Contents
Get Out of the Basement
Into the Lemon Jail
Love It to Death
Bill Sullivan has been on tour since the early 1980s. After the Replacements and stints with the Del Fuegos and the Cherrybomz, he was tour manager for Soul Asylum, Bright Eyes, Conor Oberst’s Monsters of Folk, Yo La Tengo, Cat Power, The New Pornographers featuring Neko Case, Spoon, Syl Johnson, Teenie Hodges, and blues legend Jimmie Vaughan. He was co-owner of the 400 Bar on the West Bank of the University of Minnesota.
"As a guy who has had the privilege of being regaled by Billy's
rock ’n’ roll tales for years, I can attest to the authenticity of
his stories. They may not all be accurate, but they are all true,
which is more important. He is a real link to our punk rock legends
of lore. Any fan of the Replacements or any of the ’80s
left-of-dial bands will greatly appreciate this book."—Conor
Oberst"Reading Lemon Jail makes me think back
to when Spoon would play Bill’s club in the early 2000s:
he’d lay the welcome mat out for us from the moment we got to town,
and we’d always drive off with an extra case of Tecate and a bit of
weed. No one else in the touring world gave us that
kinda treatment. This book is tour story after tour story from
one of the most genuine originals in the game. Bill Sullivan is the
spirit of rock and roll road life."—Britt Daniel"For fans who love
the Replacements, this book is your only opportunity to go back in
time and be a fly on the van wall. Bill Sullivan’s clever sarcasm,
humble anti-rock star attitude, and complete access allow him to
tell the band’s behind-the-scenes story perfectly."—Janet
Weiss"Bill Sullivan captures the spirit and chaos of the earliest
and best years of the band accurately due to the fact that he lived
it right alongside us. A true kindred spirit, a fifth member if you
will, who from the git-go, got what we were about to the point
where it would not have been the same journey without him. Billy
had our backs and represented much-needed comic relief on many
occasions. Lemon Jail should come with a warning: ‘Don't Try This
At Home.’ It's a quick read and, in my opinion, the most successful
book to capture the essence of our destructive, drunken outcast
brigade in all its successes and foibles. Bill’s ever-present comic
sense, woven throughout the book, paints authentically the circus
world that it was. I laughed aloud many times!"—Chris Mars"As every
obsessive fan knows, there's been one essential voice missing from
the recent wave of biographies, oral histories, and documentaries
celebrating the storied and notorious legacy of the Replacements.
This, then, is seriously great news, 'Mats droolers: Bill Sullivan
has finally broken his omerta, and though no book could possibly
contain Sullivan's legendary and seemingly bottomless trove of
yarns—or quite capture his unparalleled ability to tell a story in
person—Lemon Jail is a riotous, channel-surfing rip through his
rubber-legged years with the band, and will more than tide us over
until somebody gives the man the full-fledged biography his life
deserves."—Brad Zellar, author of House of Coates
"Bill Sullivan was right there alongside the band, right in the
thick of it, discussing specific shows, tours, and a million
anecdotes. In addition to his words, Sullivan snapped hundreds of
Polaroids which are sprinkled throughout the
book."—Daggerzine"Although brief in size, the book gives us another
view of the turbulent madness that was the beloved ‘Mats. Tales of
road-induced boredom, which with The Replacements always led to
property destruction and dizzying hangovers, are of course
recounted; but beyond the goofs lived people who for a brief moment
created essential, meaningful art—which is why we continue to read
about it, to try and recapture those moments."—The Big
Takeover"Lemon Jail is a must-read for any Replacements’ fans; it’s
deeply personal and a fun ride."—NeuFutur"Lemon Jail is at its best
in moments that perfectly convey the state of pre-internet
underground music in America, where house parties, college radio,
and photocopied fanzines could propel a small hometown band into
legend."—Pitchfork"Old tour passes, disk camera photographs, notes
and scraps of paper with art from drummer-turned-artist Chris Mars
are just a few of the things Sullivan collected on the road. The
book is filled with these physical memories, which provide context
and insight to the premier “college rock” band of the
1980s."—Columbia Missourian"Sullivan’s entertaining book, published
by University of Minnesota Press, is a glorified tour diary full of
sex, drugs, rock ’n’ roll, more drugs, and a story about
Replacements guitarist Bob Stinson defecating in an ice bucket and
sending it down a hotel’s dumbwaiter."—Boston Globe
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