The Replacements' Let It Be [33 1/3 REPLACEMENTS LET IT BE] [Paperback]

by ColinMeloy

The Replacements' Let It Be [33 1/3 REPLACEMENTS LET IT BE] [Paperback]

Paperback

Published August 1, 2004

Reviews

[Sophia Candler · Rating 3 out of 5]

8 pages about The Replacements 98 about Colin Meloy going through puberty

[Glen Engel-Cox · Rating 4 out of 5]

The books in this 33 1/3 series on individual music albums fall into two categories: the ones about the music and the ones about the authors. This is the latter. Thankfully, I had some interest in Meloy, the lead singer, songwriter, and showrunner for the band The Decemberists. So it didn’t bother me that this is a memoir of his time growing up in Montana (something I didn’t know) seen through how he was introduced to this album and how much it informed his school years.

Not to sound like an old fogey, but kids today who have access to all the music they want to listen to at their fingertips don’t really understand what it was to search for a band’s albums, to transfer those vinyl records to cassette, and meticulously write the song titles on the cardboard insert. Meloy describes this excellently, so much that it gave me goosebumps remembering all the work I used to go through to have a copy of some albums: scouring the library, used record bins, arrange trades with other listeners. Note, I have no nostalgia for this. I like our new world.

Meloy comes across in this memoir as a bit of a nerd, but then I wouldn’t have expected different from a songwriter who has created a concept album based on his own fairy story or one with a penchant for sea shanties. He must be slightly younger than I am, for while I understand the idea of being gifted and playing with Star Wars characters, by the time those were available, I had moved on from that kind of imaginative play. (I just looked it up; Meloy was born in 1974, so I’m eight years older than he.) The bands he fell in love with as a kid were bands that I heard after that formative stage: the post-punk and New Wave that ruled what was then called College Radio. For example, Let It Be came out in 1984, the year I started college.

As for Let It Be, it’s not my favorite Replacements album. It’s too raw and jittery and unformed. I started with their later albums, after they had settled down and the music didn’t have to shine through the debauchery and you could enjoy all aspects of the album (Don’t Tell a Soul and All Shook Down, for example, are pure pop for now people). But I totally understand how Let It Be became the soundtrack of Meloy’s school years; for a young man with both image issues and a dedication to music, it’s perfect. And, because he’s a young man and it’s that time of life, an album with songs called “Gary’s Got a Boner” and “Tommy Gets His Tonsils Out” probably stood for a lot. However, I could skip most of the album with the exception of “I Will Dare.”

[Travis D · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the more unique installments of the 33 1/3 series I’ve read. Colin Meloy, of The Decemberists, shares the story of his youth in Montana and his discovery of music, including the influence his uncle had in sharing music with him. This is not an insiders look at the recording process that went into The Replacements making “Let it Be.” It is a tribute to the right music coming along at the right time in our lives.

I loved it. Helps that I also grew up in small town Montana and am about the same age. Or not. This quick read is a universal tale of discovery, family, youth and great music.

[Laura]

picked up in a little bookshop from my trip, i love the replacements and the 33 1/3 series is such a great concept. definitely remember hearing about it in nyc & am glad to have stumbled upon the series again. publishers like this fuel my desire to document passion projects.

[Margaret Farrell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this, the sentimentality of it and the switch in perspectives. Wish maybe there was a bit more about the music