jonathan richman: is this guy a class fucking act or what?

In fact, his sheer un-rock n' roll attitude is what makes him so punk rawk.

Plus, he can write a fuckin mean song.

most memorable, about 6 years ago (a little before "there's something about mary) he did 2 back to back 2 hour sets with a 10 minute break. yes, 4 hours of music. like jess alludes upthread, he held the audience in his hand the entire performance. he is a classic charmer: dashing, bravado, swagger, he makes the boys and girls swoon alike.

(and Matos, I wasn't aware of the man ever using the guitar-keys-bass-drums line-up since the Jerry Harrison years, so I thought it would be clear)

Jonathan Richman
American Music Club
Chuck Prophet & Stephanie Finch
Noe Venable

Great American Music Hall, SF, Nov. 30

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

cf. Modern Lovers 88
-- M Matos (michaelangelomato...) (webmail), November 17th, 2003 3:47 PM. (M Matos) (link)

huh? modern lovers 88 rocks!

Revive -- Everyone can stand a little more Jonathan in their lives!

With great hesistation, i've been laboring to assemble a complete vinyl set of his albums for the last 12 years - which will likely approach completion about the same time somebody lays out a proper reissue series or boxset.

i could stand some more jess in my life! i want to hear him talk about "cuddlecore".

thanks for reminding me, Jonathan is playing here next week and I need to buy a ticket.

Thanks for the revive, christoff. Never seen this thread before. Nice to read something so well-written, enthusiastic and smart 1st thing in the morning (helps that I agree w/ everything he says). Kinda puts a shine on the day.

I slept in the office in his house last year.

My favorite Jonathan story: I saw him in Minneapolis at 7th Street Entry (TINY club) where his support act was a local, female-led band called Beangirl. Jonathan seemed to really like them, he was out on the dance floor watching and applauding.

Shortly thereafter I travelled to Seattle, and Jonathan was playing there at the Bumbershoot festival. I found a big piece of cardboard and a marker, lettered BEANGIRL on it, and held it up from many rows back. He interrupted one of his monologues to ask, "Are you from Minneapolis? Wow! Beangirl is a really cool band... but I don't wanna talk about that right now... 1234" and into Roadrunner.

one of the first songs he played was "springtime in new york" (at least i assumed that's what it was called), and i can't really described the mood it called up, comparable with so very few things in the vast morass of art about nyc, maybe the gentlest work of paul auster (cf. moon palace) or the experience of living in the city itself (which, like that ridiculous song suggests, everyone should do once before they become hardened.) it's a love song to a place which so effortlessly trumps any of the post-9/11 blather (neil young, stick your head up your own arse in abject shame, please.) it made me happy to be alive, which few things do these days.

i'm sure i've said this elsewhere on ILM, but "springtime in new york" was the first song i saw ANYONE play live after 9/11 in new york. it was at the knitting factory, which isn't that far from ground zero. the city was still very much in shock. there was still dust downtown. the stage power went out just before jonathan started playing. so in front of a packed knitting factory, which is not too small, and which includes a balcony, he proceeded to play "springtime in new york" with an acoustic guitar and no microphone. singing with that trademark purity and innocence about lovers in the east village and then that throwaway line about how "demolishing a building brings a smell of 1890 through the breeze" (sung that night AS a throwaway line, with no attempt to wink or raise an eyebrow or in any way acknowlege out loud what had just happened) he completely totally utterly melted the joint. one of my favorite concert experiences ever.

(also, i'm pretty sure i met matos at that show, though we don't actually know each other. he was standing next to me on the balcony with a notebook in his hand and i asked who he was and we chatted for probably a minute and that was that.)

this man is a giant of American music

"Jonathan and Tommy Larkins have just completed a brand new album, Because Her Beauty is Raw and Wild. The album will be in stores in March!!! Jonathan will of course return to the road in support of the new album."

-from vaporrecords.com

played the 5 Spot in Nashville last nite, he was good, sort of an (even more) minimalist rockin' João Gilberto at times, did "Pablo Picasso" using a funny voice.

a couple weeks back i was driving down 18th Street in San Francisco one afternoon and I saw Jonathan just casually strolling down the street with a Spanish guitar in hand. wish i coulda followed him to see where he ended up.

i'm bummed he's not coming to philly on this tour. saw him for the first time last year. excellent set!

Quick question.. he's in town Saturday, should I go see him for $10?
I don't know much about him but will he make me smile like the "I'm a little dinosaur" song or are his other songs not as entertaining?

he is totally worth seeing for $10, totally one of my favorite live performers even though I barely know any of his non-Modern Lovers recorded output.

awesome

Really always worth seeing, even if (like me) you are not familiar with the vast disorganized reaches that are his catalogue.

HE was great at Primavera Sound last year, but thenI would say that because like most people on this thread, I do thnk he's a clas fucing act.

"Because Her Beauty Is Raw & Wild" is, as expected, still top quality stuff. This guy just doesn't let up does he? Highlights include a very pretty song in French that I remember him playing in Barcelona; the haunting "Our Drab Ways"; and "If We Refuse To Suffer" (which is getting me through a self-imposed smoking ban).

I found an old copy of Abdul and Cleopatra / Oh Carol (the chuck berry song) on Beserkley the other day. Yay 4 me.

Interesting Grauniad piece this weekend.

OK, Jess, I've got to know about this four-track Aznavour. Which albums?

How he is live these days? Going to see him next month, with Tommy Larkins on drums. (Vic Chesnutt opening.)

xp Jerry Lives in Mill Valley

and Richman is in Chico

Richman also runs a business, Arcane Masonry, in Chico, making bread ovens as well as other projects.

I ~believe~ he still has his house in the Mission, like when he does those 2 week residencies at the MakeOut Room.

and when i say the Mission, I mean Eureka Valley

Jonathan Richman and Bob Mould are two of my favorites, but I also strongly associate them with cities known for painfully freezing winters (Boston and Minneapolis), so I guess it's no surprise they'd end up in one of the nicest places weather-wise in their later years. (Mould has lived in a lot of cities though.)

The whole pizza oven thing has become an official ILX meme over the years

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8-icalTkCc

I’ve never seen Jonathan do this song about Keith Richards

genuine loss for words. there are the day-to-day tributes and then the ones where i have to show my completely disinterested children that this is a gold standard.

<3

FWIW Omnivore Recordings is having a 60% off spring cleaning sale on select CD's and the three Beserkley albums in their inventory are included.

Well, there are four Beserkley albums there, but the first "Modern Lovers" album is not.

Ah, didn't realize they reissued the live album too, so there are indeed four. Do you mean the one with the original line-up? Omnivore didn't license that one. (When I said "their inventory" I mean Omnivore's.)

(Live one isn't on sale though.)

Ah.

the only artist left on my bucket list, I hope to travel to Canada next time he plays there (seems there will never be another Europe tour)

playing this Friday at Siesta Valley Bowl - Orinda, CA