Hear Jeff Tweedy Sing “Ballad Of The Opening Band” For Slim Dunlap

Cover art by Chris Mars.
Cover art by Chris Mars.

As you probably know by know, Replacements guitarist Slim Dunlap suffered a serious stroke in 2012. Since then artists have been recording and releasing an EP and singles  for the Songs For Slim campaign to raise money for Slim, who will likely need round-the-clock care for the rest of his life, according to the Songs For Slim website.

For the final single  of the campaign, Jeff Tweedy recorded Slim’s “Ballad Of The Opening Band” at Wilco’s Chicago studio; it’s backed with Tennessee rock band Lucero’s version of “From the Git Go.” Cover art is by Replacements’ drummer Chris Mars.

Starting today (Sept. 15) and running through next Sunday (Sept. 22), 250 copies of the single are being auctioned here. For more into go to SongsForSlim.com. A CD of all the songs is being put together. Artists who have contributed recordings to the campaign, in addiction to Tweedy and Lucero, include Replacements’ members Paul Westerberg and Tommy Stinson, Frank Black, Jakob Dylan, Lucinda Williams, Deer Tick, Patterson Hood, the Young Fresh Fellows, the Steve Earle and The Hold Steady’s Craig Finn.

Here’s a sample of the song. It’s enough to know you need it!

About Michael Goldberg

Michael Goldberg is a distinguished pioneer in the online music space; Newsweek magazine called him an ‘Internet visionary.’ In 1994 he founded Addicted To Noise (ATN), the highly influential music web site. He was a senior vice-president and editor in chief at SonicNet from March 1997 through May 2000. In 1997, Addicted To Noise won Webby awards for best music site in 1998 and 1999, and also won Yahoo Internet Life! awards for three years running as best music site in 1998, 1999 and 2000. Prior to starting Addicted To Noise, Goldberg was an editor and senior writer at Rolling Stone magazine for 10 years. His writing has also appeared in Wired, Esquire, Vibe, Details, Downbeat, NME and numerous other publications. Michael has had three novels published that comprise the "Freak Scene Dream trilogy": "True Love Scars," "The Flowers Lied" and "Untitled" which can be ordered here. His new book, "Wicked Game: The True Story of Guitarist James Calvin Wilsey," can be pre-ordered from HoZac Books. In November Backbeat Books will publish "Addicted To Noise: The Music Writings of Michael Goldberg," which can be be pre-ordered here.

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