Company Blog

Songs for Slim Dunlap

by Adam Zack — December 23, 2024

So here it is, 2 days before Christmas and I’m filled with love and appreciation for what I have…

Hello, and Merry Christmas, 2024! Just when I thought I was running out of new ideas to write about, my wife Linda prodded me to think of something and I received an email from my great friend Mark Lindsey. He emailed to inform me that Slim Dunlap had died. Now Slim Dunlap is far, far from a household name. He was was the replacement guitarist for my favorite band, the Replacements. They joked that he was a replacement Replacement. He was an immensely talented and self-effacing guitarist that was admired and praised by the likes of Keith Richards and Bruce Springsteen. Unfortunately, Slim suffered a massive stroke in 2012 that robbed him of his ability to play guitar.

Mark wrote to me:

“We lost Slim. I remember the album “Songs for Slim”. He was Keith Richards without Mick, but with Bo Diddley on meth. [I don’t really know what the Bo Diddly part means!]

And as Keith Richards said; “I never had a problem with drugs, I had a problem with the police”

His songs remind me that the music business is as much luck, timing, perseverance as it is talent.

A metaphor for life, don’t you agree?

We have seen so many club bands or free shows that should be in arenas for the masses, and arena bands that should be free shows at a brewery on a Sunday. Both great in their own way, I suppose.

Love you Adam, remember that.”

It made me think about love and gratitude. About how fortunate I am to have a friend that thinks of me when something impactful happens. About how in a second, my life could change in ways that I can’t even begin to imagine.

So here it is, 2 days before Christmas and I’m filled with love and appreciation for what I have, what I hold dearly and for friends and family who truly care.

I love you too, Mark. And I know we will both remember that.