{"id":26350,"date":"2019-09-18T14:14:58","date_gmt":"2019-09-18T19:14:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/?p=26350"},"modified":"2019-09-18T14:15:07","modified_gmt":"2019-09-18T19:15:07","slug":"remembering-daniel-johnston-unlikely-cult-rock-star","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/entertainment\/2019\/09\/18\/remembering-daniel-johnston-unlikely-cult-rock-star\/","title":{"rendered":"Remembering Daniel Johnston, Unlikely Cult Rock Star"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap wp-block-paragraph\">Daniel Johnston, famed musician, died Sept. 11 of a heart attack at his home in Waller, Texas. Though not well-known outside the confines of music-fanatics, his work has inspired the likes of many well-known musicians, including former Nirvana front man, Kurt Cobain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"> \u201cHi, How Are?\u201d Daniel Johnston\u2019s \u201883 (officially released in \u201889) album cover, featuring a cartoon alien-frog staring at the viewer, the eyes extended upwards like an antenna, the date underneath \u201cSept. 83\u201d and then underneath that, \u201cDaniel Johnston\u201d graced a t-shirt the former Nirvana front man wore to the \u201892 MTV Video Music Awards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\tCobain once referred to the singer as the \u201cgreatest\u201d songwriter of all-time in an interview. Johnston, although somewhat unknown to the general population, had a rabid following among music enthusiasts and musicians themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-youtube wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/yyg4co8oFvI?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"><\/iframe><\/span>\n<\/div><figcaption>Johnston&#8217;s sudden death leaves a hole in the Austin art scene as mourners visit the mural of Johnston&#8217;s patented alien-frog. (Source: CBS News\/YouTube)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\tHis songs have been covered by the likes of Tom Waits, The Flaming Lips, Bright Eyes, Beck, Wilco, Yo La Tengo, Sparklehorse, Beach House and Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, for the soundtrack to the movie \u201cWhere the Wild Things Are.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\tIn his teens Johnston spent most of his time making home movies with his parent\u2019s Super 8 film camera, drawing surreal cartoon characters and performing music on piano and chord organ, recording it on a $59 Sanyo monaural boombox.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\tHe was one of the forebears of the \u201clo-fi\u201d indie scene that cropped up in the late \u201880s and early \u201890s, recording all of his albums at home on DIY equipment, the likes of which birthed some of the most well-known indie bands of the era, including Sparklehorse, The Mountain Goats, Pavement, Neutral Milk Hotel and Dayton\u2019s own Guided by Voices, a major band in the scene.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\tJohnston\u2019s story, his slow rise to quasi-fame and the mental illness that plagued his life and influenced the genuine honesty and heartache in his music was covered in the 2005 documentary \u201cThe Devil and Daniel Johnston,\u201d which won the Documentary Directing Award at the Sundance Film Festival in the same year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\tThe film, which is hard to watch at times and uplifting at others features extensive interviews with Johnston himself, as well as many of his contemporaries mentioned above and from close friends and members of the band Sonic Youth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-youtube wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/TIWgh6uABfk?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"><\/iframe><\/span>\n<\/div><figcaption>A scene from the documentary on Daniel Johnston&#8217;s life and his music. (Source:  <br>Nolevart Sikeem\/YouTube)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\tGrowing up in rural West Virginia, Johnston was obsessed with the Beatles, often quoting and covering their songs on his albums. Johnston, in an interview with Pitchfork, even credited listening to their music as a seminal moment in his own career.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\t\u201cI started listening to the Beatles and got more into the knack of songwriting.\u201d said Johnston. \u201cAnd then, finally, my dad bought me a book called \u201cComplete Beatles,\u201d and because I knew what the chords were at that time, from piano, I knew, I played every song in that book again and again, and I did develop a rapport with the Beatles songs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI began to re-work because of what Ringo said in an interview. He said, \u2018We took other people&#8217;s songs and rearranged their chord structures to write songs,\u2019 and I go, \u2018Wow!\u2019 and I started doing that with their songs. And it was like magic, rearranging the chords. It was like a mathematical situation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIt was just a phenomenal theory for me. Of course, if the Beatles heard about this today they&#8217;d roll over in their graves, but you know, that&#8217;s what I did and it was revolutionary to me and that went on forever. This book was like a bible to me and I knew all their songs and I played them, and then I kept doing this again and again and again. I kept writing with the Beatles theory over and over again. Millions of songs.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Eventually, moving to Austin, Tex. with his family, Johnston became a part of the city\u2019s early \u201890s indie film and music scene which spawned the likes of \u201cBoyhood\u201d and \u201cDazed and Confused\u201d director Richard Linklater.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It was in Austin that Johnston got his big break, getting positive write-ups in the Austin Chronicle and appearing on MTV\u2019s \u201cThe Cutting Edge\u201d&nbsp; in \u201885. From there a deal was struck with Elektra Records which was ultimately axed by Johnston himself, fearing that fellow label-mates Metallica were Satan worshipers and Johnston a long-time Christian feared they would hurt him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Ultimately, Johnston signed with Atlantic, but the partnership only produced \u201894\u2019s \u201cFun\u201d considered by many to be one of Johnston\u2019s lesser attempts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Johnston suffered from manic depression and schizophrenia, something that haunted and ruined his potential all throughout his life. Though, through the pain and heartache, he wrote songs about pain (even titling an album \u201cSongs of Pain\u201d) with an honesty that few people possessed, as his lyrics were dense and filled with genuine emotion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cMost of the people who are big Daniel Johnston fans are other song-writers,\u201d said Kathy McCarty, a long-time friend of Johnston\u2019s. \u201cThe first time I heard his cassette, it was like \u2018This guy is an incredible, genius songwriter.\u2019 You can look at some of his songs and go, \u2018What a great arrangement, what a great middle eight, what a great turn of phrase!\u2019 I never thought he was like a freak show or like \u2018Listen to this guy have a nervous breakdown on this record.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-youtube wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/fONwsZg3nYw?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"><\/iframe><\/span>\n<\/div><figcaption>Chicago-based indie rock legends, Wilco, perform Daniel Johnston&#8217;s &#8220;True Love Will Find You in the End&#8221; on KEXP. (Source: KEXP\/YouTube)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">McCarty\u2019s former band Glass Eye often shared the stage with Johnston in the early days of their careers. In 2005 McCarty recorded some of Johnston\u2019s best songs with her then-current band Dead Dog\u2019s Eyeball.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A year before that, a laundry list of the best indie bands and artists from the early aughts covered 18 of Johnston\u2019s best songs for a compilation album, the title, \u201cThe Late Great Daniel Johnston\u201d inspired by famed fellow-Texan country-folk singer Townes Van Zandt\u2019s \u201cThe Late Great Townes Van Zandt.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In one of his most often covered songs \u201cTrue Love Will Find You in the End\u201d Johnston wrote about finding love, saying, \u201cHow can it recognize you unless you step out into the light. Don\u2019t be sad, I know you will, but don\u2019t give up until true love will find you in the end.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It was one of his more lyrically simple songs but it rings true for a lot of listeners and most likely Johnston himself, who spent a lifetime dealing with heartache and mental illness, but ultimately was loved and adored to great intensity by many, many people in the end.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-youtube wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/k1Wij5UAAt4?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"><\/iframe><\/span>\n<\/div><figcaption>Daniel Johnston performs his most iconic song, &#8220;True Love Will Find You in the End&#8221; live in Sydney Australia. (Source: Moshcam\/YouTube)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Richard Foltz<br>Executive Editor<br><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Daniel Johnston, famed musician, died Sept. 11 of a heart attack at his home in Waller, Texas. Though not well-known outside the confines of music-fanatics, his work has inspired the likes of many well-known musicians, including former Nirvana front man, Kurt Cobain. \u201cHi, How Are?\u201d Daniel Johnston\u2019s \u201883 (officially released in \u201889) album cover, featuring [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10416,"featured_media":26351,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[2104,2144],"tags":[3578,2981,3428,3580,3579,2877],"class_list":["post-26350","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment","category-music-entertainment","tag-daniel-johnston","tag-guided-by-voices","tag-indie-music","tag-kurt-cobain","tag-nirvana","tag-richard-foltz"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"cc_featured_image_caption":{"caption_text":false,"source_text":false,"source_url":false},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5s3vR-6R0","jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/daniel-johnston.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26350","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10416"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26350"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26350\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26355,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26350\/revisions\/26355"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26351"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26350"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26350"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26350"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}