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

(revive!)

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.

yeah, yeah, yeah

dum de-dum-dum, de-dumma-dum day

Ohhhh, New England.

Little Kookenhagen is so damn sweet.

I didn't realize Bell House had four shows booked for him, and the first and last aren't sold out. Setlist.fm seems a bit incomplete for his recent shows, but is it worth going multiple nights on the same tour or is it pretty much the same show each night?

I would imagine there are significant differences, but have not put that to the test

I dream of flying to the US to see Jonathan some day

He used to play in London quite regularly in the 80s, at least. First time I saw him was the best - supporting JR & Modern Lovers supporting Orange Juice at the Hammersmith Palais. He hadn't actually been to the UK for a while at this point, and it was almost a 'comeback' gig - and he was absolutely full Jonathan, almost glowing with good vibes. He got a rapturous reception, and we were not alone in being there for him rather than the headliners. I rather regret we didn't stay for Orange Juice now, but we just didn't think ANYBODY could follow what we'd just seen.

I saw him on Glasgow years ago. It was the period when he used to have a mike set up at this feet to pick up the sound of him dancing. Don't know if he still does that. I also know people who hung out with him afterwards and said he was almost uncomfortably intense - maybe a post gig thing.

Pre-gig too iirc

I saw him in Brooklyn many, many ages ago. He was great, and I hooked up with someone who was massively out of my league, so technically it was the greatest show I've ever been to.

I was only able to catch tonight's show and it was amazing. He may be in his 70's, but between his voice and his dance moves, he seemed as youthful as ever. His face obviously looks older, but surprisingly as I watched him up close, he reminded me of Henry Fonda around the eyes - he has the same twinkle in them that Fonda carried into his 70's.

Anyway, thanks to the MTA, traveling there kind of sucked, so I made the most of it - loaded up on merch (got the last Modern Lovers T-shirt my size) and stuck around with a few fans who wanted to meet him afterwards. During the show, there was a guy with an eyepatch off to the side that looked like David Johansen - when Richman came out, that guy was with him, and I said out loud "you know, that guy looks like David Johansen," to which someone replied "he IS David Johansen." I didn't know they even socialized together so that was pretty mind-blowing. He went straight home but Richman hung around for a bit and was very sweet. Class act all the way.

Must've forgotten this - they played on the same bill once back in the day:

http://www.furious.com/perfect/newyorkdolls.html

One more detail, when someone asked him to sign a CD of Precise Modern Lovers Order (Live In Berkeley And Boston), he said "THIS album captures how we REALLY sounded," or something like that, and he repeated it with a bit more emphasis, so I'd take that as a very strong recommendation.

Indeed.

Must've forgotten this - they played on the same bill once back in the day:

http://www.furious.com/perfect/newyorkdolls.html🕸

was there last night as well. Jonathan was on fire. have seen him many times over the years, but that was near the top. his affection for the "old world" came up in recent discussion here. Jonathan is very much in the old world needs to go mode these days.

thanks for sharing your experiences

as I think I've stated many times already it's a big dream of mine to see him someday

not so likely to happen

so I enjoy these second hand reviews

I’ve seen him many times but haven’t been paying attention recently so am also appreciating the reviews