3-Way Tie (For Last) Explained

3-Way Tie (For Last) is the fourth and final full-length album by American punk band Minutemen, released in 1985 by SST Records. It features covers of songs by the Urinals, Meat Puppets, Blue Öyster Cult, Creedence Clearwater Revival, and Roky Erickson.^[1] The last song, a cover of Erickson's "Bermuda", was sung over the phone by Mike Watt.^[2]

The album was released very shortly before the death of D. Boon, who also painted the cover. Watt collaborated with Black Flag bassist Kira Roessler on four tracks ("Political Nightmare", "No One", "Stories", and "What Is It?").^[1] At around the time that the album was recorded, Watt and Roessler formed Dos.

The album included ballots for listeners to vote on the track list for what would become Ballot Result.^[3]

Reception

Byron Coley at Spin said, "The four lyrics here that were written by Boon (most of the others are by former Black Flag bassist Kira Roessler) deal in express terms with topics such as Vietnam, Nicaragua, and 'the men who die for glory'. As purist anti-military-industrialist rant they are as forthright in intent as Phil Ochs's songs ever were. And if they aren't quite as archly funny, well, hell, they still rock like a fuckin’ schooner."^[4]

Track listing

Side D.

1. "Price of Paradise" (D. Boon) – 3:38
2. "Lost" (Curt Kirkwood) – 2:33
3. "The Big Stick" (Boon) – 2:34
4. "Political Nightmare" (Kira Roessler, Mike Watt) – 3:56
5. "Courage" (Boon) – 2:35
6. "Have You Ever Seen the Rain?" (John Fogerty) – 2:30

Side Mike

1. "The Red and the Black" (Eric Bloom, Albert Bouchard, Sandy Pearlman) – 4:09
2. "Spoken Word Piece" (Watt) – 1:07
3. "No One" (Roessler, Watt) – 3:29
4. "Stories" (Roessler, Watt) – 1:36
5. "What Is It?" (Roessler, Watt) – 1:51
6. "Ack Ack Ack" (Johansen, Jones, Talley) – 0:27
7. "Just Another Soldier" (Boon) – 1:58
8. "Situations at Hand" (Watt) – 1:23
9. "Hittin' the Bong" (Watt) – 0:41
10. "Bermuda" (Roky Erickson) – 1:41

Personnel

Minutemen

• D. Boon – electric guitar, acoustic guitar, vocals, piano
• Mike Watt – bass, vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar
• George Hurley – drums

with:

• Joe Baiza – guitar ("Situations At Hand")
• Ethan James – Linn drum ("What Is It?"), Vietnam War battlefield tape ("Spoken Word Piece")

Notes and References

1. Book: Azerrad, Michael. Michael Azerrad. Our Band Could Be Your Life. 2002. Back Bay Books. 90–91. 978-0-316-78753-6.
2. Web site: Watt. Mike. Mike Watt. Bermuda. Twitter. June 1, 2019. June 11, 2019.
3. Web site: Hillburn . Robert . A Votive 'Ballot' For D. Boon . . February 7, 1987 . May 15, 2019.
4. . Spins. Byron Coley. April 1986. 12. 43.
5. Book: Lazell, Barry . Indie Hits 1980-1989 . Cherry Red Books . 1997 . September 5, 2014 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110606125743/http://www.cherryred.co.uk/books/indiehits/m.htm . June 6, 2011.