• Trouble Boys

  • The True Story of the Replacements
  • By: Bob Mehr
  • Narrated by: Mary Lucia
  • Length: 20 hrs and 34 mins
  • 4.8 out of 5 stars (497 ratings)

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Trouble Boys  By  cover art

Trouble Boys

By: Bob Mehr
Narrated by: Mary Lucia
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Publisher's summary

Based on all-new interviews, Trouble Boys: The True Story of the Replacements is the definitive "boigraphy" of one of the last great rock 'n' roll bands of the 20th 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 and 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.

©2016 Bob Mehr (P)2017 Hachette Audio

Critic reviews

"An in-depth biography of a beloved, exasperating band that never quite made it.... [An] impressively researched and well-rendered biography.... The dynamic that made the band great also tore them apart, as this biography superbly documents." ( Publishers Weekly)
"The definitive bio of the Replacements... Trouble Boys brings the band back to life. Over six years, Mehr interviewed more than 200 people, creating a narrative thick with detail, revelations and emotion." ( Rolling Stone)

What listeners say about Trouble Boys

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Oh Sister!

I read this book when it first came out, but I so desperately wanted it in audible format that I sent the author an email begging him to hurry up about it.

Mehr completely fulfilled my wish by choosing the only woman on earth who could do this book justice to read it with all the grit, spit, pathos, bathos and love that it deserves.

Mary Lucia is Paul's sister. She's also our own favorite DJ in the Twin Cities. Her reading about herself being the subject of Achin' to Be made me cry!

Please stop reading this review and go download the Audible version. You'll be so glad you did.

\m/ \m/

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14 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

this will make you love and hate the mats

so good, gritty...i fell in love with them all over again. but like any real love, the faults are on full display.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Like the band, not for the faint hearted

A compelling and orderly story about a compelling but chaotic band. The book is heartbreaking but if you loved the Replacements you're probably used to that.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Fantastic book!

great book from beginning to end! great pace. Very insightful. You'll like it whether you're a fan or not.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Great Book

For Fans this book is Amazing!!!
Great audible read by Paul Westerberg’s sister. Fans of the Replacements won’t be disappointed.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

straight ahead rock and roll....

I really enjoyed this book and the reading. Yes, I've been a fan of the 'mats for baby years, but any rock and roll fan will enjoy this.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

"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.

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    3 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
  • Ex
  • 09-27-17

great choice for the reader

the performance was great. the smokey, blue collar voice fit the story and the band perfectly.

the book itself is a pulls-no-punches, extremely detailed account of a great band. no one comes off as good, yet everyone is humanized to an amazing degree.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

The Irreplaceable's

Nothing matches their music or antics: a book can't either. There never was a replacement

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Instant favorite

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

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1 person found this helpful