If you enjoy the Replacements when they shamble through drunken classic rock covers, then you'll enjoy this show from 1984 which has been around as, "Live & Drunk". This was from a period that yielded many interesting shows that allowed the band to exhibit their inner (and outer) "I don't a shit" attitude. This was also a period when the band was attracting label interest and media attention (including a feature article in the Village Voice in early December) and judging from their frequent appearances in NYC (this was their 4th time they played CBGB's in 1984) they were being showcased in front of prominent people in the "music biz". Some nights it was if they tried their hardest to screw things up with their "circus/spectacle thing", as Chris Mars calls it or maybe they were scared of success and wanted to show they would do things on their terms. No matter the reason, they band signed a major label deal with Sire before they left New York in December 1984.
I know a lot of music purists wouldn't agree, but I never get tired of listening to this CBGB's show for many reasons. The songs almost seamlessly flow from cover to cover, clearly having fun attempting songs they have covered other times during this tour and songs I've never heard them cover before. Many of these songs are familiar from the
Shit Hits The Fans tape that was recorded a month previous, but here they actually complete a majority of the songs. Their guitars are out of tune, bum notes are played and words are improvised, but the spirit of what rock is all about; entertaining, playing for the moment and having a good time is all evident. It is impressive they can play this efficiently considering, but their talent still shines through in kind of a weird way. Paul will attempt any song, Bob can solo to anything, Tommy was probably grinning throughout the whole show and Chris does an unbelievable job keeping the beat and he drives the songs forward as if he's reading Paul's mind. The best sequence of songs is from the cover versions of,
I Will Follow to
September Gurls (tracks 20-25) where they play the music of covers with the lyrics of another song (the songs titles in the brackets). Not only is this brilliant, but the songs actually flow together quite nicely. I think I've only heard one other time they've done that to a song, but this sequence is one of best I've ever heard, from any band. Throughout the set the fans are screaming "play the Replacements" and "no more pussy set", they are clearly not impressed with the all fucking around and at one point Paul says, "It's too late, it's like throwing a line to a drowning man that can't grab on"...nuff said!
I received this tape in a trade back in the early 90's from a guy in Minneapolis who had a good collection of Mats shows. I built much of my early Mats collection from him and I thank him profusely for aiding my Replacements addiction. I was originally turned on to collecting the Replacements from reading an article in a magazine I subscribed to around this time called Tapers Quarterly. There was a three part series on collecting the Replacements, the first part was about live concert recordings (very inspiring!), the second about live video and the third about Outtakes and Rarities. You can read
parts II and III at the Skyway site. I'll check through my issues for the first part of the series and forward some of that info later.
What you're hearing is from my 20 year cassette that I transferred to CD maybe 10 years ago. I recently ripped the songs and split the tracks to post here. This is not sourced from the vinyl boot, "Live & Drunk" (picture above) and if you have a (much) better sounding version, please let me know.
Enjoy!!
The Replacements
CBGB's
New York City, NY
December 9, 1984
aka "Live & Drunk"
cassette (from trade)> stand alone CD recorder> audio CD> FreeRip>
WAV> Direct WAV splitter> convert FLAC> rar file01. Lovelines?
02. Hear You Been To College
03. Easier Said Than Done
04. Color Me Impressed
05. Music Is My Life
06. Jolene
07. Rock, Rock?
08. Walk On The Wild Side
09. Hippy Hippy Shake
10. Can't Get Enough
11. My Generation/Substitute
12. Take Me Down To The Hospital
13. Do It For Money?
14. Iron Man
15. Little GTO
16. The New World
17. Radio Free Europe
18. It's Alright
19. I Got You Babe (cuts)
20. I Will Follow (Kids Don't Follow)
21. Let It Be (Fuck School)
22. Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds
23. Temptation Eyes (Hey Good Lookin')
24. Last Train To Clarksville(Trouble)
25. September Gurls (Customer)
26. Best Friend's Girl
27. Layla
28. One Of The Boys
29. Take A Letter, Maria
30. Slip Away
31. Green Acres
32. If I Only Had A Brain
33. Gilligan's Island
34. Be My Lover
35. Start Me Up
36. I'll Be There
37. Black Diamond (fades out)
THE REPLACEMENTS- 1984-12-09 CBGB's, NYC, FLAC. rar