Bob “Slim” Dunlap, the Replacements’ former guitarist and a solo artist in his own right, died on Wednesday, December 18, The Minnesota Star Tribune reports. Dunlap’s family said, in a statement, that the musician died of complications from the severe stroke he had in 2012. The family also said he was listening to the Slim Dunlap Band’s Live at the Turf Club (Thank You, Dancers!) at the time of his death. Dunlap was 73 years old.
In 1987, right after the release of Pleased to Meet Me, Dunlap joined the Replacements to fill in for Bob Stinson, the band’s original guitarist who was kicked out the year prior for spiraling behavior. Compared to Stinson’s more wild style, Dunlap played with a gentle, considered approach to the guitar, which not only added depth to the band’s uptempo numbers, but also brought wistful introspection to their quieter songs. He was versatile, bluesy, and dependent—three traits that would influence the Replacements last two studio albums, 1989’s Don’t Tell a Soul and 1991’s All Shook Down. Looking back, singer-guitarist Paul Westerberg and bassist Tommy Stinson credited Dunlap for bringing a spark of creativity and energy to the band during that final run.
Born August 14, 1951, Dunlap grew up in Plainview, Minnesota, and regularly played music in the area. While juggling a myriad of jobs to support his family, including stints as a taxi driver and a janitor at the legendary Minneapolis venue First Avenue, he played in several bands with local staple Curtiss A and filled in for numerous Twin Cities projects. “I played in every little band I could play in, every band that would have me,” he later told the Los Angeles Times. “Slowly but surely, I got this reputation as a guy who could play anything. One night you’d see me play bluegrass in a little pizza shop, the next night it would be hard rock.”
After the Replacements broke up in 1991, Dunlap toured with the Georgia Satellites’ Dan Baird and, on his own time, started penning solo material. He officially made his debut as a singer-songwriter in 1993 with The Old New Me, his first solo full-length. He channeled his love of bluesy rock’n’roll into original songs that felt timeless and earnest, and returned to the drawing board once more for his sophomore album, Times Like This, in 1996.
