I'm Seeing Jonathan Richman Tonight

CBear

I've never seen him, but I've been a long time appreciator of him and The Modern Lovers. Anyone else ride? My friends in San Francisco have a bunch of crazy stories about him. Anyone on here have any stories about him?

edith head

I remember one day going to Open Mind Music on Divisadero and img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/latte.gif" alt="" 21 buying the Modern Lovers S/T lp and ended up playing it all afternoon. Later that evening I went to the Rickshaw Stop to see an acquaintance's band play and Jonathan Richman was filling in on drums. it was a surreal moment. i told him i just bought his record earlier that day and that i was weirded out

Birdman9

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b, 21I remember one day going to Open Mind Music on Divisadero and

img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/latte.gif" alt="" 21 buying the Modern Lovers S/T lp and ended up playing it all afternoon. Later that evening I went to the Rickshaw Stop to see an acquaintance's band play and Jonathan Richman was filling in on drums. it was a surreal moment. i told him i just bought his record earlier that day and that i was weirded out

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font class="post"1b, 21b, 21Back in the early 90s Jonathan used to just drive into town and use local drummers to back him up at shows. My buddy Jason did about 3-4 dates with him after being recommended to Jonathan for a gig in Minneapolis at First Ave. Jason said that it was a pretty wild deal, Jonathan would just tell him to follow along as best he could, don't try to learn all the songs from records before hand. I forgot to mention that he drove an old blue Chevy (I forget what model), and Jason said he was too frugal to spring for more than one hotel room, so he and Jonathan had to share a queen bed for the nghts he gigged out of town with him!b, 21b, 21Around the same time, another friend spotted Jonathan at what was then Oar Folkjokeopus Records(now Treehouse Records) on Lyndale in Mpls. He was digging for old records and my friend Dave told him he would buy an LP of his to sign. Jonathan then said,(in inimitable Jonathan cadence) "Well, ok, but don't buy one of those bootleg records, because those aren't good for me or anybody. Bootlegs are no good." Dave was completely perplexed by this statement, it seemed to come out of nowhere.b, 21b, 21If you have never seen him before but like his solo records, you will not be disappointed. If you are looking for anything remotely Modern Lovers-ish, you will most likely be terribly let down. He is a completely different animal as a solo artist, and people tend to either love it of hate it.

onetet

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b, 21If you have never seen him before but like his solo records, you will not be disappointed. If you are looking for anything remotely Modern Lovers-ish, you will most likely be terribly let down. He is a completely different animal as a solo artist, and people tend to either love it of hate it.

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font class="post"1b, 21b, 21 img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cos3ve.gif" alt="" 21b, 21b, 21i think he's a great performer, but you have to want him to serenade you with intentionally sappy ballads broadcast with mournful, maudlin, moon-y eyes. he may bring out a few songs from the early days, but they'll still be done in "ice cream man" style. b, 21b, 21seen him 4-5 times, shortest set he did was 1.5 hours (because he was sick that day).

Birdman9

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b, 21

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b, 21If you have never seen him before but like his solo records, you will not be disappointed. If you are looking for anything remotely Modern Lovers-ish, you will most likely be terribly let down. He is a completely different animal as a solo artist, and people tend to either love it of hate it.

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img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cos3ve.gif" alt="" 21

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b, 21i think he's a great performer, but you have to want him to serenade you with intentionally sappy ballads broadcast with mournful, maudlin, moon-y eyes. he may bring out a few songs from the early days, but they'll still be done in "ice cream man" style.

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b, 21seen him 4-5 times, shortest set he did was 1.5 hours (because he was sick that day).

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font class="post"1b, 21b, 21Yeah, I find him to be highly entertaining as well, can't recall how many times I have seen him...... lots, that's for sure. There is a record from the mid-90s(I think it's 'Having a Party with Jonathan Richman) where he does his song 'Bermuda' live, and within it explains how he went from the VU obsessed fan who wrote 'She Cracked', to the performer he is now doing the type of songs he now does. It's a pretty compelling tale, going from touring with the Modern Lovers to discovering Calypso in a short span.