On This Day in 1984, The Replacements Recorded Live Album That Paul Westerberg Called “the Biggest Mistake We Ever Made”

It has been 40 years to the day that The Replacements set up at The Bowery in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and recorded The S*** Hits the Fan.

Turns out, however, that the live album, which is considered to be one of the greatest of all time, is the thing that guitarist and vocalist Paul Westerberg says was “the biggest mistake we ever made.”

In a previous interview with Magnet Magazine, Westerberg added, “By releasing it, it made people come out to our shows expecting to see a trainwreck every night. And we obliged.”

While Westerberg doesn’t seem to hold the album in high regard, Rolling Stone once considered it to be one of the 50 Greatest Live Albums of all time. In fact, it just made the cut, coming in at 50th.

The majority of the album consists of cover songs, including the Jackson 5’s “I’ll Be There”, Led Zeppelin’s “Misty Mountain Hop”, and “Merry-Go-Round” from Mötley Crüe’s debut album, Too Fast for Love. In total, 19 of the 24 songs are originally by other bands or artists.

Westerberg joked that no one would want a live Replacements album because “We suck”

In the book All Over But the Shouting, an oral history of The Replacements, Bowery manager and DJ Roscoe Shoemaker recalled approaching Westerberg about recording their performance. “I asked Paul or somebody if he minded that I record the show,” Shoemaker said, then getting a “Typical Westy response” of “Why? We suck.”

Interestingly, despite being permitted to record the performance, both The Replacements and their record label relegated it to bootleg status, writing in the album’s liner notes: “Anyhoo…what you’ve got here is most of a live show. Our roadie pulled it out of some enterprising young gent’s tape recorder toward the end of the night. (Drop us a line, buddy, there’s $3.95 in it for you!)”

But what does Westerberg like from his catalog?

While he doesn’t love The S*** Hits The Fan, Westerberg did tell Magnet that he has a lot of love for his solo 1996 album, Eventually.

“Underrated and will prove to be one of my favorites in years to come,” he said of the record. “I like the songs. I made the record I wanted to hear, which was the case every time except with Stink and maybe the mixing of Don’t Tell A Soul.”

“It’s funny how the Georgia Satellites can play to a bunch of chowderheads in some outdoor place even if it’s just one original guy,” he added. “Did Peter Gabriel’s first couple of solo records sell? Most solo artists flop compared to the band.” Westerberg then quipped, “The problem was, I was the sound of the band. Christ.”