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I am not entirely sure how I found this disc, called Discovered Uncovered. It might have been Hype Machine. It might have been Rhapsody. It might have been last.fm. Or something else. But I can't understand why I have never heard of Daniel Johnston before. He is a singer songwriter with some mental health issues who writes really great songs that are real and raw.
This record is a two disc record with the first disc featuring covers of his songs from the likes of Clem Snide, The Eels, Beck, The Flaming Lips, M Ward, Tom Waits, and many more. With fans like that, you know that Daniel Johnston is someone to pay attention to.
But the more I listen to the record, the more I like the second disc which are the original tracks. They are so raw that I'd have to say there is no production whatsoever on them. It's like they were recorded on a boom box or something.
Here's Daniel's original version of Devil Town followed by Bright Eyes' cover. Cool song, great artist.
November 13, 2006 My Music | Comments (13)
Comments
Back in the heady days of CDuctive I got turned on to Daniel, we had his considerable back catalog - he's addictive, and was prolific if nothing else. but there was something else, a certain charm in his openess to himself in his writing. It comes off as innocence, but you can feel that there's pain down there too.
Posted by: jackson | Nov 13, 2006 7:55:22 AM
It's astounding to hear the kind of things that snap out of the minds of those that suffer from bipolar to a greater degree than I do. Sometimes, those moments of lucidity and clarity that others see as prescience or hallucinations can give the world a new way of looking at itself.
Thank you for turning me onto this man. Maybe what the world views as "simple" is the best way of seeing the world for what it really is.
smp
Posted by: Stephen Pierzchala | Nov 13, 2006 9:38:47 AM
I first head of Daniel Johnston through listening to Mary Lou Lord, who does a great cover of Speeding Motorcycle on Live City Sounds, another truly raw recording, although not as rough as Johnston's casette tape productions. Doing some background reading on Daniel Johnston, I learned that his early stuff actually was recorded on casette tapes in his basement or something, so there literally is zero production. Also, if you want to get a further sense of what goes on Daniel Johnston's head, check out his artwork. If I was a shrink, I'd have a field day. Good stuff, though.
Posted by: James Kahler | Nov 13, 2006 9:47:26 AM
I always thought you were a cool VC, and I have been a fan of your blog for some time. You have just graduated to being the coolest VC. Period. For a great look into the life of Johnston, check out the documentary 'The Devil and Daniel Johnston'.
Posted by: Peter Weitzman | Nov 13, 2006 10:03:47 AM
Agreed -- check out the documentary; you'll learn everything about him. He reached stardom when Kurt Cobain wore a shirt with his album artwork on it (I believe on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine, as well as every other publication that Kurt Cobain was pictured on during like 1993).
kurt wearing shirt: http://www.discoveredcovered.com/images/web/image012.jpg
Posted by: Steve Poland | Nov 13, 2006 2:07:36 PM
The Yo La Tengo cover of speeding motorcycle is way cool too. Used to be their last song on their tour like 10 years ago. Hell, someone has tagged this with "best song ever" on last FM ;-)
Posted by: egghat | Nov 13, 2006 4:01:49 PM
Daniel Johnston has an excellent song on the Schoolhouse Rocks CD from the early 90s. I believe it's his cover of "Unpack Your Adjectives". It's awesome.
Posted by: Adam Jusko | Nov 13, 2006 5:22:26 PM
I also blogged about Daniel Johnston a few weeks back. Since you have Rhapsody, check out "Don't Let The Sun Go Down" on the recently released "Welcome to My World" ablum. It's available on Rhapsody. Sometimes I go days without listening to another track.
Posted by: jim | Nov 13, 2006 6:27:58 PM
One of my favorite tracks from Post-War is 'To Go Home' which is also a DJ cover.
Do you remember the song Rock and Roll McDonald's from "Supersize Me"? The artist's name is Wesley Willis. His and Daniel's mental health issues and musical styles are (to me) reminiscent of one another. Wesley Willis mp3's can be found streaming all over the web if anyone is interested.
Posted by: michael | Nov 13, 2006 7:10:14 PM
I really don't think Wesley Willis and Daniel have much in common other than mental health issues, and a wealth of product. Wesley worked with production people, whereas Daniel, mostly, was self produced. Wesley had a template that he rarely varied from, Daniel was mare varient with his style and approach to song writing.
IMNSHO
Posted by: jackson | Nov 13, 2006 7:51:43 PM
Fred's post mention the word "raw" which I associate with both. Innocence or a lack of self consciousness too. Otherwise, your NSHO is spot on.
Posted by: michael | Nov 13, 2006 7:56:14 PM
You should check out the movie the Devil and Daniel Johnston. It is extremely enchanting and interesting look at him as a person and an artist. Daniel is one of the great unknown artist of our time.
Posted by: Nathan | Nov 14, 2006 12:41:15 PM
The version of devil town by the frames is so much better!!
Posted by: britt | May 16, 2007 11:30:17 AM
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