Bob “Slim” Dunlap, the Minnesota-based guitarist and singer-songwriter best known as the “replacement Replacement,” has died at the age of 73. The news was confirmed by the guitarist's family in a statement to The Minnesota Star Tribune.
“Bob passed at home today at 12:48 p.m. surrounded by family,” reads the statement. “We played him his Live at the Turf Club (Thank You Dancers!) CD, and he left us shortly after listening to his version of Hillbilly Heaven – quite poignant. It was a natural decline over the past week. Overall it was due to complications from his stroke.”
Dunlap's cause of death was linked to a severe stroke he suffered in 2012, which left him bedridden and with limited speech.
Born in Plainview, Minnesota, on August 14, 1951, Dunlap started playing guitar at the age of 10. In the early ’70s, he teamed up with fellow Minnesotan visual artist and musician Curt Almsted, aka Curtiss A, to form the early new wave outfit Thumbs Up and also played in Almsted's punk-rock band, Spooks.
His work with Almsted attracted the attention of The Replacements' Paul Westerberg, who was seeking a guitarist to replace founding member Bob Stinson.
In 1987, Dunlap officially joined the band and remained until their breakup in 1991. During this time, he featured on the group's last two albums: 1989’s Don’t Tell a Soul and 1990’s All Shook Down.
Following his time with The Replacements, Dunlap released two solo albums: 1993’s The Old New Me and 1996’s Times Like This and continued performing with his band in the Minneapolis area until 2012.
Although he did not participate as a songwriter in The Replacements, his solo albums showcased his songwriting and compositional prowess, surprising quite a few fans, including Bruce Springsteen.
“Slim Dunlap is fantastic. He was a part of The Replacements and he made two fabulous rock records that were just really, deeply soulful and beautiful,” the Boss told NPR's Ann Powers in a 2014 interview.
“I hope I get a chance to cut one of his songs… check out the two Slim Dunlap records because they’re just so beautiful, they’re just beautiful rock ‘n’ roll records. I found them to be deeply touching and emotional.”
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