RIP Grant Hart

Cryin atm

his music meant so much to me. this is heartbreaking.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjZWJoNYpHI

I could just post beautiful, searing songs of his all day, but I won't/can't.

Time spaces and situations
leads to an early grave

RIP Grant. My favorite thing of his is the live solo acoustic album, "Ecce Homo". Pure songwriting and emotion, that one.

14 years old with my St Paul Pioneer Press paper route in como park, walking up to the corner of Victoria at 5:30 every morning to where everyone's bundles got dropped, white plastic SST cassette of New Day Rising the newest and most exciting thing in my life, the first thing I loved that wasn't beatles, jethro tull or synth pop, playing it during my route every morning, always excited to hear "Terms of Psychic Warfare" again, until by the time I quit my route that fall the white plastic was covered in black fingerprints from newspaper ink.

New Day Rising was my entry into their world as well, albeit long after they had split. RIP.

I talked to Grant Hart once after a sparsely attended gig at Bourke's in Limerick in 2010 (thereabouts). We talked about John Milton's "Paradise Lost" as his latest album was an interpretation of it and I was reading it in college at the time. I think he was relieved to talk about something like that rather than his relationship with Bob Mould or if Husker Du were ever going to reform. He was unrecognizable from his 80s photos. He must have been 50 at the time but looked about 60 or older. "Flexible Flyer" is prob my fave Du tune. RIP

I made this way too fast. Don't have much else to say right now.

Hartbroken https://open.spotify.com/user/pplains/playlist/0mlmi7AFYRVEoUyHVv5nQK

Xpost was just listening to FYW on the train and thinking during flexible flyer that it really is a total fucking diamond

Gutted. I only ("only") saw HD once, in early 1987. One of the two deviations (the other was Norton's "Everytime") from the Warehouse setlist was a slow, quiet, contemplative "Flexible Flyer." I don't remember where I put my keys, but I remember that show like it was last night.

I am really sad about this although I concede that my sadness for his family, friends and others who valued his art as a big part of their lives even without knowing the guy is compounded by the selfish realization that I will never see Husker Du perform live in my life. I know it wasn't very likely but whatever chance there was is gone forever now.

No dis to Bob, who wrote a gazillion good songs, but Grant was/is the heart of HD for me. His songs, his voice and his drumming. Saw him do a solo show in the early '00s. And by solo I mean solo. He pulled up in a beat-up white van and humped his guitar and amp in from the curb himself. Then he hung out and chatted with the small crowd on the sidewalk smoking cigarettes outside the club. Most of the show was just him and his guitar, and he did a bunch of my Du faves plus solo stuff. For the encore, the guys from the local opening band came out to back him on "Diane." It was great. I also like The Argument, which is way better than a double-album adaptation of Burroughs/Milton should be.

This morning driving my kids to school I made them listen to "Green Eyes," "She's a Woman" and this one.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uVN2rU59AHM

The Argument was really great, and ambitious. I am so sad about this I don't know how to express it. He was one of those songwriters who could make me feel the full range of feelings, and my favorite singing drummer. Really sad that there aren't going to be any more excellent Grant Hart songs.

Also, (at the beginning) his friendship with Bob was my platonic ideal of friendship. You meet someone who likes the same stuff, you hang out ALL THE TIME and build your own world around your friendship.
Man i am so sad!

Aww man, cancer. Saw Husker Du in the early 80s and played those records loud then. Return to them periodically. RIP

https://youtu.be/hMmksjQwE88

Hart liked to say he was a "drumming singer."

ugh can we just stop this endless train of death already?

books about ufos, heaven hill, sorry somehow, green eyes...

what an absurdly talented songwriter

Also, (at the beginning) his friendship with Bob was my platonic ideal of friendship. You meet someone who likes the same stuff, you hang out ALL THE TIME and build your own world around your friendship.

gosh darn it you just started me tearing again

The Main is what got my eyes leaking bad
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jp-6JP2-DSM

I had a vision of Grant Hart covering Don Henley's "The Last Worthless Evening" and a horrible vision of Don covering "Diane."

Listening to FYW walking to the corner store this morning and was on the edge of tears the whole time esp. on Green Eyes. That sort of melancholic beauty is a great gift in art and he definitely had it in spades. And,of course, one hell of a powerhouse drummer. Goodbye, Grant.

Amazon Prime has the documentary where he gives a deadpan tour of his nonexistent house. Worth seeing if you haven't seen it yet.

I love 100% of "Intolerance."

A band I was in once recorded a bonus cover of "Green Eyes." I know some territories got a cover of Dire Straits "Tunnel of Love" instead, and we got some pushback on that, balanced by the handful of heartfelt thanks for being exposed to the Hart song.

iirc way back when, Black Francis used to say he only owned five records when the Pixies began, and three of them were by Husker Du. I think he used to cite "Green Eyes" as his favorite song, but I could be wrong.

Hart's songs, his drumming, his screaming/singing. For a long time it meant everything to me. Still does. Only talked to him once or twice but feels like I lost a friend.

RIP

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wb0hhsxdfA

^^^ the ne plus ultra of screaming grant

Intolerance is such a great album
the total exuberance of Now That You Know Me
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SgwDKj5vf9o

he knew how to write all the feelings

and historical events!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1EtAFf2iql0

the second time i've had to deal with the Grant from one of my favorite '80s bands dying (both times leaving behind a Robert, now that i think about it.)

i was a little too young to get into Husker Du when they were around, I came into them via Sugar. i was happy to discover that it wasn't just a Bob Mould band, but that Grant Hart was his equal.

one thing I'm not seeing mentioned in writeups about grant's passing... didn't he have at least one record under the name The Yanomamo? Did I dream that?

this i guess?

https://www.discogs.com/Yanomamos-Quizas/master/640902

I guess the best way I could express about Grant already wrote on Twitter. I know (rightly so) that for many of you Grant is tied to Husker Du and maybe Intolerance and Nova Mob but in Minneapolis he was just a part of our scene. Despite his low profile (and frankly often self sabotaging tendencies) he never stopped playing shows -- amazing, inscrutable, beautiful, terrible, awkward, antagonistic, generous shows. Despite all his issues, his voice and God-given gift for songwriting never left him. anyway, these tweets i tried to talk about Grant since the 90s, who was always among us.

1) the thing about Grant Hart people who have not been involved in Minneapolis punk or underground music won't understand is that (cont)

2) he meant so much more to us than Westerberg or Mould or Pirner or whoever because Grant was AROUND. He was at the Turf, he was (cont)

3) at Grumpys, Eagles Club, wherever. You could walk up and talk to Grant even if he didn't know you, even if no one liked your band.(cont)

4) when I first joined a band w xxxxx we were doing this "Love Stinks" show where like 40 bands each played anti-love songs(cont)

5) Grant was on the bill & we were gonna do "Don't Wanna Know if You Are Lonely" & I screwed up my courage to go ask him if he'd (cont)

6) sing it with us. He said "sure, no problem" & hopped up, barefoot, and I was playing with the guy from HUSKER DU. just like that (cont)

7) Grant was there at your weird benefit show at a VFW, or noise improv thing at an art space. He was a genius and he was right there (cont)

8) & yeah Grant was a piece of work, but he was always right here doing shows & being part of the community for real and no one cared (cont)

9) Grant was as great as anyone who ever wrote a pop song & he was right here the whole damn time

This picture below is how I'll remember Grant, one man and his guitar, playing outside a record store at 2 in the afternoon just because a friend asked him to do it

https://s26.postimg.org/dsel0ka4p/grant-hart.jpg

wow -- I love that organ/harmonica combo in "Now That You Know Me."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-4xKJm292DQ

I just wanna leave work, get drunk, and play that new set super loud

thanks ums

"It is to the sky that I shall return"

ums i liked grant a whole extra bit more after reading yr tweets, thank you

UMS that was very touching and I'm almost welling up here at work. Cancer has been a fucking scourge on my life lately which probably makes this hit harder?

I never really post here but this is just a tremendous loss

growing up in St. Paul it was/has always has been surreal to know that one of our greatest bands came from this city and not our cooler sister from across the river

Bob and Grant met at the record store I frequent almost every other week

Mould went to the university nearby

Hart's songs meant so much to me as an angry teen discovering punk rock

RIP

ums otm. Grant was always there, with the intelligence behind those eyes, whether he was sardonic, cantankerous or a sweetheart.

My thoughts (posted from our FB store page, because my Dad also loved Grant and would have wanted us to pay tribute).

"Sad to discover that we lost a long time customer and amazing friend last night. Grant Hart was one of the most fascinating, complicated, and brilliant people I've had the chance to meet. We talk about renaissance men in the abstract, but Grant actually fit the bill - My father and I had endless conversations with him about vintage Studebaker repair, architectural restoration, art, the garbage pile that the music industry often is, and so much more. I've never known a musician so emotionally and personally attached to his gear, to the point where we would work together on his mercilessly worn and battered favorite guitar long past the point where it was logical or prudent to do so, but to Grant, that didn't matter. It was simply his guitar, in a connected at the soul way that went far beyond the feelings I've ever had for my favorite instruments.

I can guarantee that there was some subject in this world that Grant knew vastly more about than you did, no matter who you were. And if he trusted you, he would spend hours sharing that with you, because in so many ways, that sharing was the most important thing to him. I'll miss you terribly, Grant. There truly was no one like you.

In the spirit of celebration, and because Grant would want it, here is my favorite of his songs. I think it captures some of the joyful drinking in of the world that Grant did, probably better than anyone. Cheers man.

https://youtu.be/BJXEfcrYpII";

Quote screwed up the video link.

https://youtu.be/BJXEfcrYpII

thanks, man

Press release from The Numero Group who are doing Savage Young Dü...

For Immediate Release
Grantzberg Vernon Hart, March 18, 1961-September 14, 2017

Grant Hart would have loved his own death. Furious text messaging in the middle of the night seeking confirmation and commiseration. Condolences from acquaintances and media outlets who haven't come out of the woodwork in years. Emails from the Associated Press at 4:45am. The clamoring for details. When and where? What kind of cancer? He loved to stir the peanut butter. Actively sought the circus, metal or otherwise.

To know him was to...I'm not sure "love him" is the right choice of words. I had a ton of respect for the guy. I enjoyed his company. I certainly liked him. Is there a word to describe that region between love and like? It's impossible not to love/like a guy who sends you a Bob Mould diss Some ecard at 2:47am. How can you not love/like someone who insists on a high end sushi restaurant for your first meal together and then promptly orders enough food to cover his next two meals. Grant was tortured for sure, but he had a hell of a lot of fun bringing you in on the joke, even if you were part of the punchline.

I began chasing him in the summer of 2010. Getting him on the phone was impossible: Call once, hang up, call again hang up. If he wanted to talk, he'd pick up on the third ring. Email was the best way to reach him, his replies speedy and thoughtful. I'd never even been to Minneapolis the first time we met in a dark, closed downtown hotel bar that he'd somehow finagled away for us to meet in. It was August-which in Minnesota means hot and muggy. He suggested a trip to the lake to cool off, and guided my rented P.T. Cruiser through residential twists and turns to a place I would later find out was called Hidden Beach by locals. We stripped down to our underwear and began wading out and were soon neck deep. He turned to me and asked, "Do you know where we are?" And I had no idea. "This is where I shot the cover for New Day Rising."

It was one of those moments where you know you're not the first to experience it, that he'd taken several people out swimming on Cedar Lake while the sun was setting and then used their connection to his past to cement a relationship. But it sure felt special in that moment. That was the real Grant Hart, disarming and masterminding all at once. He green-lit the project shortly after.

Things began arriving in the mail shortly after, with no rhyme or reason. An original print of the earliest Hüskers promo photo. The slides for Metal Circus. A CD-R of his long-gestating double album The Argument. A gigantic Land Speed Record poster. He was nothing if not generous. Grant came to town to play an under-attended gig at Martyr's in the dead of winter, his alligator skin boots held together with duct tape barely keeping his feet from frostbite. On our break room table he sketched out what would become the first official Hüsker Dü project in more than 25 years and then asked to be dropped at the train station. A few days later, an email arrived:

"Great to see you this weekend. It could have been longer, the meal better, etc. But it was good. After recovering from the shock of the news I started to picture how I think the demos record should look. I see a very colorful, optimistic, almost new wave look. I think this will fit well with the material. As a nod to [Terry] Katzman I think calling it Savage Young Dü is good."

The next five years moved at a snail's pace. We somehow managed to get an expanded 2x7" version of their debut single out, but with the band embroiled in a lawsuit the breaks were pumped on anything considered non-essential business. And yet, my relationship with Grant continued in the background. We traded messages every few months, almost always prompted by him. He always asked about my kids and somehow remembered my daughter's name. "How's Clementine?" he'd ask. He always called when he came to town, as if I was the only person he knew in Chicago. "I'm down at the train station, come pick me up," he'd say. When asked why he didn't give me a little notice on his arrival, he'd reply: "If you don't know when my next gig is, you're not paying close enough attention."

We didn't pick the project back up until late 2015. The emails were no longer in ALL CAPS. He was less erratic, more thoughtful. Something was different. I went up to Minneapolis in the spring of 2016 to pick up all the master tapes and files that he'd been threatening to let me take for half a decade, and while sharing a moment in the sun, he turned into me and said, "I've got cancer." But he didn't dwell. Instead he told me about the two wonderful developments in his life. He'd finally met someone worth staying with and he wanted to marry her. Her name was Brigid. And after many years estranged from his son, the two had reconciled and were speaking regularly. We hugged at parting, his stubbly face scratching my neck. When I got home, this was waiting in my inbox:

"By the way, I feel very positive about beating this thing in my guts. Your meditations undoubtably help. I have a whole monastery full of Carmelites praying thanks to Brigid's mother, and yes...even doctors."

As the box went into development his correspondence increased. "New old material is being discovered every week," he wrote. "This will continue for the rest of MY life, at least. I insist that we proceed with what we have according to plan and not delay the November release while waiting for any Holy Grails to materialize."

The last time I saw Grant was in March of this year. I was in Minneapolis to gather a few more bits and bobs and scheduled time to go to dinner. He wanted pizza and suggested Red's Savoy in downtown St. Paul. He ordered enough to have leftovers the next day. He was a bit gaunt, but wisecracking and flirting with the waitress all the while. This time we shook hands at the end. He was too weak for a hug. When plans were made to fly out to the Museum of Pop Culture in Seattle to pour through his archives, he wanted to join. But when it came time to go, he suddenly cooled to the idea and withdrew from the project entirely. "Can you get it out before I go?" he asked.

I'm sorry we failed, Grant. We pushed as hard as we could to get this beast into the wild, but it wasn't hard enough. You told me several times that you thought the material was subpar, that there were too many photos of Greg Norton, and insisted we change the title at the last moment just to see everyone scramble. And now it's two months to the release date and everyone is sad and asking a million questions. It's chaos down here and you're probably looking down with your arms crossed, a gigantic, mischievous grin running ear to ear. Just a boy living on Heaven Hill.

--Ken Shipley, September, 14, 2017

xpost -- jj - last time i spoke with him, he was talking about restoring a hot rod, he was really into the project at that time

that was beautiful jjj

I’d love to finally see the second Nova Mob album get a reissue

That record was fabulous. 'If I Was Afraid' ruins me every time.

Oh, Grant’s post-Husker career was absolutely amazing. Bob’s is an inconsistent mess

I think this is half-right. Hart was great straight out of the gate, but given he was nowhere near as prolific in his post-Husker career, kinda working on a smaller scale, especially once his output slowed. Bob was pretty hit or miss until Sugar, which of course was a huge hit (in every sense), then went hit or miss again, but has been pretty solid in his late career (and as a performer, better than I've seen him in years). But then, he's also released 15 or so records since Husker Du, all while touring virtually non-stop.

Mould has been a professional snice 1989; he clocks in and out, doesn't leave fans wanting. Hart wasn't interested in any American notion of a career. No comparison.

<i>Hart wasn’t interested in any American notion of a career.</i>

This clicks with my (brief) email correspondence with him some months prior to the release of The Argument; he simply didn’t see the point of leaving a legacy as such, in terms of his prior material. Art over commerce.

Having not known him, I hesitate to say that Hart wasn't interested in a traditional career, though he definitely settled into that mode at least by default.

Hart’s solo output was the sound of someone who wasn’t weighed down by the legacy of his former band, sonically - the band was one thing and the solo music was something different.

Mould was kind of reverse in terms of carrying the torch for those who missed the sound of Husker Du, with intermittent leftfield moves here and there; but he has always returned to ‘that’ sound in a way that was clearly of little interest to Hart

I guess I knew Grant a bit, he lived his later years with a friend of mine. he lived a chaotic life, I think he was a real artist and he lived that way. but he self sabotaged too, blew opportunities (his failure to really promote The Argument when Domino was really behind that record was a shame), but he could be mean onstage, too. I don't know anyone who could make a room as uncomfortable as Grant. and there were substance issues.

he played regularly around town so often I guess I probably took him for granted, he was always around.

but he really scraped by a lot of the time, and often on the good will of others. One of a kind person, some of the most gripping shows I've ever seen.

but I don't blame Bob for wanting a manageable, healthy life. I saw he got married, he looks happy and healthy. I get a little uneasy about casting it as the great 19th century poet vs. careerist hack. Grant's kind of life probably seems more romantic from a safe distance.

i got nothing useful to add but thanks for writing that ums

Yeah, that's sort of what I was implying, that it's one thing to kind of live a bohemian lifestyle by choice, and another because your choices have maybe left you with few options.

There is definitely some pain in that Grant Hart documentary talking about the house fire etc. that kind of echoed to me like when I saw that Charles Mingus 1968 movie when he got evicted. It is definitely real but does not look like fun.

Re: Bob, I often forget how inconsistent his post-Hüsker Dü career really became because I probably skip or ignore most of it. I love Sugar, but that amounts to a few records - take those out of the equation and there's almost nothing I'd listen to prior to his current work with Jon Wurster and Jason Narducy. (I have Workbook - the promo is pretty cute, designed to look like a grade school composition notebook - but even though I've grown to appreciate the songs, I vastly prefer the new arrangements he continues to do on tour.) Sunshine Rock is great though - I saw the Brooklyn Steel show in support of that album, and it was one of the best shows I've ever seen by anyone. Loads of Hüsker Dü but the rest of the material virtually matched those numbers on-stage. He was especially intense that night - right before the encore, he never left the stage, choosing to sit in from the drums and seemingly brooding with his folded hands in front of his mouth. Eventually he stood up and did one of Grant's numbers. I checked the setlist later and found out he did more songs and more Hüsker Dü at that show than any other on the tour.

I saw Grant only one time and wish I had said something to him. I got there early so I could be in the very front, and there was virtually no one around. (This was at Brooklyn Bowl, with Grant playing first, followed by Mike Watt's band and then the Meat Puppets.) Grant actually seemed to be in good spirits, improvising a hilarious song about Williamsburg for soundcheck. I laughed my ass off, and he seemed genuinely pleased even to have an audience of one. A bit later when there was maybe a dozen more on the floor, he came down and talked to people he knew and I'm guessing some other fans, but I was too shy to strike up a conversation. Then later when he did his set, he mentioned that one of those other fans he talked to mistook "Celebrated Summer" as one of his songs - he then refused to play ANY Hüsker Dü songs (save one he already performed).

Is it just me or do we have this conversation regularly/on an ongoing basis? The chaos/order discussion about Bob and Grant? Lately I’ve been thinking what a miracle it is that Hüsker Dü existed at all. We are lucky to have both of these amazing creative people working together creatively to such spectacular results. Also Greg is good too.

Lucky to * have had*

otm

Greg Norton sort of a punk rock Michael Collins

Lately I’ve been thinking what a miracle it is that Hüsker Dü existed at all. We are lucky to have both of these amazing creative people working together creatively to such spectacular results.

OTM, and it reminds me a little of how Joe Strummer talked about the disintegration of the Clash in the Westway To The World film: if you have this incredible, but incredibly volatile, chemistry, you have to do whatever you can to nurture that chemistry. Joe has a pained expression when he says, “We learned that lesson bitterly.” You wish Hüsker Dü had taken a break or something, but then how can you deal with Mould insisting that Hart would never have as many songs on an album as Mould?

I think I posted a link on another thread, but this is a great oral history of the Minneapolis scene that was published in 2005, and given the animosity thrown back and forth, I was surprised Hüsker Dü lasted long enough to both tour and squeeze out one more double LP of original material - La Lechera is definitely right about being lucky, I can't even imagine lasting 20 minutes in a trio with that kind of dynamic going on.

The one Grant Hart solo show I saw was one of the greatest shows ever: on the middle of a snowstorm in New York, with an understandably thin crowd. Before the show, he stopped me and my brother who was with me to just chat with us. (He was a lot shorter than I imagined!). He quizzed the audience about old car makes and distributed a promo record of American Hot Wax by throwing it to into the small crowd, accidentally hitting a fan.

All of my favorite HD songs, barring "Makes No Sense At All", were written by Grant Hart. I greatly enjoy every part of his solo discography (including Nova Mob), while most of Mould's bounces off me. Mould was obviously more prolific and successful, and I don't begrudge him that, but I think Hart was the greater talent. Just a really superlative songwriter.

I'm glad they were apparently able to reconcile before Hart passed.

Morningstar is one of his best songs.

Also, he sounds uncannily like Bowie on «Awake, Arise!»

Saw Hüsker Dü just once in 1987, at the Fillmore in San Francisco (then known as 'The Old Fillmore').. a few years back (maybe 2011?) my band opened for him at the Hemlock in SF, and he borrowed my amp. I told him about the show I'd seen, his reply "No way man, we did NOT play the Fillmore... we never played the Fillmore, you're out of your mind." And I'm like, but I have the poster man, Christmas opened, I bought a shirt, of you course you did.

Then it occurred to me that maybe he was out of his mind in 1987 and has no memory of it...

BTW his solo set was brilliant but he did appear sort of semi-homeless

Starting a website: bearorhomeless?.com

Grant's house caught fire in January 2011, and partially burned down. Who knows, he may have been literally homeless!

Is the house shown in the documentary EVERY EVERYTHING what burned down?

Curious about his daughter, too, who I think is in her 30’s now.

At some point between '99 and '01 Grant came to the town I lived in to hang out and play a couple of shows with some mutual friends over a few days. And then I guess he just didn't want to leave? He was on the couch of one of the guys in that band for at least a week, apparently never really leaving the living room until night, and that guy's roommates were sick of it. So my friend had to ask one of his favorite musicians to please leave his house and find somewhere else to go. Pretty sure he just left town at that point.

I was too timid to say anything to Grant other than "hey, good show" but I did have to go to my friend's house for some reason that week and Grant was just laying on his couch in the other room the whole time I was there.

Picked up a copy of the remix of Nova Mob's Last Days of Pompeii, one, they did an incredible job with the remix, a very tasteful improvement over the original

Also, it's such a great record, definitely should be considered one of the major post Husker Du works

;_;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-4xKJm292DQ