daniel johnston

DANIEL JOHNSTON
THE STORY OF AN ARTIST
www.munster-records.com
"Johnston's stripped-down,
primitively strummed music
has a spooky power to get right
to the heart of the matter with
childlike reflections on love and
anxiety." NME
"He is the indie Brian Wilson".
Rolling Stone
"When a child hits a piano he
makes untainted music, and
that's there in Daniel.
He goes between extremes
of naivety and darkness".
Jason Pierce, Spiritualized
131 recordings straight out
of the original cassettes
Both formats include a
64-page booklet with extensive
notes by Everett True and
interviews with Daniel's family
and friends. Plus many rare
photos, illustrations by Daniel
and a two-sided A2 poster.
The 6-LP box set is
limited to 1000 copies.
SALES
[email protected]
PROMO
[email protected]
Limited edition 6-LP/6-CD box set of the very early recordings by one of the most
gifted songwriters of the last three decades. Includes Daniel's six cassette-only
albums recorded between 1980 and 1983, packaged in individual sleeves, plus a
64-page booklet with Daniel's artwork from those years and extensive notes by
Everett True. Find out why people like Tom Waits, Beck, Matt Groening, Johnny
Depp, Kurt Cobain, Eddie Vedder and so many others found these recordings so
worthy.
When I first met Daniel in 1985, he was already
quite well known. He had been giving away
homemade cassettes for months and his live
performances were attracting enthusiastic
crowds. He had even been on MTV. The
cassettes were his business cards and he used
them well, with "Hi, How Are You", "Yip/Jump
Music", "Retired Boxer", "Respect" and
"Continued Story" finding their way into the
hands of seemingly every band in town. As the
attention increased, so did the need to keep
making and handing out cassettes. It reached a
point where much of his paycheck from
McDonald's would be spent on blank tapes, so I
began talking to him about ways to at least
break even.
By the time Daniel left Austin a year later,
things had changed considerably. I was finding
national distribution for the tapes, but he
wasn't well, and didn't wish to continue in the
music business. He gave me a couple of tapes I
hadn't heard before throwing most of his
remaining possessions into a dumpster. By the
time I found out about the dumpster incident
and frantically dug through it, trying to salvage
any tapes that I could find, it was too late. What
was lost in that dumpster is something we'll
never know.
The two unreleased tapes he had given me
were "More Songs Of Pain" and "Don't Be
Scared" (ironically misspelled "Don't Be
Title: The Story Of An Artist
Artist: DANIEL JOHNSTON
Release date: May 30, 2010
Label: Munster
Scarred"). Both were unlike anything I had
previously heard. Recorded in the semi-privacy
of his parents' basement in the early 1980s,
before he'd moved to Texas, the sound was
slightly better than the tapes I was already
distributing, and the material so strong that I
knew he deserved a place among the all-time
great songwriters. Both were and are fully
realized masterpieces to my ears.
During the next few months Daniel's condition
began to improve. Though he remained retired,
he encouraged me to release additional
cassettes on Stress Records. It looked like he
might never work again and I thought he
deserved to make a living for the work he had
already done. He told me about "Songs Of
Pain" and how it was conceived as his first
album. I was able to borrow a tape he had given
Glass Eye's Kathy McCarty titled "The Joker" it turned out to be one of several versions of
the "Songs of Pain" tape that he had given out
to his friends in West Virginia before moving to
Austin. I knew it had to be the first of the
"new" releases, so I began distributing "Songs
Of Pain" in 1987.
A few months later I borrowed another tape
he had given to one of his friends. This led to
the release of "The What Of Whom". In 1988 I
released "More Songs of Pain" and in 1989
"Don't Be Scared". In 1990 Daniel found some
tapes under his bed (!) called "The Lost
Format: 6-LP Box set
Cat #: MR 298
Barcode: 8435008829810
Format: 6-CD Box set
Cat #: MR CD 298
Barcode: 8435008829827
Recordings", and these were released in 1991.
The releases typically coincided with Sonic
Youth tours because they were the most
influential band of the time, and I enjoyed
having a new cassette to give them each time
they came through town.
Most of Daniel's early recordings were done on
a $59 Sanyo jam box using the cheapest tape
he could find. The term "lo-fi" was still a few
years away and I never gave the low fidelity of
these recordings a second thought. It was
about the music and the story of an artist.
"Songs Of Pain", "More Songs Of Pain", "The
What Of Whom", "Don't Be Scared" and "The
Lost Recordings" tell the story of that artist.
They may have been "just" cassettes, but Daniel
owned his own publishing and these releases
led to more songs being published, and
ultimately more songs being covered by other
bands. I'm very grateful that Munster Records
has chosen to package the recordings from
Daniel's West Virginia years as a box set. I hope
you enjoy it.
Jeff Tartakov
Stress Records
Tracklists available on following page
DANIEL JOHNSTON
THE STORY OF AN ARTIST
www.munster-records.com
"La música desnuda y primitiva
de Daniel Johnston tiene el poder
hechizante de llegar a la esencia
del asunto con reflexiones
cándidas sobre el amor y la
ansiedad ." NME
"Él es el Brian Wilson de indie".
Rolling Stone
"Cuando un niño aporrea
un piano crea música pura, y
esa cualidad está presente en
la obra Daniel. Él se mueve
entre lo inocente y lo sombrío".
Jason Pierce, Spiritualized
131 canciones extraidas
de los cassettes originales
Ambos formatos incluyen
un libreto de 64 pájinas con
anotaciones escritas por
Everett True y entrevistas con
la familia y amigos de Daniel.
Con fotos raras, ilustraciones
de Daniel y un poster tamaño A2
La caja de 6-Lps es una edición
limitada de 1.000 copias
VENTAS
[email protected]
PROMO
[email protected]
Box set de 6 CDs/6 LPs en edición limitada que reúne los primeros temas de uno
de los autores más brillantes de las últimas tres décadas. Incluye los seis álbumes
grabados por Daniel entre 1980 y 1983 y publicados originalmente sólo en
cassette, presentados en sus carpetas individuales y acompañados de un libreto de
64 páginas con ilustraciones de Daniel y un amplio texto a cargo del periodista
Everett True. Descubre por qué gente como Tom Waits, Beck, Matt Groening, Kurt
Cobain, Johnny Depp y tantos otros consideraron estas grabaciones tan especiales.
Cuando conocí a Daniel en 1985, él ya tenía
cierta fama. Había estado regalando sus
cassettes grabadas en casa durante meses y sus
actuaciones atraían a un público muy
entusiasta. Incluso había salido en la MTV. Las
cintas eran su tarjeta de visita y sabía cómo
usarlas, parecía como si todas las bandas de
Austin tuviesen copias de "Hi, How Are You",
"Yip/Jump Music", "Retired Boxer", "Respect" y
"Continued Story". A medida que crecía el
interés, también lo hacía la necesidad de seguir
haciendo y moviendo las cintas. Llegó al punto
en que se gastaba la mayor parte de su sueldo
de McDonald's en cintas vírgenes, así que
empecé a hablar con él.
Cuando Daniel se fue de Austin un año
después, las cosas habían cambiado
notablemente.Yo había conseguido distribución
nacional para las cassettes, pero Daniel no se
encontraba bien y no quería seguir en la
industria musical. Me dio un par de cintas que
yo no había escuchado y luego tiró la mayoría
de sus posesiones en un vertedero. Cuando me
enteré de lo del vertedero y me puse a buscar
en él como un loco, tratando de recuperar
cualquier cinta que pudiese encontrar, era
demasiado tarde.
Las dos cintas inéditas que me había dado eran
"More Songs Of Pain" y "Don't Be Scared". No
se parecían a nada que yo hubiera escuchado
antes. Grabadas en la semi-privacidad del
Título: The Story Of An Artist
Artista: DANIEL JOHNSTON
Fecha de salida: 31 de mayo de 2010
Sello: Munster
del sótano de la casa de sus padres a principios
de los 80, antes de que se mudase a Texas, el
sonido era ligeramente mejor que el de las
cintas que yo estaba distribuyendo, y el material
era tan bueno que supe que se merecía un
lugar entre los grandes autores de canciones.
Para mí eran y son obras maestras completas.
Durante los siguientes meses la salud de Daniel
empezó a mejorar. Aunque seguía apartado de
la música, me animaba a publicar más cassettes
en Stress Records. Cabía la posibilidad de que
Daniel no volviese a trabajar, y yo creía que se
merecía vivir del trabajo que había realizado
hasta entonces. Me habló de "Songs Of Pain" y
de cómo había sido concebido como su primer
álbum. Pude conseguir prestada una cinta que
le había dado a Kathy McCarty, del grupo Glass
Eye, titulada "The Joker" - resultó ser una de
varias versiones de la cinta de "Songs Of Pain"
que había regalado a sus amigos de West
Virginia antes de mudarse a Austin. Supe que
tenía que ser el primero de los "nuevos"
lanzamientos, así que empecé a distribuir
"Songs Of Pain" en 1987.
Unos meses más tarde me dejaron otra cinta
que Daniel había dado a uno de sus amigos.
Esto condujo al lanzamiento de "The What Of
Whom". En 1988 edité "More Songs Of Pain" y
en 1989 "Don't Be Scared". En 1990 Daniel
encontró unas cintas debajo de su cama (!)
tituladas "The Lost Recordings", y éstas fueron
Format:o 6-LP Box set
Referencia: MR 298
Barcode: 8435008829810
Formato: 6-CD Box set
Referencia: MR CD 298
Barcode: 8435008829827
editadas en 1991. Los lanzamientos solían
coincidir con giras de Sonic Youth porque eran
el grupo más influyente de la época, y me
gustaba tener una cinta que darles cada vez que
pasaban por Austin.
La mayoría de las primeras grabaciones de
Daniel fueron hechas en un Sanyo jam box de
59 dólares, usando las cintas más baratas que
podía conseguir. El término "lo-fi" todavía no
era conocido y yo no pensé en ningún
momento en la baja fidelidad de estas
grabaciones. Lo importante era la música y la
historia de un artista. "Songs Of Pain", "More
Songs Of Pain", "The What Of Whom", "Don't
Be Scared" y "The Lost Recordings" cuentan la
historia de ese artista. Puede que fuesen "sólo"
cassettes, pero Daniel tenía los derechos sobre
sus canciones y estos lanzamientos propiciaron
que se editasen más temas suyos, y finalmente
que otros grupos hicieran versiones de sus
temas. Estoy muy agradecido porque Munster
Records haya decidido recopilar en un box set
las grabaciones de West Virginia de Daniel.
Espero que lo disfrutes.
Jeff Tartakov
Stress Records
· Tracklist disponible en la pájina siguiente ·
DISC 1
DISC 4
SONGS OF PAIN
1. Grievances
2. A Little Story
3. Joy Without Pleasure
4. Never Relaxed
5. Brainwash
6. Pothead
7. Wicked World
8. Lazy
9. I Save Cigarette Butts
10. Like A Monkey In A Zoo
11. Wicked Will
12. An Idiot's End
13. Wild West Virginia
14. Since I Lost My Tooth
15. Urge
16. Living Life
17. Tuna Ketchup
18. Premarital Sex
19. Don't Act Nice
20. Hate Song
MORE SONGS OF PAIN
1. Phantom Of My Own Opera
2. Man At War
3. Only Missing You
4. More Dead Than Alive
5. I Will
6. Poptunes
7.You Put My Love Out The Door
8.You're Gonna Make It Joe
9. Theme For Grievances
10. Never Get To Heaven
11. Follow That Dream
12. POW
13. For The Love Of Pete
14. Blue Cloud
15. Grievances Revisited
16. True Grief
17. My Baby Cares For The Dead
18. Mabel's Grievances
DISC 2
DISC 5
DANIEL JOHNSTON
THE STORY OF AN ARTIST
6-LP Box set / 6-CD Box set
Release date: May 3, 2010
DON'T BE SCARED
1. Going Down
2. Lost Without A Dame
3. Harley Man
4. Evening Stars
5. Something More
6. Cold Hard World
7. I Had A Dream
8. The Story Of An Artist
9. My Yoke Is Heavy
10. Stars On Parade
11. And You Love It
12. I Had Lost My Mind
13. The Sun Shines Down On Me
14. Loner
15. I Don't Want To Be Scared
16. Lullaby
17. I Was Alone
18. Mother Mom Said
THE LOST RECORDINGS I
1. Take A Little Walk
2. Before It's Too Late
3. Oh What A Wonderful Feeling
4. I'd Like To Say Goodbye
5. That's Silly
6. There Ain't Much You Can Do
7. I'm A Song
8.You Should Have Been My Wife
9.You Ruined It For Yourself
10. Once Upon A Dream
11. I Love You
12. Scattered Like Birds
13. More About Wicked Will
14. Good Luck
15. Got To Go On
16. It's Real
17. If You Were Here Today
18. Girlfriend
19.Void (Space For The Memories)
20. Sad And Lonely
21. I'm Nervous
22. Cosmic Kid
23. Never Die
24. Kiss Me Again
25. I Wish I Could Call You
26. Love Is Weird
27. Burn Baby Burn
28. No Fun
29. Art Peace
30. Instrumental
DISC 3
DISC 6
THE WHAT OF WHOM
1. Man Obsessed
2. Peek-a-boo
3. Never Before/Never Again
4. The Goldfish & The Frog
5. Scuttle-butt
6. Heart, Mind & Soul
7. Blue Clouds
8. Surely You Don't Work All Night
9. I Can't Think Anymore
10. Excuse Me
11. Polka Dot Rag
12. Why/Without You
13. An Incoherent Speech
14. Wicked World
15. To Go Home
16. Scrambled Eggs
17. Peace & Tranquility
18. When You're Pretty
THE LOST RECORDINGS II
1. All Around The World
2.You're Not Laura (After You're
Gone)
3. I'm Gonna Buy Me A Car
4. Out West
5. The Undertaker's Assistant
6. Dreams Come True
7. Mean To Me
8. Fly Me To The Moon
9. Love Defined
10. Love
11. How I Love That Organ Music
12. We Could Be Together Again
13. Happy Talk
14. The Miracle Of Love
15. Who Killed The Monkey
16. The Wedding
17. Unfinished Symphony
18. Blue Cloud
19. I Never Meant To Be Spooky
20. Dream Lover
21. What's A Matter With Me
22. If I Kissed You Once
23. I Give Up
24. Lonely Orphan On The Run
25. The Goat Show
26.You've Got A Funny Sense Of
Humor
27. Last Song For You