Trouble Boys

The True Story of the Replacements

By: Bob Mehr

Narrated by: Mary Lucia

Based on all-new interviews and including 72 rare photos, Trouble Boys: The True Story of the Replacements is the definitive boigraphy of one of the last great rock 'n' roll bands of the twentieth century. Written with the participation of the group's key members, including reclusive singer-songwriter Paul Westerberg, bassist Tommy Stinson, and the family of late guitarist Bob Stinson, Trouble Boys is a deeply intimate and nuanced portrait, exposing the primal factors and forces--addiction, abuse, fear--that would shape one of the most brilliant and notoriously self-destructive bands of all time.

Based on a decade of research and reporting, hundreds of interviews (with family, friends, managers, producers, and musical colleagues), as well as full access to the Replacements' archives at Twin/Tone and Warner Bros. Records, author Bob Mehr has fashioned something far more compelling than a conventional band bio.

A roaring rock 'n' roll adventure, a heartrending family drama, and a cautionary showbiz tale, Trouble Boys is a penetrating work of biography and a major addition to the rock book canon.

Critic reviews

The destruction. The volume. The cruelty. The charm. The songs. The songs. The songs. To live close to Paul Westerberg's material was to be lifted then bent by it. The songs were that good. Mehr shows us that no one, Westerberg included, knew quite what to do with it all. It was underrated, overrated, obsessed over, ignored never anything in the middle. But somewhere between the Replacements' path of destruction, epic but ultimately empty, and the beauty and honesty of Westerberg's writing, there was a band, a band whose story has for too long remained unknown and unknowable. This book gets us closer than we've ever been. Mehr brings us one of the great American rock n' roll stories and all the hurt that came with it.” Warren Zanes, author of Petty: The Biography and Revolutions in Sound: Warner Bros. Records The First Fifty Years

The Replacements spent a decade of their lives making some of the most emotive rock music never to hit the mainstream. Bob Mehr has spent a decade of his life researching their story. Balancing a fan's enthusiasm with journalistic perspective, he now delivers it in richly detailed and powerfully unvarnished form. Finally, the 'Mats get the book they deserve.” Tony Fletcher, author of Moon: The Life and Death of a Rock Legend and A Light That Never Goes Out: The Enduring Saga of the Smiths

American Way, March 2016
The best music book you'll read all year. More than just rockers will love this raucous read It's a book about a band, but it's also the story of kids from damaged families who were saved to a point by rock 'n' roll. A must-read.”

Chicago Tribune, 3/20/16
Thoroughly researched and eminently readable The type of book any band would kill for.”

Salon.com, 3/15/16
Your new Replacements bible An unflinching, uncompromising look at the band and the legend.”

CMJ.com, 3/15/16
Finally, the band gets the excellent, fully-formed biography it deserves A breezy read that sometimes stops you cold for the depth of sadness the band often existed in.”

Blurt, March 2016
Trouble Boys is a time trip back to the heady days when bands definitely mattered and record labels kinda sorta did If there is a sadder tale in rock n' roll, after reading Trouble Boys, I could not call it to mind.”

Record Collector, May 2016
With Trouble Boys Mehr has delivered what will surely be the definitive book about the band at the first attempt.”

Very thorough

I enjoyed this. I bailed on the Mats after they gave Bob the heave ho. I feel the same as I did after reading Miles Davis' autobiography. These guys (westerburg especially) were jerks, but the music made up for it.

Essential listening

This is the definitive chronicles of the Replacements. Couldn’t put this one down. At times both hilarious and heartbreaking. Great read or listen for all music fans but a must for Mats fans

"We're on tour, we're not tourists."

The Replacements deserve a book this good. Like the best of their songs, parts of this read had me laughing out loud, other parts had me almost in tears. Bob Mehr's exhaustive plunge into the story of "the last best band of the 80s" rates among the best rock bios out there, as entertaining as it is reflective. Will probably buy a hard copy to read again, but the narration by Mary Lucia is fluid and spot-on with her occasional dip into Northern speak.

Instant favorite

I love music bios and this one is immediately one of my favorites. Incredibly well researched, written, and narrated.

Wait On The Sons of NOONE

Do yourself a solid. Listen to this book and go re listen to the replacements. I didn’t know a lot about them, even though our band played a couple of their tunes. I hadn’t heard much beyond the popular songs. I hear the song differently now. In a good way.