Now Streaming: The Replacements, “Alex Chilton” (LIVE)

When The Replacements released their 1988 album DON’T TELL A SOUL, the end result proved to be the most commercially successful album of the band’s career, but that doesn’t mean that they were happy with how it sounded. Indeed, it’s well-documented that the LP was just a little too smoothly-polished for the band’s liking – Paul Westerberg famously said, “I thought the little things I’d cut in my basement were closer to what I wanted” – but what you may not realize is that the album’s producer, Matt Wallace, wasn’t particularly thrilled with it, either, having not been the one in charge of mixing the record.

Fortunately, the ‘Mats – ever the devious scoundrels – took some of the reels of their recordings at Paisley Park Studios and kept ‘em, and now they’re finally being released to the public as part of a new and extremely expanded version of the album.

DEAD MAN’S POP includes a new mix of DON’T TELL A SOUL by Wallace, one which was based on his original Paisley Park mix, along with a disc’s worth of previously-unreleased recordings, including songs from the band’s legendary session with Tom Waits. There’ll also be two CDs worth of live material from the band’s 1989 performance at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee during the “Don’t Tell A Soul Tour.” A few songs from the concert originally appeared on the promo-only EP Inconcerated Live (1989), but the bulk of the 29 tracks included have never been released, and he entire show has been newly mixed by Brian Kehew (Ramones, The Faces). Plus, the whole thing comes in a 12 x 12 hardcover book, one loaded with dozens of rarely seen photos, and there’s a detailed history of the Don’t Tell A Soul era written by Bob Mehr, who produced the box with Rhino’s Jason Jones, and also authored Trouble Boys: The True Story of the Replacements.

Oh, yeah, and did we mention that DEAD MAN’S POP will also include Wallace’s Don’t Tell A Soul Redux mix on 180-gram vinyl? Because it will.

Excited? You should be. But don’t get too excited yet, because you’ll have to wait until September 27 to pick up a copy.

You may have already checked out the first few tracks we’ve offered up for your previewing enjoyment – Wallace’s mix of “Talent Show” and the Bearsville version of “Achin’ to Be” – but we’ve got another one for you today: a live version of “Alex Chjlton” from The Complete Inconcerated Live, Part One. If you haven’t heard the other tracks, though, you’re in luck: we’ve got all three of them in a playlist for you!

Here’s the full track listing, so start drooling:

DEAD MAN’S POP

Disc One: Don’t Tell A Soul Redux
1.    “Talent Show” – Matt Wallace Mix *
2.    “I’ll Be You” – Matt Wallace Mix *
3.    “We’ll Inherit The Earth” – Matt Wallace Mix *
4.    “Achin’ To Be” – Matt Wallace Mix *
5.    “Darlin’ One” – Matt Wallace Mix *
6.    “Back To Back” – Matt Wallace Mix *
7.    “I Won’t” – Matt Wallace Mix *
8.    “Asking Me Lies” – Matt Wallace Mix *
9.    “They’re Blind” – Matt Wallace Mix *
10.    “Anywhere’s Better Than Here” – Matt Wallace Mix *
11.    “Rock ’n’ Roll Ghost” – Matt Wallace Mix *

Disc Two: We Know The Night: Rare and Unreleased
1.    “Portland” – Alternate Mix (Bearsville Version) *
2.    “Achin’ To Be” – Bearsville Version *
3.    “I’ll Be You” – Bearsville Version *
4.    “Wake Up” – Alternate Mix – Bearsville Version *
5.    “We’ll Inherit The Earth” – Bearsville Version *
6.    “Last Thing In The World” *
7.    “They’re Blind” – Bearsville Version *
8.    “Rock ’n’ Roll Ghost” – Bearsville Version *
9.    “Darlin’ One” – Bearsville Version *
10.    “Talent Show” – Demo Version
11.    “Dance On My Planet” *
12.    “We Know The Night” – Alternate Outtake *
13.    “Ought To Get Love” – Alternate Mix *
14.    “Gudbuy T’Jane” – Outtake
15.    “Lowdown Monkey Blues” – Featuring Tom Waits *
16.    “If Only You Were Lonely” – Featuring Tom Waits *
17.    “We Know The Night” – Featuring Tom Waits (Rehearsal) *
18.    “We Know The Night” – Featuring Tom Waits (Full Band Version) *
19.    “I Can Help” – Featuring Tom Waits *
20.    “Date To Church” – Matt Wallace Remix*

Disc Three: The Complete Inconcerated Live, Part One
1.    “Alex Chilton” *
2.    “Talent Show” *
3.    “Back To Back” *
4.    “I Don’t Know” *
5.    “The Ledge” *
6.    “Waitress In The Sky” *
7.    “Anywhere’s Better Than Here” *
8.    “Nightclub Jitters” *
9.    “Cruella De Ville” *
10.    “Achin’ To Be” *
11.    “Asking Me Lies” *
12.    “Bastards Of Young” *
13.    “Answering Machine” *
14.    “Little Mascara” *
15.    “I’ll Be You” *

Disc Four: The Complete Inconcerated Live, Part Two
1.    “Darlin’ One” *
2.    “I Will Dare” *
3.    “Another Girl, Another Planet” *
4.    “I Won’t” *
5.    “Unsatisfied” *
6.    “We’ll Inherit The Earth” *
7.    “Can’t Hardly Wait” *
8.    “Color Me Impressed” *
9.    “Born To Lose” *
10.    “Never Mind” *
11.    “Here Comes A Regular” *
12.    “Valentine” *
13.    “Left Of The Dial” *
14.    “Black Diamond” *
      * previously unreleased