Weird keyboard drone even
― timellison, Monday, 18 June 2018 17:40 (five years ago) link
I may have to travel to the states to see this guy
― niels, Monday, 30 July 2018 06:47 (five years ago) link
He used to tour elsewhere
― curmudgeon, Monday, 30 July 2018 12:46 (five years ago) link
makes sense, songs in French and Italian too... but seems he's only toured US the last 10 years?
― niels, Monday, 30 July 2018 16:17 (five years ago) link
I'm pretty sure I saw him in the UK in 2009
― lilcraigyboi (Craigo Boingo), Tuesday, 31 July 2018 06:14 (five years ago) link
...so the Astral Weeks book has a long section on Jonathan & the Velvets.
― that's not my post, Tuesday, 31 July 2018 06:19 (five years ago) link
xp aah ok, and now I see there was actually a 2012 euro tour as well
I guess I'll write him a letter
― niels, Tuesday, 31 July 2018 06:19 (five years ago) link
x-post--
I got the Astral Weeks book but haven't yet read the chapter on Jonathan & the Velvets. I saw the author do a book reading & talk. He said the Velvets played Boston a lot, and that young Jonathan sometimes was driving them around the city.
― curmudgeon, Tuesday, 31 July 2018 12:54 (five years ago) link
New album! Co-produced by Jerry Harrison who plays Mellotron, harmonium, and clavinet!
https://jonathanrichman.bandcamp.com/album/sa
― timellison, Tuesday, 2 October 2018 15:30 (five years ago) link
Coool!!
― niels, Tuesday, 2 October 2018 15:31 (five years ago) link
what the hell?!
― Οὖτις, Tuesday, 2 October 2018 15:39 (five years ago) link
There was the Paramahansa Yogananda song on the last album. Eastern influence becoming much more prominent!
― timellison, Tuesday, 2 October 2018 17:38 (five years ago) link
this is what the world needs now
― niels, Wednesday, 3 October 2018 07:56 (five years ago) link
i understand your dating bar ways
― reggie (qualmsley), Friday, 5 October 2018 22:56 (five years ago) link
Can't go back to fainting couch and corsetryCan't go back to pompadour and cummerbund
― timellison, Wednesday, 19 December 2018 04:29 (five years ago) link
Saw Jonathan last night in Denver — still a class fucking act. A fair amount of vintage French and Italian poetry set to song.
― tylerw, Sunday, 20 October 2019 15:01 (four years ago) link
He was doing the French and Italian a bit last time I saw him, plus a Sufi poem. My buddy wanted to see that Denver show but he said it was sold out by the time he tried to buy a ticket.
― curmudgeon, Monday, 21 October 2019 15:36 (four years ago) link
I plan on visiting the states with the sole purpose of seeing Jonathan
this is goodhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6dBDc82om0
― corrs unplugged, Friday, 15 May 2020 07:03 (three years ago) link
That was really great... until Andrew Bird's song at the end.
― Jersey Al (Albert R. Broccoli), Friday, 15 May 2020 17:56 (three years ago) link
I really like the one Trouser Press article on him from back in the day.
― How I Wrote Neuroplastic Man (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 4 June 2020 15:19 (three years ago) link
From TP 44, November 1979
― How I Wrote Neuroplastic Man (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 4 June 2020 15:20 (three years ago) link
https://trouserpress.com/magazine-covers-5/
― How I Wrote Neuroplastic Man (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 4 June 2020 15:21 (three years ago) link
I mean of course it is really about the first few Modern Lovers incarnations but still.
― How I Wrote Neuroplastic Man (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 4 June 2020 15:22 (three years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9hYp3X76iE
― budo jeru, Thursday, 4 June 2020 16:34 (three years ago) link
Nice.
― How I Wrote Neuroplastic Man (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 4 June 2020 16:41 (three years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNh-IAXaB7I
― How I Wrote Neuroplastic Man (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 4 June 2020 16:45 (three years ago) link
That previous post is such an amazing clip. Bless all these UK/Euro shows that had amazing quality footage of these 60s/70s performances.
Also, I'm not sure I've ever seen Jojo with a Jazzmaster...?
― Jersey Al (Albert R. Broccoli), Thursday, 4 June 2020 16:52 (three years ago) link
Full set, apparently:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rm4bd7gYCRI
― How I Wrote Neuroplastic Man (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 4 June 2020 17:01 (three years ago) link
I guess he played a Jazzmaster right when he started.
Jonathan had a band with David Robinson, who was the drummer, and another guy named Rolf, who was playing bass, and they played these free shows on the Cambridge Commons. Jonathan had this blue Jazzmaster guitar with like two strings and had decorated it with the Howard Johnson’s decals. He had painted it light blue and orange like the Howard Johnson's colors—and almost all the songs he played were in E minor—it was very minimalist. "I see the restaurant. It is my friend" was a line from one of the songs.
― brownie, Thursday, 4 June 2020 17:07 (three years ago) link
Human race is justified in existing just for that performance of "I'm A Little Airplane" imo
― Guayaquil (eephus!), Thursday, 4 June 2020 17:33 (three years ago) link
otm
― budo jeru, Friday, 5 June 2020 04:38 (three years ago) link
He was the last show I saw in early March before the shutdowns, w/ Bonnie Prince Billy opening.
― Chris L, Friday, 5 June 2020 13:16 (three years ago) link
wow jealous, cant think of a better last show to have seen before quarantine.
Love how that video of the full set starts with them bickering over how to start egyptian reggae
― turn the jawhatthefuckever on (One Eye Open), Friday, 5 June 2020 14:06 (three years ago) link
He has had a million guitars!
― timellison, Friday, 5 June 2020 17:20 (three years ago) link
Right, his Wikipedia page has a long discussion about that.Yeah, the opening bickering is priceless
― How I Wrote Neuroplastic Man (James Redd and the Blecchs), Friday, 5 June 2020 17:33 (three years ago) link
I remember seeing him once, I think around the early years when he had started playing with Tommy, and he was still playing electric and had a fuzzbox for leads. It was one of those moments where you see him changing - I don't think that late '70s group would have used fuzzboxes!
― timellison, Friday, 5 June 2020 19:05 (three years ago) link
Happy 70th birthday to the one who seems to habe found the secret to happiness.
Was supposed to see him (and Will Oldham) the day everyrhing shut down here in Rhode Island. Some day, again!
― Soundslike, Sunday, 16 May 2021 16:18 (two years ago) link
Wow, that means he was around my current age when I saw him play in college (and he seemed like an “old dude,” ha ha).
― Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf (CBTL) stan (morrisp), Sunday, 16 May 2021 19:20 (two years ago) link
"Sa" is really great and worth a listen, that's all I got here
― sleeve, Sunday, 16 May 2021 19:40 (two years ago) link
Is he still living in San Francisco?
― fajita seas, Sunday, 16 May 2021 22:43 (two years ago) link
Radio on!.
― So who you gonna call? The martini police (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 17 May 2021 01:25 (two years ago) link
love seeing a couple songs from "jonathan goes country" on your list, alfred. "you're crazy for taking the bus" is stone cold classic for me.
― fact checking cuz, Monday, 17 May 2021 02:02 (two years ago) link
Somewhat bizarrely, someone booked a festival slot claiming to be JR; the scam was exposed when a radio station reached out for an interview.
― Shallot Shortage 2021 (morrisp), Monday, 30 August 2021 17:41 (two years ago) link
Ha, I was thinking that it might be fun, but challenging, to try to imitate Richman's voice. Then this, from the article:
"I just heard of your wonderful festival, and (it) sounds like an ideal place for me to play someday," the musician wrote. "Did the guy who called you up manage to imitate my voice pretty good? If he did, you’ve got to hand it to him. Most people can’t do it."
― JRN, Monday, 30 August 2021 18:05 (two years ago) link
Heh, I’d like to think I can imitate him pretty well but it wasn’t me this time.
― Gwar ina Babyon (James Redd and the Blecchs), Monday, 30 August 2021 18:15 (two years ago) link
Customers at Green Apple Books on Clement Street didn’t expect to find a man with a guitar wandering among the fiction and cooking sections as they shopped.It was Independent Bookstore Day, which occurs annually on the last Saturday of April, so they assumed he may have been part of the festive ambiance. But once they got a closer look at him, they couldn’t believe who it really was — and why the legendary musician was playing an otherwise unadvertised gig in San Francisco.
https://www.sfgate.com/local/article/Jonathan-Richman-plays-surprise-SF-show-17140442.php
― dow, Tuesday, 3 May 2022 16:52 (one year ago) link
Visualizing Jonathan walking down the book store aisles with guitar in hand serenading customers . Yep would be great to see that.
― curmudgeon, Wednesday, 4 May 2022 16:21 (one year ago) link
https://cdn.quotesgram.com/img/30/25/1694698770-jonathan-richman3.jpg
― Wile E. Is President (James Redd and the Blecchs), Wednesday, 4 May 2022 16:37 (one year ago) link
https://dependableletterpress.com/jonathan-richman/
― Wile E. Is President (James Redd and the Blecchs), Wednesday, 4 May 2022 16:38 (one year ago) link
https://jojofiles.blogspot.com/2015/11/work-in-silence-jonathan-richman.html