this track shows the band starting off with high energy and in top form. Throughout this song and during various points of this concert, Westerberg can be heard shouting “Murder!” instead of the actual lyrics. This was done as part of an inside joke amongst the band, but also that warranted the title “Rock Like Murder” in an interview from Rolling Stone in 2012. It is followed up with a loose version of “Color Me Impressed”, “Dose Of Thunder” is a deeper cut from 1986’s Tim, while “Fox On The Run” is the first of several cover songs featured on this recording. Originally by The Sweet, this half-serious take of this song is cut short after about a minute.

The Replacements ability to balance their drunken reckless abandon with a seriousness and maturity in their music is exemplified perfectly throughout this album. They had a reputation live where they would sometimes play rowdy live shows in a drunken state, performing sets made up entirely of cover songs randomly, while on other occasions they would perform magnificently combining both originals and covers. “Hold My Life”, “I Will Dare”, “Unsatisfied”, “Tommy Gets His Tonsils Out”, and “Can’t Hardly Wait”, performed here before it was released as a studio recording, are some of the tracks on this release that exemplify this. This song had been part of the band’s live set since 1984, but wouldn’t turn up on a record until 1987’s Pleased To Meet Me. “Bastards Of The Young” and “Kiss Me On The Bus” featured here differ from the studio recordings found on 1986’s Tim. Lead guitarist Bob Stinson, as described in the liner notes by Bob Mehr, “Seesaws between pinpoint precision and reckless abandon” on this release. During the recording of Tim he began to withdraw from the band. The live performances of these songs originally found on Tim, arguably exceed the studio versions.

Songs such as “Takin’ A Ride”, “I’m In Trouble”, and “God Damn Job” rival the early recordings and for all intents and purposes may be superior to those versions. In addition to this, there are the other moments such as “Left Of The Dial” which is an excellent performance of the song until it falls off of the rails at the end and “Answering Machine” which begins in dissonance before the band launches into this track. “If Only You Were Lonely” captures an unpredictable spontaneity. This song Westerberg’s country lament was originally released as the B-side to “I’m In Trouble” and starts off as a solo Westerberg track as the band joins in.

The covers of The Beatles “Nowhere Man”, T.Rex’s “Baby Strange”, Kiss’s “Black Diamond” and Vanity Fair’s “Hitching A Ride” are injected with the band’s own brand of raucousness. The album ends with two tracks from The Replacements 1982 Stink EP. An EP that ventured into hardcore punk territory at times, “Go” provides a moody moment prior to the concert ending middle finger send off track “Fuck School”.

The only live recording that was released by the band prior to this was, the 1985 cassette only release, The Shit Hits The Fans. This recording features reckless versions of primarily cover songs. The Maxwell’s recordings sat in the Warner Bros. vaults for decades, until they were finally mixed in 2007 as part of a reissue campaign for the band. These tracks were mixed by Brain Kehw and Bill Inglot, but still it would be another decade until they saw the light of day.

Shortly after this concert and some tours in the US and Europe, Bob Stinson departed from the group. Paul Westerberg, Tommy Stinson and Chris Mars decided to regroup as a three-piece band and return to the studio. The result would be 1987’s Pleased To Meet Me, produced by Jim Dickinson. Seeing as how the band’s lineup had now changed, this live album was not released. The concert, a moment captured, was thought to be lost. Following the release of his New York Times best seller Trouble Boys: The True Story of The Replacements, this album was produced for release by author Bob Mehr. For Sale: Live At Maxwell’s 1986 may have taken 31 years to be released, but it captures The Replacements in a moment. Whether you were there or not when it happened, this moment that many thought had been lost forever, now lives again.

Show 697 (Originally Aired On December 9th, 2017):

1. The Iguanas - Wild Weekend
2. The Novas - Take 7
3. Mach Kung-Fu - Bamboosville
4. Jackie Shane - In My Tenement
5. Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings - Sail On!
6. Grassy Knoll & The Magic Bullit - Around Under Your Feet
7. Grassy Knoll & The Magic Bullit - Bonberry Blues
8. The Holy Gasp - Stomp Out The Man
9. Chad VanGaalen - Static Shape
10. King Krule - Slush Puppy
11. Angel Olsen - Fly On Your Wall
12. Husker Du - Diane
13. Husker Du - Do You Remember?
14. Husker Du - Chinese Rocks
15. The Replacements - Anywhere's Better Than Here
16. The Replacements - I Won't
17. The Replacements - Portland
18. The Minutemen - Self-Referenced
19. The Minutemen - Cut
20. Wilco - Monday
21. TUNS - Throw It All Away
22. Chang-A-Lang - Throwaway Litres
23. Paul Jacobs - Stay At Home
24. The Fuzzy Undertones - Empath Blues
25. Torres - Helen In the Woods
26. The Runaways - School Days
27. The Revelons - The Way You (Touch My Hand)
28. Richard Lloyd - (I Thought) You Wanted To Know
29. The Replacements - Kiss Me On The Bus (Live At Maxwell's 1986)
30. The Replacements - Baby Strange (Live At Maxwell's 1986)

To download this weeks program, visit CJAM's schedule page for Revolution Rock and download the file for December 9.

Show 696 (Originally Aired On December 2nd, 2017):

1. Link Wray - American Sunset
2. Link Wray - The Swag
3. The Velvetones - Doheny Run
4. The Scarlet Ribbon - Four in The Morning
5. Lucille Furs - The Fawn Of Teal Dear
6. (Those) Rogues - Wish I Could See You Again
7. Sultans 5 - You Know You Know
8. Link Wray - Son of Rumble
9. Courtney Barnett & Kurt Vile - Outta The Woodwork
10. Craig Brown Band - Shoulda Been Fishin'
11. James O-L & The Villains - The Road In Between
12. Jerry Jerry & The Son of Rhythm Orchestra - Dumb Love
13. King Khan - It's A Lie
14. The Dirtbombs - Your Love Belongs Under A Rock
15. Flat Worms - Motorbike
16. The O Voids - Next Week
17. Pale Lips - Hiding From The Moon
18. Actual Water - Having Fun in 2001
19. The Diodes - Mercenary Flight
20. The Replacements - Fox On The Run (Live At Maxwell's 1986)
21. The Replacements - Takin' A Ride (Live At Maxwell's 1986)
22. The Replacements - Bastards of Young (Live At Maxwell's 1986)
23. Television - I'm Gonna Find You (1974 Ork Loft Rehearsal)
24. Television - Double Exposure (1974 Eno Demo)
25. The Neon Boys - That's All I Know (Right Now)
26. Ariel Pink - Another Weekend
27. The Chills - The Oncoming Day
28. Ancient Shapes - Public Hymns
29. Ancient Shapes - Ancient Shapes
30. Jack O & The Tennessee Tearjerkers - Make Your Mind Up
31. The Damned - I Just Can't Be Happy Today
32. The Lost Patrol - Blue's Theme
33. The D4 - John Rock And Roll Sinclair

To download this weeks program, visit CJAM's schedule page for Revolution Rock and download the file for December 2.

Show 695 (Originally Aired On November 25th, 2017):

1. The Traditional Fools - Davey Crockett
2. Dusty Mush - Ugly Buddies
3. Priors - Got in Me
4. Cold Warps - Sleepist
5. Century Palm - Echo Divide (CJSW Session)
6. Fake Palms - I'm Not There (CJSW Session)
7. Trout - Long Hair
8. The Sliders - The Lamb Shake
9. The Flamethrowers - The Knight's Caper
10. Bloodshot Bill - Outta The Rain
11. Carl Perkins - Boppin' The Blues
12. Doctor Ross - The Boogie Disease
13. Bloodshot Bill - Shick Shack
14. Tom Waits - Gin Soaked Boy
15. Jonathan Richman - You're Crazy For Taking the Bus
16. Diane Motel - Okemah
17. Chad VanGaalen - Host Body
18. Ty Segall - Cherry Red
19. Expedition To Earth - Expedition To Earth
20. The Fall-Outs - Alone
21. Wolf Parade - Valley Boy
22. Shadowy Men On A Shadowy Planet - What I Like About Grease
23. The Blazers - Beaver Patrol
24. Elevator Through - The Only See To Thought
25. The Makers - It's Hard To Be Human
26. The Adverts - I Will Walk You Home
27. Radio Birdman - I-94
28. Television Personalities - Look Back In Anger
29. Richard Hell & The Voidoids - Down At the Rock and Roll Club
30. Richard Hell & The Voidoids - Who Says?
31. Richard Hell & The Voidoids - Blank Generation

To download this weeks program, visit CJAM's schedule page for Revolution Rock and download the file for November 25.