What Would the World Be Like if D. Boon Hadn’t Died?

D. complete with Schoolkids Records T-shirt (Ann Arbor history!)

So.. I usually listen to some tunes on the way home from school. Recently, it’s nothing but Goatwhore and Carcass, but today I set my mp3 player on shuffle and on comes a tune from the classic “Double Nickels on the Dime” by San Pedro’s the Minutemen. For those too young to know, the guitarist, D. Boon, died tragically in a senseless car accident at the age of 27.

I can’t think of a bad Minutemen record, and I have them all. I was a die hard punk fan in high school. The Minutemen were certainly in that scene, but defied every punk standard out there. When it was considered almost a capital offense to be into classic rock, the Minutemen were covering Blue Oyster Cult, paying homage to Steely Dan and producing fantastic renditions of CCR tunes without a hint of irony.

The Minutemen were the true adults in the room in the punk rock scene. Their playing was absolutely top notch and they stuck to a hard and spartan working class work ethic that put quality over everything else. D. Boon’s lyrics possessed a political depth that was rarity in the often sophomoric rantings so ubiquitous in early 80’s hardcore. When Jello was screaming Saturday morning cartoon politics, Boon was championing poverty along the Mexican border and calling for the US to dis-involve in Central American conflicts. It’s very unfortunate that I never got to see them.

Though they did soften at the end, they got nothing but better with age. I often think about what they might have accomplished had D. Boon been wearing a seatbelt that day. D. Boon was one of the greatest guitar players who ever lived (and amazingly light footed given his size). Certainly, D. Boon’s accomplishments by age 54 would have been formidable.

So here are the Minutemen covering Van Halen’s classic “Ain’t Talkin Bout Love” and a trailer from a documentary on the band, “We Jam Econo.” Enjoy