RIP Grant Hart

aw jj that's so sweet

as much as i love HD i did come into them backwards, after the fact. i've had "you're a soldier" on rpt all day.

so many beautiful posts on this page thank you everybody thank you grant one of my favorite songwriters ever ever ever

Not a Grantcentric song, I know, but I found myself cranking up "These Important Years" this morning.

haha 19mins is classic snotty Grant "I think a local band recorded there (Pachyderm)...Dave Ghoul...I call him Dave Ghoul because he lives off the dead."

My fave Grant banter would be playing the first measure of a song, say "2541" and then stop and play something else, then play another different song and then you yell out "2541!" and he'd say "I already played that, oh did you want to hear the whole thing?" and then not play it.

I remember once at the Turf he played "Barbara" and at the end he did that little flourish "Bar-ba-raaaaaaa" with a guitar chord and let it hang, like a little way to end the song. Then he did it again "Bar-ba-raaaaaaa".....then again....and again....and again....for like 2 minutes

I saw a sparsely attended 2541-era solo show (7pm early set, i think), wish I had talked to him.

I love "Barbara"!!!

Let us all hope with the deepest of hopes that we hear nothing about Grant Hart today from Greg Ginn.

I love "Barbara"!!!

― weird woman in a bar (La Lechera), Thursday, September 14, 2017 11:49 AM (thirty-six seconds ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

yeah he did that in most sets in recent years, seemed like it was one of his favs

Thanks UMS. That's all great to know and not surprising just from the openness of his writing. Mould was very much a clenched fist emotionally in his HD tunes, where Grant was expansive and vulnerable. A guy I know posted this on FB with more details from the show I saw in 2001:

After he finished, people were clamoring to talk to him, of course. He said "Ok, I'll sign whatever you've got if you carry a piece of gear" – so a bunch of us grabbed what we could of his stuff and carried out to his car. I carried his guitar.

I was fresh out of UT and all over the place that year with my 60s Bell & Howell FD35, and took some photos at the show (still trying to find those…I remember only one or two turned out decently). When Grant saw my camera he lit up and said he loved their stuff, and had a B&H camera and enlarger at home. Asked what I did — when I said I was a designer, he lit up again and said he’d been reading a lot about nazi-era propaganda posters lately. Said something like “those people did some terrible things, but their branding was amazing!” He'd been buying old books on tour and dug through the trunk of his car for one on Goebbels. We sat on the trunk and talked about design and photography (he was an underrated and sometimes anonymous graphic artist, and created or directed all of Hüsker Dü's album art), songwriting and meeting William Burroughs. He had a lot to say about a lot of things and I wanted to hear it all.

He had a big box of fresh oranges in the car and shared them with me and the handful of fans who were hanging out, as well as stumbling club-goers and homeless people.

I was playing records between bands at a show he was played one night and I had just started playing Richard Hell's "Time" when I looked up and saw Grant onstage with guitar on standing in front of the mike. I figure he's about to start so I start fading the volume and not looking at me, does that little under hand "give me more gesture", so I bring the volume back up and he stands there onstage under the lights, wearing that red guitar, arms at his sides, eyes closed, face turned up...like he was listening to the national anthem.

Song ends, I fade down the volume, Grant starts playing.

ums otm. Grant was always there

^^^ this. I saw Husker Du many, many times early on, not because they were my favorite local band, because they honestly weren't, but the scene was small then, and they were part of the community. As their popularity grew and they signed to a major label, toured Europe, appeared on Joan Rivers' show, broke up, Bob formed Sugar, etc. etc., it always amazed me that these three guys from St. Paul had such a huge hand in creating alternative rock as we know it.

And yeah, in later years Grant was the one who was always here, at First Avenue, at the Turf Club, at a record store. I only knew him well enough to nod and say "how's it goin'." Last I saw him was last summer at the Turf, he was playing late on some bill I can't even remember, and I think I left early because I was tired, and I figured there would always be a next time. I'm really sad I missed his surprise party at the Hook and Ladder in July.

RIP Grant, and thank you for all you did.

Let us all hope with the deepest of hopes that we hear nothing about Grant Hart today from Greg Ginn.

I was wondering why grant went back to sst at the start of his solo career. Did people not know what a prick ginn was even at that late stage?

Mould was very much a clenched fist emotionally in his HD tunes, where Grant was expansive and vulnerable.
totally!!
bob always seemed so frustrated and uptight whereas grant's songs had more of a generous emotional warmth

freaking LOVED the story from numero group guy about going to the lake -- he knew that this was not the first time grant had taken someone to the lake, but it still felt so special because it meant grant hart liked him enough to show him a special place. he was a special person who liked to make other people feel special (if he felt like it) <3 <3 <3

The full documentary is out there on Dailymotion IIRC, but here's the second half of The Minneapolis Sound documentary from PBS, 1988 -- Husker Du are featured in the opening few minutes of this half.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o61cjCyd418

bob always seemed so frustrated and uptight whereas grant's songs had more of a generous emotional warmth

so otm. probably why bob's stuff resonated more with me age 15-25...

ha, goole hits the whole bed of nails on the head there

freaking LOVED the story from numero group guy about going to the lake -- he knew that this was not the first time grant had taken someone to the lake, but it still felt so special because it meant grant hart liked him enough to show him a special place. he was a special person who liked to make other people feel special (if he felt like it) <3 <3 <3

― weird woman in a bar (La Lechera), Thursday, September 14, 2017 12:00 PM (seventeen minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

there a special localism to this story too -- it's kind of a rite of passage if you're new to the twin cities to have someone bring you to hidden beach the first time! (or was, the place has been officialized now)

I grew up in St. Paul and no one ever took me to hidden beach :(

probably why bob's stuff resonated more with me age 15-25...
lol, same!

Wonderful post, UMS.

I can easily believe that he was the most approachable member of Hüsker Dü, but somehow, he was the only member I never got to meet. And of the three of them, he's the one that I felt the closest to, if that makes sense.

Lovely piece by Annie Zaleski just now

http://www.citypages.com/music/the-haunting-resonance-of-grant-harts-2541/444464253

He always used to pull up a chair behind the counter at Northern Lights and just shoot the shit with people. Teenage me loved him for always being around, and adult me is sad and corrects the way Britishes pronounce Hüsker Dü through the tears.

Josh Kantor is the Fenway Park organist:

Fenway organ, 1st inning: Grant Hart-penned "Books About UFOs" by Hüsker Dü.

— Josh Kantor (@jtkantor) September 14, 2017

Lenny Kaye cameo in that PBS doc!

UMS what's your twitter handle?

listening today, Good News for Modern Man still feels like a classic, his best attempt at being Brian Wilson

but Hot Wax really stuck out today, what a great record, feels the most "Grant" to me

Hot Wax and Argument never really did it for me, I have to admit, perhaps because Intolerance and Good News are near and dear to my heart.

Speaking of KEXP, Kevin Cole's show about half an hour from now is likely to be very worth tuning into.

Kevin will do Grant proud.

Haven't kept up with this thread today, so I don't know what's been linked. I think this gets it exactly right: best Grant song with Husker Du = "Books About UFOs" (my favourite, period), best Grant solo song = "2541."

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/rob-sheffield-how-husker-dus-grant-hart-changed-punk-rock-w503063

I interviewed him in late 1986. I wasn't even sure if I had--had to find the issue downstairs and check. It was just before Warehouse, which "sounds, after a dozen listens, like it may be Husker Du's best"...rock critics. Anyway, it's weird: the piece is an album-by-album rundown, with a really pretentious introduction, and quotes from Mould and Hart mixed in. I used eight Mould quotes and finished with one from Hart. I don't know if it was that he didn't talk much ("the conversation was brief") or if Mould just said more interesting stuff.

Gotta echo the "Grant was always there" sentiment. Last time I saw him was in the crowd at a Meat Puppets show a few months ago. I'll always wonder if he was in the room a little earlier when Greg Norton's new band played.

Remembering now that Grant was briefly attached to play Asa Hawks in a local production of "Wise Blood," a few years ago. That would have been something.

Wow yeah it would

Funny, the one time one of the bands I was in played Minneapolis, Grant Hart was indeed there (incidentally).

My modest little obit.

The remembrances itt have been so moving to read. Just beautiful. I have only had a glancing knowledge of HD - but now in a lame/bittersweet way I think Grant's passing might be what inspires me to finally dig in, thanks to all yall <3

My modest little obit.

nicely done. as for I assume he plays the boogie piano on “Books About UFO”:

an amazing/sad story from this 2000 interview:

GRANT: I recorded a piano part for "Books," and on "Heaven Hill" there was a slide-guitar part. And maybe it was because I had picked up the wrong instrument, touching on the guitar territory, but the next time all three of us are in the studio, Bob is telling me, "You have to choose between the piano on 'Books About UFOs' or the guitar on 'Heaven Hill.'" Well, what's the basis of this selection? "The album's not going to have both of those." Well, okay, I understand.

ONION: He wouldn't let you do it on your own song?

GRANT: Right. It's totally ridiculous.

It's driven me crazy trying to figure out during what part of Heaven Hill he had a slide-guitar in mind for.

xpost ^That's my interview, from another life.

Back in my early days (which are still recent) of taking guitar lessons I brought a couple of Grant songs to my teacher. No surprise, they were pretty simple to play, but it became immediately apparent to me that no matter how well I could play them, or how easy they were to play, there would always be something missing. Grant just put so much of himself into his songs. I've played drums for much longer, but even when I was active and at my best and most capable I could never pull off the intensity of his drumming. I could only imagine someone trying to match the intensity of the vocals on "Heaven Hill."

I can see a slide going on the chorus of Heaven Hill

also fuck Bob

That's my interview, from another life.

that's the best grant interview i read today. by far.

Thanks. I think there was more in there that was maybe cut out? It's been a while.

i was just cutting-and-pasting a piece that seemed immediately relevant; there's lots more.

(or, wait, do you mean there's more that didn't make it into the story in the first place?)

Yeah, that. More mean Bob stuff, iirc.

Given what I posted upthread this should shock no one, but I am firmly team Grant. No details I'm willing to share but, yeah.

Warehouse Songs and Stories and Zen Arcade were a big part of my last two years of high school. Those years were so amazing for how many records and bands, it was like someone new and amazing every week. Grant Harts death is just a bummer in a similar way to Chris Cornell's was a few months back, as they were people that made music that was part of the soundtrack of my life.

It is really sad that the Husker guys went to the end in this spiraling anger never to be resolved, but the music is still out there and for the people that heard it when it mattered and the people who will find it now at some point in happenstance - they are going to find some honest music.

this is a sick find - soundboard of a 1983 show, vocals panned hard left... they sound INCREDIBLE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gnc_k8dLO44