what does daniels family think of his music??

[Anonymous]

i am curious as to what daniels family especially his brother think of his music? it seems his mom may like it, on some of his tapes when she was not yelling at him she seemed to be somewhat giving him praise. i have seen where his dad says it was alot of racket but thats about it. so whats the scoop are they fans and enjoy it or do they just tolerate it?

[wickedwill]

its me forgot to sign in!!

[drewjoh]

I was asked this while touring with my uncle in Europe last summer, and I think I was best able to sum it up in, "well, it's hard to see him as anything other than my uncle".    

I don't think it's going to be the same with me (or other family members, though I'm not speaking for them) as it will be with the fans... cause, he's my uncle. It's hard to see him as a "musician" or "rock star" cause, well... he's my uncle  

I agree though that his music is like the fans describe it. It's honest and some of it is even insightful   , and I understand why everyone likes it  

[Stallion]

I've got to say this....Drew...Your uncle is probably the most true to life lyisict...I mean he's up there with Bob D IMO....  A true master...

And you know....I do understand how Drew feels...Dan being family and all....

But Yes.....Most of us here do put Dan on that pedistal....which I believe he kinda deserves...Like I've said
his song writing is like no other..He is a true genuous in my eyes and I'm sure in the other guys on this form.

Dejected....Mindwalk....Dinsfrancized (sorry about the spelling)  come on guys back me up.....you know this to be true.

[Mindwalk]

Well, the onlything i can say is,

Drew, you got the coolest uncle ever!!!!

But i understand what Drew feels....He sees Daniel first as an uncle....we all see him as a Musician....

But i have another question....

Drew, I saw the photos on your website, the Xmas pics, etc...

Does Daniel play music on those events???what does he play??His own songs or Beatles´, etc???

Does family sing along?


Just curious............

[Disfranchise]

I had read about him in some Nirvana articles and got interested. Thought he might be someone you listen to and say "yeah it's good music" and then there would me nothing more to it. Then I downloaded "Museum Of Love". I have never cared much about the sound quality (like in liveshows) just about the melody, mood and spirit in the songs.
This song had it all and I though no way could he make more like this. I was wrong.
It turned out he had hundreds. Music in its most perfect and purest form. He exposed his heart, told stories about his muse Laurie, made trips to outer space (Rocket Ship) and all along he still was brilliant. This man is up there with the Beatles (his idols) and is probably never going to be truly recognized. Though musicians like David Bowie and Kurt Cobain discovered his genius it's not likly the ignorant avarage music listener ever will.

(I took this from a little review I did 2 years ago on amazon)

[Henry Long]

Well, the way I see it, even Picasso was somebody's uncle, right?

And as for family, we all know no matter what accomplishments or successes one may have with their personal lives, our loved ones are the last to be impressed...

"Mom! My story won the Pulitzer Prize, I sold 3 paintings to Dennis Hopper  AND I'm having a retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art!!!"

"That's nice, dear. You need a haircut, your shirt is wrinkled, and the lawn hasn't been mowed in ages. Have you put on weight?"

On the otherhand, when the applause has stopped, when the **** has hit the fan, and when you no longer can tell who your REAL friends are, who will be in your corner to remind you how much you are loved, no matter what, but your own dear family? (sniff)

Daniel, as a musician, songwriter and artist, has that most remarkable of talents:
He makes it look easy. If you don't agree, try it. You'll see.

Great question, wickedwill.

[DWJ]

Okay, from the brother....

I have had an evolving perspective about all this, and I'm sure my understanding of things will continue to change..

I seems like I should start with his art, because I think it was really the first passion...   but to say some things on the music...

To put it in perspective, I'll give a little history...

We were all musical, played the piano and some other instrument, and were very "into" music - not just pop music, but classical and things that weren't from our generation - we'd play every record we could find, and at our grandparents they had lots of "easy listening" music, or 78's (never hear of those much any more!) - I'm talking Bing Crosby and Doris Day, etc.!

Dan was the youngest, and seven years younger than the next oldest - me.   When I left home and Dan was at home alone, I think his creative endeavors - which like I said might better be described through his art to start with - became all that more focused.

He developed a BROAD circle of friends who shared the love of music and song-writing in particular, people like Bret Hartenbaugh (the older brother of the guy who wrote "Whiz Kid"), Kevin Stills (of "Rule Of Thirds") and Ray Pickens - who was an absolute virtuoso.   He developed a reputation for this kind of thing and was clearly a focal point of these creative gatherings.

But academically at music, he was an "under-achiever".  My oldest sister is a composer with a PhD in music theory and taught at the university level and was even "commissioned" by the pope (we are NOT Catholic) to write a Christmas composition for the Millenium.  The next oldest was a band and choral director - and all EXCEPT Dan were "overachievers" in band an jazz - we were all the "first chair" types, and all attended summer time events for music, etc.  

Dan on the other hand, was the "Third Chair" type - as his song bemoans.

I always thought but never really articulated it - that Dan felt this pressure to "follow in the footsteps" of his older siblings, but his reaction was to "resist" doing well in those same things.  That didn't "concern" me personally - and it was perfectly okay with me for him to carve his own path.

Dan credits me with "teaching him to play piano" but there is no way I taught him to do what I later heard him doing on cassette tapes.   I was a piano music "reader" - and I loved it and still do - but I would never ad lib or improvise like he did.  I'm very certain that he got that from countless hours in the basement on the piano just "playing around".  But eventually (and I didn't realize most of this until very recently) he could "compose" on the fly and produce the effect and sounds he wanted at will.

I'll pause to say that it seems he has "lost" a lot of that piano-playing aptitude for ad lib.  So it's harder for him to "perform" now, but not harder to write songs.

For a wedding present, he gave me a cassette tape with a full 40 minutes of songs - including "Wicked World" and "Wild West Virginia", etc.   I thought I was entertaining and played it for people regularly - but I never saw it "outside" the context of the kind of "creative play" that we did as kids - honestly.

I think at some point Daniel STOPPED sharing or seeking approval from the rest of us about a lot of things he was doing.  That cassette tape was the biggest glimpse I had of what he was doing up till that point - and I still didn't understand that this was some overwhelming passion.

When he dropped out of college and appeared to be "floundering" on what to do, I remember trying to steer Dan away from songwriting and art to something (anything!) that could serve as a profession - I didn't chide him about it, I just tried to nudge him in a direction with a "future".

When he wrote "Yip Jump Music" in my garage in 1983, I had almost NO IDEA what he was doing - to me he was just "playing around".   Very soon afterwards, he disappeared for half a year while he ran off with a carnival.  

So we were all seeing Daniel as "struggling with a career path" and maybe an "identity crisis".    When he showed up on TV and movie sound tracks and the like - I did NOT see his performances as an "artistic product" to be rated - I saw it as DAN EXPRESSING HIMSELF... let me give the one best example.

When he was on MTV and sang that song about "heading out West" - I'm not even sure what song it is - but again, I didn't think "Oh, that's a good song" or "That's a catchy melody" or whatever.  What I heard was my brother hurting and "crying out" to the family - and in the clip, he turned his head at the end toward the camera and they freeze-framed, and I promise you, my heart was breaking for him.

When I saw the video of him singing "Careless Soul" I was in tears for him!  I wasn't seeing this as "success" or "art", I was seeing it as pain.

From that perspective, maybe, it seemed like "anything else" would be better.  

But what wasn't clear until much much later, it wasn't the music or art that brought the pain, and it wasn't really the pain per se the brought the music or art - They were connected but they couldn't be seen as the same thing.

Meanwhile, clearly a lot of other people were seeing the "creative" side of it all and making a big fuss.   I think I continued to have the reaction "how can these people jump up and down in approval of it all when Dan's hurting so much??"

There were a lot of years of just "waiting".  When Dan was in a mental institution in Searcy, Arkansas for five months - there was NOTHING going on in his life during that time.  When I visited him he had become a chain smoker and rattled on nervously.  He had no piano and no outlet, and I'm sure he was drugged heavily.  

None of this looked appealing to me and I was still grieving for his pain and looking for "anything else" that would be more "together" and at peace.

Okay - so THERE was  lot of rattling on saying very little.

When he put out one album after another, it was difficult to see it as anything other than "my little brother" and a expressive of his state of mind than anything else.   And while he was getting attention, there was NO "financial" success to it - I mean, it wasn't supporting him or anything - so it looked like more of a past time or even a product of his mental health struggles.

Let me close this post down but saying that only in very recent years have I been able to stop and listen to a lot of the cassette tapes he made and develope an appreciation for the creative element of his music AND his art.

Clearly his earlier piano playing was more intricate and clever, and his earlier art had more content and composition.  Similarly, a lot seem to hold that his earlier "lo-fi" cassette tapes were the "golden years" for Daniel, and the notoriety that has developed makes it possible for him to continue to crank out some creative stuff.

You know what - you've got me going on this, and I have more to say.. but it will have to be later as it is LATE!   Later!

[Stallion]

You know DWJ....god...I can't really even express what you just said.  But Thank You... I'm sure it's good to get some of this stuff off your chest, so to speak.  Wow...um...I'm speachless....

I think this is one reason why we love Dan so much....the very personal side of things.  

I just want to say from talking and helping Drew with the New Site and now reading your post....I'm just so honored to be a part of such a personal group of people....real people.  Sometimes we loose that, you know? With artistis...musicians....  I don't know....I'm lost for words.  Great post and also us fans truly cherish these real stories about Dan and his family.

[danaisgone]

I want to echo stallions statement.

It's an amazing message board and website we have here. The only experiences with artists i admire being on even a remotely personal basis are bands from my town, and daniel. Nowhere else will i get to read a brothers thoughts on his sibling.

So as a fan who has taken a lot of solice in Daniel's music I thank you for taking the time. It really DOES mean something to people. And for all the hurting you've seen daniel do, at least you can feel good to know that he's HELPED people. Helped me, the man never even met me. probably never will (untill my band makes it down to texas.... like that'll happen) but he's had an effect. I know that you probably hear that a lot and it's probably sounds so wild. but it's true.

He's such a personal artist, it's amazing at how personal his fans can get sometime. There's a lot of love out there for Daniel. It's the greatest experience as a fan i've ever had.

My bands going out on tour in Eastern Canada in August (hopefully) and i'll be playing Casper the Friendly ghost to help spread the word. I'm glad i heard about it. I'm better off.

[dejected]

danaisgone

Be sure to capture and share your cover with the Yip! Jump Board - and post some samples of your band in the "Outsider Artists" section.  Turn your band's name (& link if you have one) in with the titles of covers to dejected@rejectedunknown.com.

If we're "family" we're going to share like this, right?  I love it.  Great posts.   Keep it up.

dejected

[Anonymous]

I posted a link to the outsider artist section to my bands website, through there a link to mp3's... i'll set the links here if you want..

I sent in the Name of a cover we used to do and you have it listed already  (A lonely Song) and we're going on tour or the east coast (canada) and we'll be playing Casper The friendly Ghost.

www.jimmyraylovefiasco.da.ru (website)


http://www.idmusik.com/artists/?name=Jimmyraylovefiasco (love fiasco mp3's)

http://www.idmusik.com/artists/?name=Dana (my own personal mp3's)

We've played a few Daniel songs in practice or whatnot and i haven't even thought to record any. I probably should throw something down.

I found a copy of an old cassette with just me and my friends dicking around in Juniour high with myself playing Speeding motorcycle on my dad's banjo. too bad i can't figure out how to turn that into an mp3!

I'll forward this message to that email address.

[danaisgone]

The above post is mine. I forgot to Log in.

[wickedwill]

WOW! great responses all the way around. i pose these questions because i think it is something the fans would like to know and it keeps the forum hopping. getting DWJ response really does mean something and him taking time to elaborate and give details is really nice even if it is somewhat painful to read. i often wondered if there was footage of him when he sang " careless soul" i honestly do not think i would be able to watch it without getting choked up myself. DWJ for all it worth to you i hope you realize and take some type of comfort in knowing the tremendious impact daniel has had on my life and others of the forum. for me it is almost impossible to explain but there are days and times when i can listen to daniel and smile when i didnt think a smile was possible. i dont know, its like when i hear some daniel johnston despite how things are on the surface i know deep down ALL IS GOOD! thanks for giving me a good answer to my question.

[Doug Sulpy]

A little clarification from a fan's point of view...
I'm sure none of us listen to performances like "Careless Soul," or "Long Lost Love" and just think: "catchy melody" or "clever words" - in other words, the feeling in those songs (and countless others) clearly comes through to those of us who aren't related to Daniel - and a big part of our "jumping up and down in approval" relates to our appreciation that he is able to communicate pain / longing / obsession / whatever - that's his REAL gift - and it's the sharing of those feelings that ties the fans to him, I think.

Doug