After the Replacements' three most commercially viable albums received the deluxe-edition reissue treatment, now comes a box set version of what was probably always their record least likely to succeed — and thus it's one of their hardcore fans' favorites.
Rhino/Warner Records has announced plans for a four-CD/one-LP version of "Sorry Ma, Forgot to Take Out the Trash," the noisemaking 1981 Twin/Tone Records debut by Minneapolis' legendary ne'er-do-wells. The new collection will be issued Oct. 22 featuring two extra albums' worth of mostly unreleased demos and outtakes, plus an '81 live recording from 7th St. Entry.
Among the juicy details that will have 'Mats customers most excited about the set are its inclusion of dozens of rarities, including: two tracks from Bob and Tommy Stinson's basement on Bryant Avenue ("Lie About Your Age" and "Johnny Fast"); some of the group's first recordings ("Try Me," "She's Firm," "Lookin' For Ya"); studio demos for album tracks ("Shutup," "I Hate Music"); studio outtakes ("Shape Up," "Get On the Stick"), and alternate takes of some of the record's best-known songs ("Takin' a Ride," "Customer," "Johnny's Gonna Die," "Love You Till Friday").
The live disc will generate plenty of steam heat, too. Bootlegged over the years as "Unsuitable for Airplay," it's the first "real" live recording of the band, captured by Twin/Tone using a mobile recording unit on Jan. 23, 1981, while they were working on "Sorry Ma." It includes songs from the album alongside a spate of covers, including the Heartbreakers' "I Wanna Be Loved," Slade's "My Town," the Kinks' "All Day and All of the Night" and Dave Edmunds' "Trouble Boys."
Original Replacements manager and Twin/Tone co-founder Peter Jesperson served as co-producer on the "Sorry Ma" box set alongside biographer Bob Mehr and Rhino producer Jason Jones. Mehr won a Grammy Award earlier this year for his liner notes on the 2019 box set "Dead Man's Pop," a reworking of the band's 1989 album "Don't Tell a Soul."
Like that set and last year's expanded edition of the 1987 album "Pleased to Meet Me," the "Sorry Ma" box will include a booklet with new liner notes and lots of rare photos.
Preorders are available now via rhino.com at $80 for the standard version or $100 for a limited "bundle" edition, which includes a replicated flyer for that Entry gig, a pin and a 7-inch version of the single "I'm in Trouble" b/w "If Only You Were Lonely."
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