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November 10, 2012 8:02 AM

Come Feel Me Tremble is a is a movie about Paul Westerberg. It's a little weird.
posted by timsteil (19 comments total)

Awesome. I'm in that movie! (well the back of my head is in one of the crowd shots).
posted by Ike_Arumba at 8:55 AM on November 10, 2012 [2 favorites]

Westerberg is like the Mickey Rourke of music. A major talent, never fully realized.
posted by davebush at 9:02 AM on November 10, 2012 [1 favorite]

Some day, I would like to thank Mr. Westerberg for providing me the cultural reference that allows me to sing "nah nah nah NAH! I've got a delicious fart!" while administering a dutch oven.
posted by Mayor Curley at 9:30 AM on November 10, 2012 [2 favorites]

Westerberg is like the Mickey Rourke of music. A major talent, never fully realized.

Not sure I agree. Most of the Replacements songs stand up as among the very best of their era; and he seemed to really find his groove with the Internet-only stuff he was releasing a few years ago, like 49:00. But if you mean he never became as famous or popularly adored as he should have been, then yeah, absolutely.
posted by Rangeboy at 9:49 AM on November 10, 2012 [2 favorites]

Yeah, I would say "a talent never fully recognized." Indeed, not being recognized was part of what helped him realize some of his finest musical achievements. Looking forward to watching this.
posted by Joey Michaels at 11:31 AM on November 10, 2012

God, this guy was one of my adolescent heros. So good at the little turns of phrase that expressed the mix of bravado, tough, tender, romantic, and rebellious impulses lots of us felt at the time. Plus when on form, could rock the shit out of a room.
posted by C.A.S. at 12:03 PM on November 10, 2012 [2 favorites]

Man I liked the Replacements back in the day. Little did I know their history at the time. All I knew was I liked their CDs.

Wow, didn't he win a grammy once for songwriting? I thought he did, but now I can't find it...
posted by Eekacat at 12:16 PM on November 10, 2012

I'm pretty sure the Lucinda Williams song "Real Live Bleeding Fingers" is about Paul. Its kind of surprising how much of a cult figure he's gonna end up, like the VU, like Alex Chilton. When I was young it seemed he was a kid from the wrong side of the tracks that might crash through and conquer the world through rock and roll. I still remember the Rolling Stone review of Tim.
posted by C.A.S. at 12:28 PM on November 10, 2012 [1 favorite]

I am so happy about this. Thanks for posting it.
posted by One Hand Slowclapping at 1:04 PM on November 10, 2012 [2 favorites]

Man I liked the Replacements back in the day. ... All I knew was I liked their CDs.

Funny how weird that sounds to me, but just because my "back in the day" was only available on LPs.
posted by benito.strauss at 1:13 PM on November 10, 2012 [2 favorites]

"Well a person can work up a mean, mean thirst
after a hard day of nothing much at all..."

I like to imagine that somewhere the ghost of Hank Williams heard that lyric and thought, "there might be something to this rock and roll music after all".

What amazes me about Westerberg is how he went from writing snotty punk songs like "I Need A Goddamn Job" to writing brilliant, incisive, biting, perfect pop songs in the space of... what? A year or two? Mostly while wasted? What a talent.
posted by BitterOldPunk at 1:38 PM on November 10, 2012 [5 favorites]

Anyone read Paul's heartfelt tribute to Alex Chilton in the NY Times? He can write

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/21/opinion/21westerberg.html


posted by C.A.S. at 1:50 PM on November 10, 2012 [1 favorite]

One of the best Paul Westerberg albums of the past decade was the soundtrack to Open Season. Go figure.
posted by KingEdRa at 2:01 PM on November 10, 2012

Funny how weird that sounds to me, but just because my "back in the day" was only available on LPs.


My back in the day was all about LPs. When the Replacements came around, everything was about CDs, and LPs were dying. Still not dead yet, they might even go for a walk, and still might last longer than CDs...
posted by Eekacat at 2:04 PM on November 10, 2012

I bought Rock Band 2 solely because "Alex Chilton" is one of the songs you can sing/play.
posted by skycrashesdown at 3:20 PM on November 10, 2012

Watching now.

Best bit so far:

WESTERBERG (reclining on sofa, to interviewer w/ camera): Rode up an elevator with Kurt Cobain once. Neither of us said a word.

INTERVIEWER: Wow, really? You'd think he'd, you know, be dying to speak to you.

WESTERBERG: Well, he was dying to be dying and I was dying to be somewhere else.
posted by BitterOldPunk at 5:17 PM on November 10, 2012 [7 favorites]

Thanks for posting this. The Good family motto is "When in doubt, the Replacements." We've had a long day and will enjoy this with our coffee in the morning.

"Color Me Obsessed: A Film About The Replacements" is starting in half an hour across town at the Bloor Hot Docs Cinema, and mrgood and I are going to have to catch it some other time. It's already a bit sad to be old and tired and a bit saddled with obligations - but it's terrible when the Replacments are now past our bedtime.
posted by peagood at 7:58 PM on November 10, 2012 [2 favorites]

In other 'Mats news, a sad note: guitarist Slim Dunlap has had a severe stroke. Paul and (original 'Mats bassist) Tommy Stinson are putting out an EP (and calling themselves The Replacements, because, hey, they can) to help him with medical expenses. You can donate to the cause (Facebook link).

Get well, Slim!
posted by BitterOldPunk at 9:56 AM on November 11, 2012

(I missed the whole story about "49:00" until today. Is it possible to hear it anywhere? Thanks!

- Signed, a Minnesota kid who loves the 'Mats)
posted by wenestvedt at 9:00 AM on November 12, 2012