Attn: Daniel Johnston fans

[abcdefz]

...send me a mailing address for you. I have two postcards advertising the upcoming Daniel Johnston documentary, The Devil and Daniel Johnston.

...the postcard art os very cool, but I can't find it on the web site or IMDB, so you'll have to wait 'til your card arrives to see it.

I wonder if there will be even two of you out there. ;)

[abcdefz]

Wow. There are none of you out there. :eek:


You folks've never heard of Daniel Johnston, or you just don't like his stuff?

He's got a fascinating story, if nothing else.

From All Music Guide: (http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&token=ADFEAEE57F18D249A97320C5903C40CCB269A329D94E FB87126E495AD1A926499E0C74E80BA695CCB3E572AB7BAFFF 2BE85E05D2CDE452FACC0640&sql=11:3kq6g4httv1z~T1)

Biography by John Dougan

As with other talented but troubled artists such as Syd Barrett, Brian Wilson, and Roky Erickson, Daniel Johnston fights a daily battle with the chronic mental illness that has plagued him nearly his entire life. However, despite recurrent bouts of delusional behavior wherein he has physically endangered himself and others, Johnston has carved out a respectable, influential career as a singer/songwriter of extraordinary talent which has grown since his first crudely recorded cassette was released in 1980. He became the singer/songwriter of choice of the alternative/underground rock scene, and at various times has had his work championed by members of Sonic Youth, Yo La Tengo, Butthole Surfers, Half Japanese, Nirvana (Kurt Cobain was often photographed wearing a Daniel Johnston T-shirt), and numerous others.

Until the '90s, Johnston's recording were basically homemade affairs, his plain voice accompanied by crude piano and guitar playing. His narrative concerns focused mainly on lost love, the pain of miscommunication, his love for the Beatles, and comic-book superhero Captain America. Johnston's music is unflinchingly direct, almost embarrassingly and painfully honest. Because of this and his increasingly erratic behavior, he was considered a local hero in his home of Austin, TX (where he moved from rural West Virginia), but too extreme to engender the interest of a record label. That situation changed in 1985, when MTV filmed a program on the Austin music scene. Johnston's performance brought him almost overnight acclaim, and he went from local legend to national cult figure. Soon, many of his self-released cassette recordings (on his appropriately named Stress label) began showing up in hip record stores from Boston to L.A., and the buzz was that Daniel Johnston was the coolest. There was, however, a grim side to this "success," as if his mental illness was the primary component of his hipness; therefore, there was a feeling that those not close to him were marketing his illness as much as his talent. Sadly, Johnston's behavior wasn't helping, and he was institutionalized twice in the late '80s after his refusal to take medication led to two dangerous episodes.

In the late '80s, indie label Homestead issued some of Johnston's early recordings on vinyl and a full-blown appreciation of Johnston's work was well underway. Soon he was recording solo and with Half Japanese mastermind Jad Fair on the Shimmy Disc indie label, and later with Butthole Surfer Paul Leary, who may well be the best producer/musical accompanist Johnston ever had. Johnston, to the amazement of virtually everyone, recorded for Atlantic, and despite occasional behavioral lapses, seemed more self-assured than ever. As a result, in the late '90s and 2000s, he recorded some of the best music of his career: smart, ebullient pop with ringing guitars, primitive keyboards, and a wonderfully naïve way of looking at the world. Although he sometimes becomes sad and bitter, cynicism and self-pity aren't his style, and that makes the little tragedies and epiphanies he writes about all the more compelling. Daniel Johnston's world may seem small, but it's much bigger and friendlier than that of our wildest imaginations.

[DroppinScience]

I was not aware of Daniel Johnston, but now I'm DEFINITELY interested...

[abcdefz]

...just brace yourself. :)



....he co-wrote a song on one of Moe Tucker's albums she was working on with Jad Fair and the Half Japanese gang. Moe told me that she had these lyrics for "Do It Right" and didn't know quite what to do with 'em... Daniel came in, propped up the lyrics at the piano, turned on the cassette player, and just sang and played it on the spot. Moe overdubbed her vocal so it was sort of a campfire duet, and that's the song that ends Life in Exile after Abdication. Terrific song, too. Moe was just blown away by his talent but called his lot in life "just sad." :(

[abcdefz]

...she also had some WalMart stories from her stint there as a working single mother, but that probably goes in the political threads....

[sercomdj01]

*bump*

yeah, i love him.

I have "welcome to my world" a greatest hits of the albums up to 1990. I want to get the covers album (with tom waits, sparkhorse, brighteyes, flaming lips, eels, ect.).

What else do you reccomend?

[abcdefz]

I've only heard a few of his albums. If that compilation is good, it might serve you just fine, because the albums kind of start to bleed together, with individual tracks ("Don't Play Cards with Satan," "Casper," "The Beatles," etc.) jumping out.

I remember 1990 being really good, Hi, How Are You?, Yip Jump Music, and Fun. I can vouch for those. There was one that was almost absolutely unlistenable, but I swapped it back in so fast I can't remember what it was.

Happily, the movie theater a couple weeks ago played two of his songs while the slides were rolling. That was a surprise. (y)

[abcdefz]

I've heard of him and read a review of the movie, looks interesting but haven't heard any of his music.



Pretty melodic, very primative, sometimes very haunting, sometimes just very catchy.

Sound samples at AMG (http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:njtvad5kv8w3~T2)

[Drederick Tatum]

his preoccupation with Satan is something every musician could use.

[abcdefz]

Well, I got to watch The Devil and Daniel Johnston (http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/10005083-devil_and_daniel_johnston/) a couple of nights ago. So sad, in a lot of ways.

One bit I hadn't known: that after he appeared at SXSW, his dad was flying him home and, in his exuberation -- and, thinking he was Casper, the friendly ghost -- Daniel wrested control of the plane and sent it into a nosedive. He conked out the motor and sent it into a spin, hurtling straight down, but his dad finally got the engine restarted and managed to crash it safely into trees.

It destroyed the plane and sent Daniel to the hospital, and he couldn't understand why the family didn't great his "heroism" with wild approval.

His dad started sobbing like crazy, telling the story -- obviously frustrated by the total disconnect his son had with reality, just how unfathomable it is. That would have to be incredibly, incredibly hard.

[afronaut]

I know him. Well, not personally. But, yknow. Are the postcards taken already?

[abcdefz]

Nine and a half months later, and not a single taker. :eek:

I still have two at my desk, actually. Let me know if you want one.

[abcdefz]

I know him. Well, not personally. But, yknow.


Ohio or Virginie or Texas or.....?

[Waus]

::BUMP::

My local small-business video rental finally got around to re-ordering The Devil and Daniel Johnston after someone stole their first copy. Anyways, I watched it tonight in the middle of a storm of homework, and it was really great. The music is hit or miss for me, but it was definitly a touching story.

Just to be a team player - I dug up an old recording of Beck on KCRW playing a Daniel Johnston song (which I'd heard tons of times before hearing the original). I don't know where I got it, but it's a wma..so, sorry about that.

Beck - Some Things Last A Long Time (Daniel Johnston Cover) (http://web.ics.purdue.edu/~mwallac/Beck_-_Some_Things_Last_A_Long_Time(Daniel_Johnston_Cove r).wma)

[abcdefz]

Very cool. Now I can't wait to get to work tomorrow so I can hear it.

[abcdefz]

Yeah -- the music in the movie is definitely hit or miss. I think the context of the movie kind of lessens some of the good stuff, too.

Daniel's not the kind of artist where I can sit and listen to album after album of his stuff, but when he's on, there's this unabashed, horrifying brilliance thing going on.

Singular.