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Shaggy Dogs: Paul Westerberg vs. Ryan Adams
With celebrity culture now a rabid disease in America, we’ll soon need Geiger counters to measure shifts in popularity and degrees of fame these days. Careers crash and burn as quickly as they’re spawned. An artist’s credibility is much more suspect now, held hostage to the media’s manipulative grasp.
Consider Ryan Adams as a case in point: here’s a guy who has been simultaneously toasted and roasted by every music mag from London to L.A. for the last five years or more. One month he’s hailed as yet another “new Dylan,” meaning brilliant and prolific, and the next month he’s downgraded to being just another hack in a long line of poseurs.
The comparison that sticks to Adams the most, however, is the one made with Paul Westerberg, the oft-reputed godfather of both grunge and alt-country. And this analogy digs deeper than most other hype. Adams is an admitted Replacements fan and has been quoted as calling Westerberg one of his heroes.
You don’t have to put both ears to the ground to hear the ‘Mats’ rowdy scamp of a shadow skipping over every Whiskeytown record or every drunken Adams antic either. Westerbergian has become an easy adjective for critics to use as shorthand; like Beatlesque or Dylanesque, it brings to mind specific traits of that artist. In this case, it spells out gritty, ramshackle romanticism, alcohol-fueled chaos, rebels without a clue, and doomed integrity—not to mention a Titanic-sized cache of classic fucking songs.
Does Westerberg’s legacy fit Adams and his own impressive output? To a small degree, it does. Though Whiskeytown was rooted more in country twang than the ‘Mats ever were, they generated a similar reckless energy and wrote about the teen-angst years of vulnerability, lust, love, and heartache with empathy and nerve.
Stranger’s Almanac, which put Whiskeytown on the map in 1998, was not only their career peak, but also their closest approximation of the patented Replacements sound. “Losering” or “Waiting to Derail” could be buried B-side nuggets on Let It Be or Tim. It’s obvious that Adams was inspired by Westerberg’s bourbon-wracked yowl of a voice, his punk ethos, and his yin-yang songwriting genius, the way he could write a gutter ballad that tore at your heart and then an anthemic rocker that clawed at your throat in equal measures.
But unlike the ‘Mats, Whiskeytown were very much a one-man band, besides Caitlin Cary’s stirring fiddle on the side. Adams, the little dynamo that could, ran roughshod over the band, and regularly kicked out members while inviting others in. The Replacements were a gifted gang of misfits from the streets of Minneapolis, and though Paul wrote and sang the songs, there was a swashbucklers’ camaraderie at their core, a magical sum greater than its parts—at least during the peak before their inevitable ruin.
Though under-sung at the time and never within shouting distance of commercial success in the ‘80s, the Replacements are heralded in hindsight as one of the Great American Bands, indie or otherwise. And if you ever saw them play live during that decade, whether they were drunk, drugged, or straight, you know that to be true. Their glorious, garage blueprint of hall-of-fame songs, barstool poetry, and heart-on-the-flannel-sleeve integrity influenced a generation of bands, from Nirvana to Whiskeytown to Wilco.
How could Adams compete with the Replacements’ pioneer legacy? Well, he couldn’t, so he stopped trying and set out on his own, since he’d always been there anyway. And from his great debut, Heartbreaker, released in 2000, to the present, he has spewed out a landslide of records that sometimes make you stop in your tracks and other times make you keep walking past. Either way, he’s prolific as hell and averages at least a record each year. It’s also true that he could use an editor, which would eliminate much of the filler that mars every release.
But more than his music, Adams’ persona seems to have charmed the public. That rough and ready guise, bratty and defiant, nonchalant but casually artful, characterizes him on the good days, and there’s no doubt he co-opted much of that from Westerberg, who, in turn, adapted it from Keith Richards and/or Dylan—these roots of lineage plunge oak-deep. And on the bad days, well, Adams can come off as a petulant poseur who flits from project to project, ingratiating himself to the powers that be as much as possible.
For all of his off-the-cuff behavior, Adams still lacks Westerberg’s raw authenticity and cutting sense of humor. I often get the sense that Ryan takes himself a little too seriously at times—I mean, if you can’t handle a heckler requesting Bryan Adams songs at your show, then it’s time to unload some of that self-importance. Color me impressed, man. But he is only 32, and still learning, while Paul stands stranded in middle-age now.
Compared to Adams’ glare in the spotlight, Westerberg’s post-‘Mats career has been reported MIA more often than not. Beginning with his first solo release, 14 Songs, (unless you count the ‘Mats’ last one, All Shook Down) way back in 1993, each successive record has underwhelmed, critically and commercially. Fighting depression and the diminishing expectations of others, Paul became an almost reclusive figure in his beloved Minneapolis and on the national scene.
While Adams is a deceptively canny and ambitious character, Westerberg has always had a strong self-destructive streak goosing him along. From his Replacements heyday onward, he has sabotaged his own career more than a few times. But it must be tough to always see so many lesser talents soak up your rightful rewards.
It’s absurdly ironic, though, because each of Paul’s solo records contains a clutch of classics that most songwriters could never hope to touch. Sometimes I would read the negative reviews, still buy the records, and wonder if we were even listening to the same music. It’s a tired truism, but many fans and critics alike have never forgiven Westerberg for burying the Replacements, going sober, and writing maturely about adulthood in all its complexities. In other words, who wants to hear about a husband’s happiness from the unsatisfied man who once roared, “I hate your answering machine”?
Like Paul McCartney or Johnny Rotten (that’s a juxtaposition), he will be forever measured against his former band’s glories. Not quite fair, but no surprise. Yet there came a point in Westerberg’s solo career around the release of Suicaine Gratification in 1999 when you could tell that he’d stopped worrying about his past or his cult of fans haunting him, and began loosening up on record and off.
If Westerberg was no longer writing the desperate anthems of yore that defined a generation, he still wrote movingly about himself with passion. Besides Tom Waits and few others, no one writes such bittersweet blues and sings them with such divine shots of bravado and yearning grace.
The old restless swagger is back, cocked and loaded. Paul found an alter-ego project, Grandpaboy, that embodied the ‘Mats’ wildest impulses, and fired out four or five fine records within a two-year period earlier this decade. Suddenly, he was as prolific as Adams, but with half the fanfare. Come Feel Me Tremble, released in 2003, is one of his best collections of songs since the 1980s. With shambling strides, he’s also touring again.
Westerberg’s voice, still scuffed, still broken, still can take your breath away with a life’s worth of stunning self-knowledge: “Every time I didn’t follow my dreams, I lost the map / I live my fantasy instead / Till I found it was a trap / Gave a life, got a living / Hey, that’s all right / All is forgiven” (“All That I Had”).
P.S. Ironically enough, Westerberg and Adams feuded a few years ago through the press. Baited by a reporter, Paul mockingly dissed Adams as a pretender, though he did it with a few chuckles, tongue-in-cheek, according to him. Adams was stung that one of his idols would criticize him, and so he fired back at Paul with a few choice words when he later played a concert in Minneapolis. Territorial pissings and all that.
Watch: Paul Westerberg “Can’t Hardly Wait” [at youtube.com]
Watch: Ryan Adams “Oh My Sweet Carolina” [at youtube.com]
31 Comments
The funny thing about constantly bringing up that Bryan Adams heckler is that no one ever seems to acknowledge how often it happens. I have yet to hear or attend a Ryan Adams show (before that infamous night or since) that didn’t have some drunken idiot thinking he’s clever by shouting out “PLAY SUMMER OF 69!” Most of the time, Ryan ignores it. That guy, that night, had been bellowing it all night long. Sometimes, people just snap.
The Replacements have always been overlooked. One of my all-time favorite bands. There was something sort of “Batman and Robinish” about Westerberg and Stinson. Come Feel Me Tremble is a great, great record, as is Heartbreaker. If you took a couple of songs off of each of Paul’s solo efforts and put them on one album, it would be a classic. Same is true of Adams.
Crawdaddy; great comparison; I am a Westy disciple; Mats through Open Season; and I happen to think Ryan is a brilliant songwriter who really does care about what he is doing; is he image-conscious? yeah; so is Paul. I often fantasize about the two of them collaborating; and I hereby predict they will either share a stage or record a song together in the next 5 years; Guaranteed. Whisper Me Luck from Open Season stands tall right next to Here Comes a Regular and Lush and Green…
who reunites first? whiskeytown or mats; Great article Crawdaddy; thanks for not tossing Ryan under the bus; he doesn’t deserve it; he’s great and his new album is a testament that he’s not fooling around; hell he helped Willie put out his best album in 20 years
I love Paul Westerberg. I love Ryan Adams. Can you like the Beatles and the Stones? Both guys put their heart into their work, with sometime mixed results. Both have struck me with the emotion they’ve invested into their tunes and the balls they’ve put on the line with their honesty. Age and experience might give Paul the nod at the end of the day, but when all is said and done Ryan Adams deserves a hell of a lot of credit too.
Check out the Open Season soundtrack from late last year. It went under my radar, but it has some great Paul songs on it.
Interesting contrast and fine writing. Though Paul’s my man, I’m also glad you didn’t throw Adams under the bus here. Good stuff. . .
If the painted shoe were on the other foot, Paul would probably have his own “Summer of ‘69″ by now to pull out for those occasions.
Dammit, Crawdaddy! I was all prepared to cry heresy, but then this article ended up being all objective and well-written. Another indignant comment foiled!
I’m still not buying any of Ryan’s albums, though.
Adams has always been a chameleon, writing songs that sound like other artists. He has talent at composing tunes, but no originality and really is a lucky dupe.
I love Paul and Ryan equally. You get a little different flavor with both. With Paul you get a little more raw, garage-band quality with his literal recording in the basement style lately. Rough and ragged but genius. Ryan has that chameleon like way where he can make his voice sound completely different depending on what song he is singing. Vocally he is just outstanding. And he’s the master of the alt-country song. Nobody does it better in my opinion. Love them both for different reasons!
Paul is the real deal. Mr. Adams is a poser wannabe. Enough said.
is poseur
Great article.
Re the Summer of ‘69 incident: I was there, and it was about a lot more than that one comment. The jackass had been yelling crap all evening, including during the incredible acoustic experience of RA with Gillian Welch and Dave Rawlings. Ryan can be a prick, but he does have a sense of humor–that guy was just out of line.
Here here for not dismissing Adams. There’s a million reasons to hate him, but I dare anyone sift through his prolific library and not find something to love. I’ve seen him live several times and he never disappoints.
And the ‘Mats, well, they speak for themselves. Great article.
The reason that Paul Westerberg is better is that..well..Paul Westerberg is better. He’s got a sense of humor. He knows how to write a hook 40 year old dad can sing along with his 5 and 8 year olds. Oh..and you usually don’t want to fill up the bathtub and open a vein like you do after listening to just about any Ryan Adams record.
Plus..Tim McGraw never cut a Paul Westerberg song. The day that happens..an enormous chasm will open up in the earth and suck all light and life into it and we’ll be left with nothing but Maroon 5 and the guys that sang that “Der Kommissar” song in the 80’s.
i thought that guy was named Bryce Adams. he should be anyway.
Paul Westerberg’s greatness and influenced will never be measured because there aren’t enuf demographers who even know about the W. influence. all those great 80s’Mats pics tell such enormous stories. his solo stuff cements his legend tho. i’m sick of folk who relive the ‘Mats…check out stereo/mono…rules.
I am a big fan of both singers. I think both represent the pinnacle of contemporary song-writers. Both share an appealling underdog/screw-the-world mentality that I can readily relate to and yet aren’t afraid to wear their heart on their sleaves. Great article – I’m glad that I’m not the only one that thinks about these things.
Adams is not Westerberg, Whiskeytown is not the Mats. The band that is scary/good is You Am I. Listen to them and the Wetserberg vs what’s his name will be just that.
oh yer, you am i are truly great if yr a fan of the replacments or any good old fashioned rawk n roll band – http://www.youami.net
Adams is not merely influenced by PW and others he is derivative of him/them. Plus he is a little bitch and i would love to give him a knuckle sandwhich!
I first heard about the Mats around 82 or 83, heard them, saw them, was amazed by them and ever since anything they’ve put out, I’ve been there for, including Tommy’s and Chris’s stuff. Even tried one by Slim but it didn’t work for me. Simply put, Westerberg stands next to Dylan, Waits and Young in my book as great contemporary songwriters. I also have all the Whiskeytowns and most of Adams solo work. He’s good, sometimes great. But he’s not in Paul’s league. Yet. He could be but whoever said he needs an editor is dead on. I never thought that Paul Westerberg ever included filler in any of his work.
I loved this article. I’ve read Greg Gaston’s work in CityBeat for a while. This is up there among his best.
“The Best Thing That Never Happened.” Paul Westerberg, indeed. I wish I’d seen him in concert, but I’ve listened to him for years now. Instead, I saw Ryan Adams in Seattle back in 2000, and the only thing I like about him today is his long-gone Gap ad. They do both have talent that is empirically undeniable, although they also share the same “fuck-it” tendency toward self-destruction.
You won’t see Weterberg touring with Phil Lesh anytime soon.
Ryan Adams is incredible. Are you kidding me with some of these comments? Including his Whiskeytown years, he’s written some of the most timeless songs in the last 12 years. The Replacements and Westerberg (not to mention Tommy Stinson’s post-Mats records with Basherfect, and solo)are my all-time favorites, but it is possible that both artists are fantastic…
Wow, someone below references aussie band “You Am I”. Couldn’t agree more. If you like Westerbergs’ songs you’ll like Tim Rogers, both with You Am I and his solo stuff. Check it out, you won’t be dissappointed.
God-father of “alternative” rock maybe, but grunge and alt-country? C’mon! Makes me suspect your other details and observations a fair bit. Without the Mats though there would really have been no Alternative rockers raking it in during the 90’s. Isn’t that what you meant? As for Ryan and Paul, well, apples and oranges. Similar and yet different. Both are artists. Plain and simple. Both have written great songs, that anyone else would be hard pressed to come anywhere near. Always changing and challenging themselves while dealing with their own inner demons, each with their own genius. Anyone else here able to come up with something as powerful as “Aching To Be”, “Unsatisfied”, “Goodnight Rose”, “Sylvia Plath” etc…? Good luck.
I’ve been a fan of Westerberg since seeing the Replacements at Maxwell’s in Hoboken in 1984. I also really like some of Ryan Adams’ songs. He’s younger, so of course Westerberg is an influence. But then so is Gram Parsons, and I hear a lot more Parsons in Adams’ songwriting than I do Westerberg. Maybe because Adams came from the South, there is just more of a laid back southern sensibility with him, while Westerberg is pure northern midwestern grit, even in his quieter songs.
Never mind the incredible Replacements output, I don’t think Adams has yet written a song that catches a moment of human existence like “First Glimmer of Life” off Westerberg’s 14 Songs.
Hey Greg….Dude….your not an english major for nothing are ya? Well written. Great compliment from a novice like me isn’t it? (smile)
Miss ya dude…..but I fear i’ve gone too far to make contact. (frown)
That should be “you’re” not “your”!
I correct myself in order not to make an english major cringe! (smile)
I know this is an old article, but you should have probably mentioned that when asked to comment on Adams, Westerberg said ’somebody ought to smack that guy in the face’ (or words to that affect). I read that it hurt Adams so much he renounced his love of Paul’s music. I like both artists.