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

"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.)

i saw him a year ago and he was good as ever. the last album was v. underrated.

always loved the jess post that kicked off this thread.

He was great. He didn't do "I'm A Little Dinosaur" however. The youtube made me want to see him do that so bad.

is the original modern lovers the only big proto punk act with all members still alive not to ever reform? wonder if it'll ever happen. saw that arthur russell doc a week ago and it had the bass player in it, looking healthy and hale.

I last saw him (with Tommy Larkins of course) about 6 months ago and it was as great as ever. He alwasy focusses on newer material with about a quarter of the show being older stuff or crowd pleasing classics. A great thing about Jonathan live is the connection he makes with the audience, which is quite unlike what most performer can acheive. He does with his conversational presentation and by playing quite quietly, stepping away from the microphone and playing his guitar unamplified a lot of the time. It's almost like watching your friend play the guitar in his living room. Tommy uses brushes or those pom-pom things a lot and barely touches his drums. This was in a venue for about 1,000 and you could hear a pin drop. He even asked for the AC to be turned off because it was too loud. Sometimes it's like a party but this last show was quite hypnotic, with a lot of the songs getting extended instrumental sections where Tommy and Jonathan found a groove and just stayed in it.

By the way, I've seen him probably 15 times over the last 20 years and he's NEVER played "I'm a Little Dinosaur" :-(

yeah my fave thing about seeing him has always been the guitar playing! he's really good -- not something that always comes across on the records.

i just wish he would fucking come to austria... or at least to europe..

I haven't seen him in a while but he has his schtick down so well and is such a fantastic guitar player and performer I can't really imagine he's gotten worse over the last few years. I've never seen him do "I'm a Little Dinosaur" either. (I have seen him do "Roadrunner" and "Pablo Picasso", both of which were kinda shocking)

My favorite record, apart from the Modern Lovers one, is "Modern Lovers '88" - really beautiful, low-key, casual record.

yeah he's got a lot of gems strewn across his career. he probably needs a well-chosen box set or something (i know he 's got several "best ofs") ...

The gf was doing some travel for him and she asked him, in passing, if he'd write an autograph for a fan she knew. He said yes but she thought, 'He'll never remember, whatevs.' Two weeks later she got the autograph. He'd forgotten or misplaced the name but it was an original and sincere sentiment written down, not just a signature nor boilerplate.

I saw him in '84 in London, opening for Orange Juice. Good show.

I saw him in '84 in London, opening for Orange Juice. Good show.

Gah that's awesome. So jealous.

Every once in a while I like to pop on Roadrunner when I am heading to Stop and Shop. It's like having my own personal narrator.

maybe one day i'll be dignified

^^^nice

He even asked for the AC to be turned off because it was too loud.
Ha! When I saw him a couple weeks ago, he asked that the fans be turned off for the same reason. We were on the third floor of a converted clothing mill (The Narrows in Fall River, Mass.) on a steamy night and he apologized profusely for making us sweat.
Then he complained about the bad vibes in the room because there seemed to be a "moat" between him and the audience. He asked everyone to move their seats closer and then, when informed they were church pews that couldn't be budged, told everyone to sit down in front of him like it was a campfire performance.
It was a pretty memorable night. Lots of kids came with their parents. One of them — he couldn't have been more than 3 — kept yelling out for "New England." Finally, his dad brought him right up to the stage between songs to ask Jonathan directly. Jonathan leaned over and politely thanked the little boy for coming. He never did play the song.

i need to see him again, it's been four or five years. has anyone heard any of these somewhat newly discovered modern lovers live boots? http://jojofiles.blogspot.com/2007/11/more-unreleased-modern-lovers-from-1971.html http://jojofiles.blogspot.com/2007/10/great-71-recordings-found.html

Seeing him next week in a small club in Providence. Hope he sings "My Affected Accent," which is probably my favorite JR song now. BTW, this might be the worst concert review I've ever read:
Jonathan Richman: More charismatic than musical, but that’s fine with me

Here is what really blew my mind: there were roughly 70 people at the show. There were no opening bands to pre-sell tickets, this show was all Richman. This guy isn’t local or well known, or even all that good. As far as I could tell, people where drawn to him by his sheer charisma.

jesus christ

there's really no excuse for reading local-paper concert reviews

http://jacksonville.com/files/imagecache/avatar/pictures/picture-16475.jpg

I wonder what his band sounds like

probably sounds a little bit like his hair

Kid looks like he was born right before "There's Something About Mary" came out, but still. He could have at least Googled Jonathan's name.

Richman was by no means a great guitar player

??? He's an excellent guitarist!

yeah his schtick is charming/cutesy but if you watch what he's doing on the guitar its pretty flabbergasting. dude knows his chords inside and out

He can play lead and rhythm at the same time, always impresses me that

yeah he's an awesome guitar player.

does he mainly play acoustic these days? I remember seeing him in the 90s, and he kinda shredded on electric a few times, in his own way.

Here you go: Clayton Bush's myspace:

http://www.myspace.com/claytonbush

that is the most idiotic review of all time

we have a winner

If I put on what I perceive to be a mediocre show with my own band, it eats at me for weeks. Maybe I’m overly self-conscious and resort to tearing other people down to make myself feel better. Or, maybe I’ve been taking the wrong approach by agonizing over tight harmonies and solid grooves. One thing I learned from Richman is that musical excellence doesn’t equal audience entertainment.

Musicianship can and does take a back stage to showmanship. Concert goers are music lovers, but today anybody can hear anything they want anywhere they want any time they want.

would like to subscribe to yr newsletter intresting ideas

taking the wrong approach by agonizing over tight harmonies and solid grooves.

GOP slogan for the '08 election IIRC

concert goers=music lovers

FYI

http://www.claytonbush.com/fr_index.cfm

Or, maybe I’ve been taking the wrong approach by agonizing over tight harmonies and solid grooves.
seems like this concert made Clayton look deep into his douchey soul

in other words, what the writer seems to be saying (and it sounds like he has a plethora of anecdotal evidence to back him up) is that people who go to concerts--and these can be art punks, hippie types, electroclash nerds and Viking drinking chant aficionados, you know, it takes all types: these people who go to concerts actually like to listen to music. this shouldn't come as a surprise, actually: like all people, really, who enjoy things, these music people enjoy the things they enjoy by experiencing them in real life, as it's happening. it's a remarkable observation.

With emphasis added:

If *I* put on what *I* perceive to be a mediocre show with *my* own band, it eats at *me* for weeks. Maybe *I’m* overly self-conscious and resort to tearing other people down to make *myself* feel better. Or, maybe *I’ve* been taking the wrong approach...

clayton bush: is this guy a class fucking act or what?

(he's seriously probably 18 years old, isn't he?)

somebody get this kid a job at pfork

it's true that there is something beyond musicianship that makes richman's concerts great experiences, and he does have a certain kind of (anti-?) showmanship. but these aren't bad things. and they don't imply a LACK of musicianship or great music full stop.

he's a consummate showman imho

also in a weird way what this clayton mcbush guy is saying is not worlds away from what dan perry says about richman (upthread?)--that it seems like a cult who uncritically adores everything he does and is incomprehensible to the uninitiated. i don't agree obviously. i took my girlfriend--not a big jonathan richman man--and she adored him. and read jess's post that started this whole thread.

also i would seriously see j. richman in concert every few months if such a thing were possible. can't imagine getting tired of this dude.