December is already a bad month for sad music anniversaries (Stuart Adamson, Kirsty MacColl and Terry Hall all died in December, amongst others).
And now we have news of another December death from the music world to bring you.
Bob 'Slim' Dunlap may not be that well known to many of you, but that doesn't lessen his place in the pantheon of U.S. 80s post-punk.
Born in August 1951 in Plainview, a small town in south-eastern Minnesota, Dunlap was playing guitar by the age of ten - inspired by the likes of Hank Williams and Keith Richards. In his early twenties, he was up in the big smoke of Minneapolis and playing in various bands with his friend Curt Almsted (known in the artistic world as Curtiss A), such as Thumbs Up (and R&B / pop crossover) and Spooks.
By the mid-80s, Dunlap was working as a janitor at the legendary Minneapolis First Avenue nightclub, and had settled down with wife Chrissie and three children. When local legends The Replacements fired founding guitarist Bob Stinson (or he voluntarily left, depending on who you talk to), lead singer Paul Westerberg approached Dunlap to be the replacement Replacement. Initially he refused, not sure that he wanted to commit to the grind of touring and being away from family - but his wife persuaded him to go for it.
The Replacements: Achin' To Be (Official music video)
So, in 1987, Dunlap joined the band in time for their tour in support of Pleased To Meet Me. Over the next four years, before their eventual dissolution in 1991, he would appear on the last two albums - 1989s Don't Tell A Soul, and 1990s All Shook Down.
The Replacements: Merry Go Round (Official music video)
With that chapter at an end, he joined former Georgia Satellite frontman, Dan Baird, on his first solo tour. Dunlap also recorded two albums of his own - The Old New Me in 1993 and Times Like This in 1996, both of which featured his old friend Curtiss A. He even attracted attention from The Boss, with Bruce Springsteen commenting in a NPR (National Public Radio) interview that Dunlap was "really, deeply soulful and beautiful." Stephen Tan had referred to him in an article for Big O as "one of the last old-school cool guitar players."
Slim Dunlap: Times Like This (Audio only)
In 2012, Dunlap suffered a severe stroke which would see him be hospitalised more than one hundred times over the following decade or so. His musician friends rallied around him though, and in 2013, Songs For Slim was released to raise funds for his treatment, featuring the likes of Lucinda Williams, Jeff Tweedy (Uncle Tupelo / Wilco) and Frank Black (Pixies) covering songs he had been involved on.
In 2023, he was forced to sell some of his music memorabilia, again to help pay for treatment. But in the end the toll of that stroke finally got him. On December 18, at his Minneapolis home, and just after he had listened to his live version of Hillbilly Heaven (from his Thank You Dancers! live album that had been released in 2020) - Slim Dunlap died due to "complications from his stroke".
He left behind his wife Chrissie, their three children and six grandchildren. Despite more than a decade of suffering it was said that he had remained in "good spirits despite his disability and pain."
Ken Stringfellow of 80s indie rock band Posies, said that Dunlap was a "great musician and a modest, unassuming guy." Red Hot Chili Pepper, Flea, simply said, "God bless Slim Dunlap."
Fellow Minnesotan musician, Mark Mallman, recalled: "Slim's was a soul of great integrity to manifesting joy from the void, also known as musicianship. He once told me, 'The greatest thing a performer can carry is a question mark over their head.' It's one of countless profound observations from a guy with a direct connection to the other side, and he channelled it through his rocking hands."
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