Slim Dunlap

Slim Dunlap was born on August 14, 1951, in Plainview, Minnesota.{{cite book |last=Strong |first=M.C. |date=2006 |title=The Essential Rock Discography |url=https://archive.org/details/essentialrockdis0000stro/ |location=New York |publisher=Canongate |page= |isbn=978-184195-860-6 |access-date=December 25, 2024}} Replacements biographer Bob Mehr wrote that Dunlap's family was a "distinguished clan of newsmen, lawyers, and politicians" and that Dunlap "had been expected to follow their path."{{cite book |last=Mehr |first=Bob |date=2017 |title=Trouble Boys: The True Story of The Replacements |url=https://archive.org/details/troubleboystrues0000mehr/page/246/ |location=New York |publisher=Da Cao Press |page= |isbn=978-0306825361 |access-date=December 25, 2024}} His grandfather, Roy Dunlap Sr., was the managing editor of the St. Paul Pioneer Press and Dispatch newspaper for 35 years, and was succeeded as managing editor by his son and Slim's uncle Roy Jr. Slim's father, Robert Rankin Dunlap, was a lawyer and World War II veteran who moved to Plainview in 1946 with his wife, Jane. The couple had five children, Slim being the third. Slim's father also was elected to five terms in the Minnesota Senate as a Republican, where he served from 1953 to 1967, and was Wabasha County Attorney from 1950 to 1952.{{cite web |url=https://mn.electionarchives.lib.umn.edu/candidate/robert-r-dunlap/ |title=Robert R. Dunlap |last= |first= |date= |website=Minnesota Historical Election Archive |publisher=University of Minnesota Libraries Publishing |access-date=2024-12-25}} He was also an amateur piano player fond of Hoagy Carmichael. Dunlap told Mehr that he thought this was why his father allowed him to pursue a risky career as a musician: "That's probably why he tolerated my ambitions toward music and would help me along, even though he worried about it."

As a boy, Dunlap was "highly intelligent, somewhat eccentric, and incredibly skinny," according to Mehr. The nickname Slim, which would stick with him for life, began as a childhood playground taunt.

Dunlap started playing guitar when he was about ten. At first, he borrowed his older sister's guitar, but his father bought him his first six-string as a teenager. Dunlap said that he practiced for hours every day for years, often late into the night.

The family moved to the nearby, larger city of Rochester when Dunlap was beginning high school. By this point Dunlap was an indifferent student who often skipped class and was more interested in hitch-hiking to see the country, inspired by Woody Guthrie's autobiography Bound For Glory. His father "had to pull strings to get his son a diploma," Mehr wrote.

Dunlap enrolled at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis in 1969, but dropped out after about a year, more interested in the legend of Bob Dylan's life in nearby Dinkytown. Dunlap formed his first band, a Small Faces-inspired combo called Mrs. Frubb, around this time. He met his future wife, Christine, in 1971 at a Mrs. Frubb show.

In the early 1970s, Dunlap teamed up with Minneapolis rock musician and visual artist Curtiss A, also known as Curt Almsted, and together they formed Thumbs Up, an "unusual mix of rhythm and blues with pop [that] has been described as early new wave".{{cite book |title=Continuum Encyclopedia of Popular Music of the World: Locations |url=http://www.credoreference.com/entry/contpmwl/minneapolis_st_paul_mn |publisher=Continuum International Publishing Group |year=2005 |chapter=Minneapolis/St Paul, MN |access-date=June 14, 2011 |url-access=subscription}} He also joined Almsted's punk-rock group Spooks, and featured on all but one of Spooks's albums.

Dunlap's work with Almsted established himself as an "intuitive, reliable musician who could fit any situation", and he attracted the attention of Paul Westerberg of the Replacements, a Minnesota-based punk/alternative rock band. Westerberg was looking for a guitarist to replace Bob Stinson, who had been asked to leave in the mid-1980s because of his drug and alcohol problems, and approached Dunlap. Dunlap initially turned down the offer, but joined the Replacements in 1987 on account of "his admiration for Westerberg's songwriting". Dunlap's day job at the time was working as a janitor at First Avenue, a nightclub in Minneapolis, the same venue where the Replacements had launched their career in the early 1980s.{{cite web |last=Carr |first=David |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/15/arts/music/first-avenue-is-dead-long-live-first-avenue.html |title=First Avenue Is Dead (Long Live First Avenue!) |newspaper=The New York Times |date=November 15, 2004 |access-date=June 17, 2011 |url-access=registration}} His wife, Chrissie, was also a former First Avenue staffer.{{cite news |date=March 21, 2024 |title=Chrissie Dunlap helped put First Avenue on the map |url=https://www.thecurrent.org/feature/2024/03/21/chrissie-dunlap-womens-history-month |work=The Current |location=St. Paul, Minnesota |access-date=December 18, 2024}} Dunlap became the "replacement Replacement", and remained with the band until their breakup in 1991, featuring on their last two studio albums.

Dunlap was not driven to be a bandleader, once saying "I hate it, personally. I'd rather just play guitar and let the other guy lose all the money." He also took a small-scale approach to recording, spending less than $10,000 on his first post-Replacements solo record, compared to more than $200,000 for the other members' solo albums.{{cite book |editor-last1=Kohut |editor-first1=Joe |editor-last2=Kohut |editor-first2=John J. |date=1994 |title=Rock Talk: The Great Rock and Roll Quote Book |url=https://archive.org/details/rocktalkgreatroc0000unse/ |publisher=Faber & Faber |isbn=0-571-19839-2 |access-date=December 18, 2024}}

In 1991 Dunlap toured with ex-Georgia Satellites lead vocalist Dan Baird to promote Baird's solo album, Love Songs for the Hearing Impaired.

Towards the end of 1992 Dunlap started recording his own first solo album, The Old New Me, which was released in 1993. It was followed by his second solo album, Times Like This, in 1996. His former bandmate Curtiss A played harmonica on both records.{{cite book |last=Collins |first=Cyn |date=2017 |title=Complicated Fun: The Birth of Minneapolis Punk and Indie Rock, 1974–1984: An Oral History |url=https://archive.org/details/complicatedfunbi0000unse/ |publisher=Minnesota Historical Society Press |access-date=December 18, 2024}} AllMusic called The Old New Me a "rootsy, engaging ride",{{cite web |url={{Allmusic|class=album|id=the-old-new-me-r198800/review|pure_url=yes}} |title=The Old New Me |publisher=AllMusic |last=Heibutzki |first=Ralph |access-date=June 17, 2011}} and Times Like This "the opposite of the Replacements' rowdy, unscripted alt-rock vitriol [that] wins on its own unobtrusive terms".{{cite web |url={{Allmusic|class=album|id=times-like-this-r241446/review|pure_url=yes}} |title=Times Like This |publisher=AllMusic |last=Heibutzki |first=Ralph |access-date=June 17, 2011}} Ira Robbins of Trouser Press praised his solo albums for their "raunch-a-roll energy and an invigorating dose of retro flair."{{cite book |last=Robbins |first=Ira A. |title=The Trouser Press Guide to '90s Rock |date=1997 |url=https://archive.org/details/trouserpressguid00robb/ |location=New York |publisher=Simon & Schuster |isbn=978-0-684-81437-7 |access-date=December 13, 2024}}

Dunlap performed at The Bottom Line in New York City in December 1997,{{cite web |last=Powers |first=Ann |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1997/12/09/arts/pop-review-in-folk-music-who-s-new-depends-on-who-s-judging.html |title=Pop Review; In Folk Music, Who's New Depends on Who's Judging |newspaper=The New York Times |date=December 9, 1997 |access-date=June 17, 2011}} and he and his own band were active in the Minneapolis area until February 2012 when he was hospitalized after suffering a severe stroke.{{cite web |url=http://www.spinner.com/2012/02/21/replacements-slim-dunlap-stroke/ |title=Replacements' Slim Dunlap Hospitalized After Stroke |website=spinner.com |access-date=June 21, 2012}}

After Dunlap's stroke, a non-profit project, Songs For Slim, was established to raise money for him by having other artists cover his songs and other merchandise.{{cite web |url=http://www.songsforslim.com/ |title=Songs For Slim |website=songsforslim.com |access-date=April 27, 2015}} The releases included an EP by his former bandmates from the Replacements, Songs for Slim, featuring cover art by Chris Mars. The EP included a version of Dunlap's song "Busted Up" as well as "Everything's Coming Up Roses" from the musical Gypsy, Gordon Lightfoot's "I'm Not Sayin'", and Hank Williams's "Lost Highway".

A live album, Thank You Dancers!, was released in 2020, and featured a performance recorded in 2002 at St. Paul's Turf Club.{{cite news |last=Lewry |first=Fraser |date=December 18, 2024 |title=Former Replacements guitarist Bob "Slim" Dunlap dead at 73 |url=https://www.loudersound.com/news/slim-dunlap-death |work=Louder Classic Rock |access-date=December 18, 2024}}

Dunlap earned the respect of many other musicians. Nashville singer-songwriter Tommy Womack, in his 2002 song "The Replacements", wrote that "Slim Dunlap is the proof of the existence of God, a guitar genius, a role model, a credit to the gene pool."{{cite book |last=Walsh |first=Jim |title=The Replacements: All Over But The Shouting: An Oral History |date=November 15, 2007 |url=https://archive.org/details/replacementsallo0000wals/ |location=St. Paul, Minnesota |publisher=MBI Pub. Co. and Voyageur Press |isbn=978-0-7603-3062-3 |access-date=December 13, 2024}}

Dunlap died at his home in Minneapolis on December 18, 2024, at the age of 73.{{cite news |last=Riemenschneider |first=Chris |title=Replacements Guitarist and Minnesota Music Hero Slim Dunlap Dies After Long Illness |work=Minnesota Star Tribune |date=December 18, 2024 |url=https://www.startribune.com/placeholder-obit-copy-for-slim-dunlap-do-not-publish-story-is-hidden-in-chorus/601196590 |access-date=December 18, 2024}}{{cite web |last1=Corcoran |first1=Nina |title=Slim Dunlap, Former Replacements Guitarist, Dies at 73 |url=https://pitchfork.com/news/slim-dunlap-former-replacements-guitarist-dies-at-73/ |website=Pitchfork.com |access-date=December 25, 2024 |date=December 19, 2024}} In a statement, Dunlap's family said the cause of death was complications from his 2012 stroke. He died shortly after listening to his song "Hillbilly Heaven", from his live album Thank You Dancers!

File:Slim Dunlap - First Avenue Star.jpg]]Dunlap was honored with a star on the outside mural of the Minneapolis nightclub First Avenue,{{cite web |url=http://first-avenue.com/about/thestars |title=The Stars |author= |website=First Avenue & 7th Street Entry |access-date=May 10, 2020}} recognizing performers that have played sold-out shows or have otherwise demonstrated a major contribution to the culture at the iconic venue.{{cite news |last=Bream |first=Jon |url=https://www.startribune.com/10-things-you-ll-learn-about-first-avenue-in-new-minnesota-history-center-show/509374312/ |title=10 things you'll learn about First Avenue in new Minnesota History Center show |work=Star Tribune |location=Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota |date=May 3, 2019 |access-date=May 10, 2020}} Receiving a star "might be the most prestigious public honor an artist can receive in Minneapolis," according to journalist Steve Marsh.{{cite news |last=Marsh |first=Steve |url=http://mspmag.com/arts-and-culture/first-avenue-star-wall/ |title=First Avenue's Star Wall |work=Mpls.St.Paul Magazine |location=Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota |date=May 13, 2019 |access-date=May 10, 2020}}

{{Album ratings

|title=The Old New Me

| rev1 = AllMusic

| rev1Score = {{rating|4|5}}

| rev2 = MusicHound Rock

| rev2Score = {{rating|3.5|4}}{{cite book |editor-last1=Graff |editor-first1=Gary |editor-last2=Durchholz |editor-first2=Saniel |date=1999 |title=MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide |url=https://archive.org/details/musichoundrockes0000unse_j0b4/ |location=New York |publisher=Schirmer Trade Books |isbn=978-0-8256-7256-9 |access-date=December 19, 2024}}

}}

{{Album ratings

|title=Times Like This

| rev1 = AllMusic

| rev1Score = {{rating|3|5}}

| rev2 = MusicHound Rock

| rev2Score = {{rating|3.5|4}}

}}

• The Old New Me (1993, Twin/Tone Records)
• Times Like This (1996, Restless Records)
• Thank You Dancers! (2020)

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{{reflist|refs=

{{cite web |url={{Allmusic|class=artist|id=slim-dunlap-p72674/discography|pure_url=yes}} |title=Slim Dunlap discography |publisher=AllMusic |access-date=June 15, 2011}}

{{cite web |url={{Allmusic|class=artist|id=slim-dunlap-p72674/biography|pure_url=yes}} |title=Slim Dunlap |publisher=AllMusic |last=Heibutzki |first=Ralph |access-date=June 15, 2011}}

{{cite web |last=Tan |first=Stephen |url=http://bigozine2.com/feature/?p=533 |title=Times Like This |work=bigOfeature |date=February 10, 2011 |access-date=June 17, 2011}}

}}

{{commons category}}

• {{discogs artist|Slim Dunlap1}}
• {{imdb name|10600884}}

{{Replacements}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Dunlap, Slim}}

Category:1951 births

Category:2024 deaths

Category:American rock guitarists

Category:American male guitarists

Category:The Replacements (band) members

Category:20th-century American guitarists

Category:20th-century American male musicians

Category:People from Plainview, Minnesota