Robert Neil Stinson (December 17, 1959 – February 18, 1995) was an American musician best known as a founding member and lead guitarist of the American rock band
The Replacements.
Biography
Early life
Bob Stinson was born on December 17, 1959 in
Waconia, Minnesota
Waconia ( ) is a city in Carver County, Minnesota, United States. Waconia attracts visitors to nearby Lake Waconia, a lake locally renowned for its fishing and recreation opportunities.
The city's population was 13,033 at the 2020 census.
Geo ...
to Neil and Anita Stinson. They divorced when he was two years old. His father was largely absent from his life, and he was raised by his mother. His half-brother
Tommy Stinson
Thomas Eugene Stinson (born October 6, 1966) is an American rock musician. He came to prominence in the 1980s as the bass guitarist for The Replacements, one of the definitive American alternative rock groups. After their breakup in 1991, Stins ...
was born nearly seven years later. Despite Tommy's father being Anita's longtime boyfriend, Tommy was still given the last name "Stinson" by his mother. The pair also had two sisters, Lonnie and Lisa.
The Replacements (1979–1986)
![The Replacements (1983 Twin Tone publicity photo)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/21/The_Replacements_%281983_Twin_Tone_publicity_photo%29.jpg)
Stinson formed
The Replacements (formerly 'Dog's Breath' and also by some accounts as 'Dogbreath') in
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...
, in 1979 with drummer
Chris Mars
Chris Mars (born April 26, 1961) is an American painter and musician. He was the percussionist, drummer for the seminal Minneapolis based alternative-rock band The Replacements (band), The Replacements from 1979 to 1990, and later joined the inf ...
and Tommy, then just 12 years old; a year later, the band brought in
Paul Westerberg
Paul Harold Westerberg (born December 31, 1959) is an American musician, best known as the lead singer, guitarist, and songwriter for the Replacements. Following the breakup of the Replacements, Westerberg launched a solo career that saw him re ...
on rhythm guitar and vocals. Stinson won acclaim for his lead guitar on the band's first four albums.
In 1985, a long-running power struggle between Stinson and Westerberg reached a breaking point, and Stinson was forced out of the band in the summer of 1986. Though the exact circumstances of the split remain murky, published explanations include Westerberg's commercial aspirations, pressure from
he band's labelSire Records
Sire Records (formerly Sire Records Company) is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group and distributed by Warner Records.
History Beginnings
The label was founded in 1966 as Sire Productions by Seymour Stein and Richard Gottehrer ...
for more mainstream records, and Stinson's increasing substance abuse problems. "Whether he was thrown out for the way his alleged alcohol problems had destroyed his skills or he left voluntarily due to creative tension is a moot point," according to ''Prefix Magazine''. "What matters is this: Stinson was gone, and with him went much of the band's edge."
With the departure of Stinson, all subsequent recordings by the band were increasingly more pop-oriented, dominated by Westerberg's pop stylings. Stinson's last stint in the band was on the demos for the album ''
Pleased to Meet Me
''Pleased to Meet Me'' is the fifth studio album by the American rock band The Replacements, released in 1987 by Sire Records. The album was acclaimed by music critics.
Background and recording
''Pleased to Meet Me'' is the only album record ...
''.
Later projects (1986–1994)
Stinson's first band after leaving The Replacements was called Model Prisoner, which broke up in 1988. Model Prisoner's line up consisted of
Sonny Vincent
Sonny Vincent (born July 7, 1952, New York City, United States) is an American Rock musician. He has been active in music since the 60s and in particular the mid-1970s, when he was part of the New York City punk rock scene with his original band, T ...
on vocals and guitar, Stinson on guitar, Eric Magistad on bass and Jeff Rogers on drums. Other members included Jim Michels and Mike Henderson. The band performed live and they recorded an album at Nicollet Studios (
Twin Tone
Twin/Tone Records was an independent record label based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, which operated from 1977 until 1994. It was the original home of influential Minnesota bands the Replacements and Soul Asylum and was instrumental in helping the T ...
).
Stinson later joined
Static Taxi in 1988, who broke up in the summer of 1991, around the same time as the Replacements. Static Taxi recorded extensively although none of the material was released till several years after Stinson's death. Stinson's former bandmates compiled two albums from the band's recordings: ''Stinson Boulevard'' (released in 2000) and ''Closer 2 Normal'' (released in 2003).
Along with Vincent, Stinson formed the band Shotgun Rationale, and released the single "Time Is Mine" – a remake of the original song by
The Testors
''The'' () is a grammatical Article (grammar), article in English language, English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite ...
– in 1991 on Dogmeat Records. The new version of the song, with Stinson on guitar, also featured future
Bash & Pop
Bash & Pop are an American alternative rock band formed in 1992 by Tommy Stinson in Minneapolis, Minnesota, following the breakup of the Replacements. It released one album before disbanding in 1994. Tommy Stinson reformed the band in 2016 with a ...
guitarist Steve Brantseg. Stinson also appears on European releases that featured him playing alongside Vincent.
Shotgun Rationale's line up changed constantly. At one point Stinson and Vincent invited
Cheetah Chrome
Eugene Richard O'Connor (born February 18, 1955), better known by his stage name Cheetah Chrome, is an American musician who achieved fame as a guitarist for Rocket from the Tombs and the punk rock band Dead Boys.
Career Rocket From the Tombs
...
(of
Dead Boys
The Dead Boys are an American punk rock band from Cleveland, Ohio, United States. The band was among the first wave of punk, and regarded by many as one of the rowdiest and most violent groups of the era. They were formed by vocalist Stiv B ...
) to join the band, and Chrome moved to Minnesota to play guitar with them. Vincent called this period, "quite insane for a while... You have to imagine a band consisting of both Bob Stinson and Cheetah Chrome playing and working together.. then add to that I was no angel and you start to get a glimpse of the mercurial energy and intense chaos that we lived in, it didn't last long but it was like living in a constant lightning storm and the sound was the same, tight and concentrated but always exploding over the edge."
Stinson also played with the local band Dog 994 around this time. His last band was The Bleeding Hearts, which he formed with his roommate Mike Leonard. One of their most high-profile performances was opening for Tommy's band
Bash & Pop
Bash & Pop are an American alternative rock band formed in 1992 by Tommy Stinson in Minneapolis, Minnesota, following the breakup of the Replacements. It released one album before disbanding in 1994. Tommy Stinson reformed the band in 2016 with a ...
in 1993. His last public performance was playing with Minneapolis Countryswing band Trailer Trash at Lee's Liquor Lounge in late 1994. They performed a version of
Lefty Frizzell
William Orville "Lefty" Frizzell (March 31, 1928 – July 19, 1975) was an American country music singer-songwriter and honky-tonk singer.
He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1982. Frizzell released many songs that charted ...
's "Lil 'Ol Wine Drinker Me".
In 2010,
Sonny Vincent
Sonny Vincent (born July 7, 1952, New York City, United States) is an American Rock musician. He has been active in music since the 60s and in particular the mid-1970s, when he was part of the New York City punk rock scene with his original band, T ...
compiled all the songs he recorded with Stinson over the years into the album ''Cow Milking Music'', which he released under the name Model Prisoners Featuring Sonny Vincent And Bob Stinson. The album was released on vinyl, with CD included, along with many photos of Stinson from Vincent's archives and a four-page story detailing the history of their collaboration and friendship.
Personal life
In the mid-1980s, Bob married Carleen Krietler. Stinson and his wife had a son Joey in 1989, who was profoundly disabled. Carleen filed for divorce around 1992. Joey died in 2010 at the age of 21. Joey's obituary, as published on
Legacy.com
Legacy.com is a United States-based website founded in 1998, the world's largest commercial provider of online memorials. The Web site hosts obituaries and memorials for more than 70 percent of all U.S. deaths.Keagle, Lauri Harvey"Death in the D ...
, listed his survivors simply as "his caregivers and grandparents, Anita and Tom Kurth
ndother relatives and friends."
After he left the Replacements, Stinson was never again a full-time musician, and he worked as a cook in various Twin Cities restaurants and hotels.
Death
Stinson died on February 18, 1995. According to the Hennepin County Medical Examiner's Report, he did not die of a drug overdose (as is frequently reported) but rather frequent drug use caused his overall health to diminish, resulting in organ failure. His body was found in his
Uptown, Minneapolis
Uptown is a commercial district in southwestern Minneapolis in the U.S. state of Minnesota, that is centered at the intersection of Hennepin Avenue and West Lake Street. It has traditionally spanned the corners of four neighborhoods, Lowry Hill ...
apartment, with an unused
insulin
Insulin (, from Latin ''insula'', 'island') is a peptide hormone produced by beta cells of the pancreatic islets encoded in humans by the ''INS'' gene. It is considered to be the main anabolic hormone of the body. It regulates the metabolism o ...
syringe next to it. His obituary appeared in the print edition of ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' on February 24, 1995.
Notes and references
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stinson, Bob
1959 births
1995 deaths
Musicians from Minneapolis
American rock guitarists
American male guitarists
The Replacements (band) members
Drug-related deaths in Minnesota
20th-century American guitarists
Guitarists from Minnesota
People from Waconia, Minnesota
20th-century American male musicians