Lemon Jail: On the Road with the Replacements

by Bill Sullivan

A tour diary of life on the road with one of Minnesota’s greatest bands—with nearly 100 never-before-seen photographs “Don’t bore us, get to the chorus” is Bill Sullivan’s motto, which will come as no surprise to anyone who opens Lemon Jail. A raucous tour diary of rock ’n’ roll in the 1980s, Sullivan’s book puts us in the van with the Replacements in the early years. Barreling down the highway to the next show through quiet nights and hightailing it out of scandalized college towns, Sullivan—the young and reckless roadie—is in the middle of the joy and chaos, trying to get the band on stage and the crowd off it and knowing when to jump in and cover Alice Cooper. Lemon Jail shows what it’s like to keep the band on the road and the wheels on the van—and when to just close your eyes and hit the gas. 

That first van, dubbed the Lemon Jail by Bill, takes the now legendary Replacements from a south Minneapolis basement to dive bars and iconic rock clubs to college parties and eventually an international stage. It’s not a straight shot or a smooth ride, and there’s never a dull moment, whether Bob Stinson is setting a record for the quickest ejection from CBGB in NYC or hiding White Castle sliders around a hotel room or whether Paul Westerberg is sneaking gear out of a hostile venue or saving Bill’s life at a brothel in New Jersey. With growing fame (and new vans) come tours with REM and X (what happens when the audience isn’t allowed to stand?), Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and the Violent Femmes (against their will), and Saturday Night Live, where the band’s televised antics earn the edict You’ll never play on NBC again. Fast You’ll never play Washington, D.C., again. Or Moorhead.

Hiding in fans’ backyards while the police search the streets and pelted with canned goods at a Kent State food drive, the Replacements hit rough patches along with sweet spots, and Lemon Jail reveals the grit and glory both onstage and off, all told in the irrepressible, full-throttle style that makes Bill Sullivan an irresistible guide on this once-in-a-lifetime road trip with a band on the make.

Genres: Music, Nonfiction, Memoir, The United States Of America, Punk, Autobiography, Travel

154 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 17, 2018

Reviews

[Gabrielle (Reading Rampage) · Rating 2 out of 5]

So... I knew going in that this was going to be a messy book, but in my generous spirit (Bill Sullivan is a professional roadie and former bar owner, not a music journalist, and therefore, expectations of his writing skills need to be adjusted), I had underestimated the scope of the mess.

This is not book for the casual 'Mats fans: the pictures are not captioned (who's crotch are we looking at on page 58?), very little context is given, and the stories ramble, intertwine with each other in a chaotic non-linear way - which i have to admit might have at least succeeded in capturing the vibe of touring with the 80's most unhinged band. But it makes for a weird reading experience, to say the least.

I also felt like this was much more about Bill than about the band. Look, I get it: what happens on the road stays on the road, and this isn't meant to be a tell-all of Replacements' misadventures. But I also felt like he was holding back on quite a lot of interesting stories. The ones he does share are often hilarious and classic 'Mats shenanigan: Lemmy thought they were too loud (ha!), they stole Tom Petty's wife's clothes from his dressing room and wore them onstage, Bob broke a newly repaired guitar just to fuck with Bill, the band whited their hair with flour and asked to be introduced as 'the Retirements', and of course, Paul mastered the art of pissing out of the van's door while it was driving down the highway. But there isn't really a lot of stuff about the music, the shows or the guys themselves, which felt a bit odd.

The photos are all from Bill's personal collection, and while most of them are blurry, some of them are fantastic, albeit probably accidentally.

For the completists, but "Trouble Boys" (https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...) and "All Over but the Shouting" (https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...) are way better books if you want to read crazy Replacements' stories. Sorry, Bill. You just needed an editor.

[Daryl · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was pretty excited when a copy of this showed up in my used bookstore, but as soon as I started reading it, my excitement changed to disappointment. I'm a huge Replacements fan and I know there are a lot of interesting stories to be told, and Bill Sullivan, who was the band's main roadie for many years, knows many of them. But he can't write. This book is a horrible mishmash. Nothing is organized, and one story follows another (or sometimes interrupts another) without any context or relationship whatsoever. Names are dropped helter skelter; for example, while talking about the Replacements touring with the band X, he mentions "John" without ever once explaining to the reader that he means John Doe, X's bassist. (I'm sure not everyone reading the book would have that knowledge.) And a lot of the descriptions are vague and unclear; it's as though he's trying to protect someone, but there's enough damning evidence here as is. A lot of photographs accompany the prose, although many of them are out of focus or unclear (reflecting the prose, now that I think about it). Almost none of the photos or their subjects (which aren't always clear) are identified. And there's even a section where he talks about taking the photos, but then we don't get the identifying information - it's very frustrating. The book is as poorly edited as it is written. A couple of examples: he mentions "Minneapolis ex-patriots" (umm, the word is expatriate); a few pages later, we read "I was would get $50 a show." This book desperately needs (or needed) an editor. Published by University of Minnesota Press (my alma mater, although I never worked for the Press), it makes me embarrassed. I'm only giving it two stars (instead of one) because occasionally an interesting story bursts through the murky prose. But my advice is to avoid this one.

[Mitchell · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was pretty good. Solid "eh, sure" recommendation from this 'Mats fan.

But... if you're reading this book and you HAVEN'T read Trouble Boys by Bob Mehr, I'd recommend you do that first. It's a much, much wider-ranging and cohesive story than this. This book is really only for people who are already familiar with the myths, legends and half-truths associated with the godfathers of alternative rock.

From that context, Bill Sullivan is an engaging writer with an entertaining voice. It really does read like a guy telling crazy stories - the one downside being that there is not much in the way of organization. It IS loaded with pictures though, and what's more, some of them are good pictures! (but many are blurry, and many are of feet)

[Linden · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of crazy Replacements anecdotes from roadie Bill Sullivan. Not as comprehensive as Trouble Boys, but an entertaining read. Still surprising they lasted as long as they did.

[Joe Fahey · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a loosely written book with many blurry and uncaptioned photos but a very fun and quick read. It would be interesting to fans of the band and of that amazing era if music as well. I went to the book reading/signing and the author told me it was a great bathroom read, LOL. Some crazy stories and also very funny, sweet and poignant at times from a roadie’s perspective.

[Angie and the Daily Book Dose · Rating 4 out of 5]

For a biography of the band read Trouble Boys. For fun read Lemon Jail! It’s a short grouping of band anecdotes by a former roadie and friend of the band.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like The Replacements and appreciated the band’s music but don’t know that much about them. This memoir isn’t the best way to find out that much about the band. This isn’t a tell-all. There’s mention of drinking and drugs and sexual encounters but not with salacious detail. It’s also not about specific albums or songs. It’s a non-sequential tour memoir by one of the band’s roadies, Bill Sullivan, who went on to be tour manager for many music acts including Bright Eyes, Spoon, Cat Power and Yo La Tengo. It's his experience and recollection which makes for an interesting read. As a Boston-based music journalist, I appreciate the details about touring in Boston in particular. He mentions lots of popular venues such as The Rat in Kenmore Square. He writes: “The last show on the itinerary for the first tour was in Boston at the Rat in Kenmore Square. Boston is well known as a confusing city to navigate even with GPS. For us, in 1983, we would just look for the Citgo sign and keep turning toward it. The Rat itself played host to so many cool bands it’s impossible to list them. The stage was stocked with speakers and lights, and they didn’t care if you turned up.” Lemon Jail reminds me of a long piece I wrote about touring with The Charlatans in the 90s. The bibliophile/book nerd appreciates the font, the cover, the paper quality and overall look and feel of this book.

posted here: https://entertainmentrealm.com/2018/0...

[Niklas Pivic · Rating 4 out of 5]

I truly liked this book. Bill Sullivan, mainly roadie for The Replacements, has now issued this book, a memoir of his daze and haze while touring the 'Mats in the 1980s. This is an excellent addition to Bob Mehr's absolutely brilliant "Trouble Boys", one of the best books of its year, which is wholly on the band.

Sullivan has added a lot of nice self-taken pics of the bands, along with a mass of descriptions of the infernalia, paraphernalia, and self-destructive mayhem that the band always stood for, including descriptions of their infamous MTV stint, wearing Tom Petty's wife's clothes on stage, completely trashing their tour van, to unintentionally smuggling drugs abroad, breaking guitars on purpose just to see whether they actually can be fixed, , to playing five-hour sets just to make the one paying punter leave, and (let's not forget this) making Lemmy think The Replacements were TOO LOUD.

It's a fun ride, reminding us that alcohol is a drug and fuck, could someone please start taking the music business a little less seriously again, please?

[Adam Osth · Rating 2 out of 5]

Memoir of being on tour with the Replacements written by their roadie. There are some insane moments in here and some amazing photographs of the band and even the inside of their van. But often the book feels more like someone telling you these stories over a couple drinks, going on tangents and forgetting about why they were telling you the stories in the first place. There are moments where he'll say "and they went on to play the best show they've ever played" and give no details of the actual show! Even having recently finished the book, I still don't remember how a lot of the stories go and mostly remember the photos. He should have hired an editor or a co-writer on this one.

[Janet · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wavered on the rating for this book. I am a serious Replacements fan, so I found the deep dive into touring quite entertaining and interesting. The writing is humorous and conversational. The story themes became a bit repetitious though, and I found myself skimming at times. I found it an easy, quick, sometimes sad read though. I did kind of wish I could have heard the other side of some of the anecdotes, memory can be quite subjective. All in all, Lemon Jail is a worthwhile read, and I rounded up to 4 stars.

[Sean · Rating 3 out of 5]

Standing at the backstage entrance at one of my first shows with the Replacements, I was approached by someone who told me he was Paul's high school friend. I told him to hold on and relayed the message to Paul in the dressing room, to which his response was that he had no friends in high school.

A few great stories, a lot of unnecessary nonsense. Poorly written overall, but somehow worth it thanks to those few good stories and few good pictures (the ones that aren't too blurry to make out).

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great treat for any Replacements fan, stories from the road by someone who was there and witnessed the drunken chaos first hand. Some of the tales are a bit disjointed, stopping and starting and moving on to the next in a whirlwind, but I'm sure that's what many Mats shows were like. It's a very quick read with some fun, candid snapshots sprinkled throughout. Trouble Boys remains the top dog for Mats books, but this is a worthy addition to the story of the "last best band" of the 80s.

[Peter Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very entertaining anecdotes about tales on the road with The Replacements. The book is short and it seems the author is holding back even more stories (or details) about this band and others considering the numbers of bands listed in his bio that he worked for. But still, if there's one band where the myths might actually be not as crazy as the true stories, it would be The Mats and this book has plenty of great ones.

[Rob Blackwell · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really neat road memoir of a time with maybe the most interesting road band to have ever lived. You can tell Bill Sullivan has nothing to lose. It's honest in a way memoirs are not often. It frankly just feels like sitting on a barstool next to the guy. Sullivan isn't the world's greatest writer - he's not supposed to be. He's someone who was there for a great moment in history, and we're lucky enough to read his piece of it.

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this one. I understand there are a number of shortcomings with this book (as many reviewers have pointed out in other GR reviews posted here).

With all that, I still have to admit this is how I want a book about touring with the Replacements to be and that this is how I like them best.

Nice work Bill S. and thank you!

[Kip Gire · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this as I adore the Replacements and will read any book about them. Trouble Boys is the best of all of them and this one just exists. It's disjointed, and poorly written by their long time roadie. The stories go down easy probably in person but this is just a really terribly written book.

[Roberto · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've had this little hard cover in my travel bag for situations when i am on an airplane, out camping in the woods, or some other remote location where there is no internet/wifi/kindle.

Delightful look into the road life of the Replacements seen from the eye of their principal roadie for a long portion of their touring career.

A pleasure for any Replacements fan :)

[Natalie · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

The Replacements are probably my all-time favorite band, but I only discovered them the year that they broke up. I heard all of their music before I learned about their shenanigans, so it is sometimes hard to read/hear about what they did while on tour.

This book was an interesting look at the experience of a roadie, and I would recommend it for that.

[David Quattrocchi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Party-time rock memoir that doesn’t quite make you feel as though you were there, but still only one degree away from the fun. As Westerburg said himself, author Sullivan started touring with the Mats when it got fun and left when it stopped being. Might be less fun reading had he actually kept a meticulous tour diary. Party on 🍻

[Tim Vasil · Rating 4 out of 5]

A quick fun read about life on the road with the Replacements from someone that was there along the way. Fun stories from the very early days and cautionary tales from the major label era as well, Still have Trouble Boys on my list, but I enjoyed this one.

[John Nondorf · Rating 3 out of 5]

Expected to like this more. Some great stuff in there, but lots of lackluster, partial stories that are poorly organized and not always told well. Probably still a must-read for die-hard Replacements fans like myself. The book is mercifully short.

[Ken · Rating 3 out of 5]

Written by a roadie/road manager for the Replacements just as the band was breaking (somewhat) big, this book is an interesting look at one of my favorite bands out on the road. Very little focus on recording or writing, this is almost strictly about touring. There definitely isn't a narrative structure here. It seems like it's written more as Sullivan sat down and remembered a story. Sure, that story might have led into another related memory, but it really jumps all over the place, which may or may not work for you. Also, the Replacements on tour are just as insane as you would have expected, if not more.

This book was a Goodreads giveaway.

[Cj Rey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Crazy collection of crazy stories and crazy photos. The photos are actually kind of endearing—that is what we got in the ‘80s with our crappy little cameras.

Mostly, the photos add credibility to the narrative, which bounces around chaotically. Most of the photos are well placed, but there is one particular shot of Slim Dunlap that shows up in the middle of a Bob story. I want to cut it out and paste it in the last chapter—where it belongs.

If you are not a die hard ‘Mats fan, you will probably hate this little mess of a book. But, if you are...drink up.

[Jay Gabler · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's easy to recommend what to do with Lemon Jail: keep it in your bathroom. Not only is it a fragmented, episodic book that perfectly suits the episodic nature of toilet sits, it has more stories about actual pooping and peeing than any other notable music book in recent memory. I reviewed Lemon Jail for The Current.

[Lee Ann · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was only 140 pages but took me forever to read. It’s disjointed and poorly written. It’s mostly an aggrandizement of author Bill Sullivan. The one star is for the occasional glimpse into the conditions traveling in a paneled van with a crazy group of musicians on the way up.

[J · Rating 2 out of 5]

Truly the Odie to Trouble Boys’ Garfield. I suggest finishing that first, and if you’ve still got a hunger, read this. The second star is mostly for the subject matter, not the book’s prosaic merits.

Once more, please hire an editor if you’re planning a memoir.

[Steve Klemz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bill can tell a story. He is funny, not too mean and seems pretty honest. An essential read if you are a Replacements fan.

[Ryanagate · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty good stories if not a bit on the mundane side. Makes the Replacements seem more like bratty kids than anything else but Bill seems cool.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good stories, but poorly written without enough elaboration.

[Brett Rohlwing · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun read, with some retread from other books about the Replacements.