Daniel Johnston (partially found early handmade cassette albums; 1980-1983): Difference between revisions

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==== '''Mei Clover uploads''' ====
==== '''Mei Clover uploads''' ====
Many unreleased Johnston tracks have been uploaded by rare music collector Mei Clover on YouTube.<ref>https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLI0AXRwl4iBTFzxacruKF_VuYOrtVJiBg</ref> Many of these appear to be sourced from bootlegs which have surfaced onto the internet.
Many unreleased Johnston tracks have been uploaded by rare music collector Mei Clover on YouTube.<ref>https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLI0AXRwl4iBTFzxacruKF_VuYOrtVJiBg</ref> Many of these appear to be sourced from bootlegs which have surfaced onto the internet.
[[Category:Lost music]]
[[Category:Partially found media]]

Revision as of 15:19, 28 June 2022

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Daniel Johnston (1961-2019) was a musician and visual artist whose early cassette albums helped define the lo-fi genre. Prior to the Summer of 1983 (when he recorded Yip/Jump Music), Johnston seemingly had no way to copy his tape recordings and would re-record his material for anybody who he would give his albums. [1]

Throughout the late 1980s, Jeff Tartakov, Johnston's then manager, compiled the now-definitive versions of these albums from whatever versions of the original material he had access to. In recent history, more photographs - and sometimes snippets- of these early Johnston tapes have begun surfacing online.

Known Tapes

Ugly Music (1982)

An alternate version of Johnston's first album, Songs of Pain, recorded around the same time The What of Whom. The tape was first showcased in a video by Johnston's' childhood friend, John Fair, uploaded to YouTube on October 7th, 2017. Despite being largely made up of material from Songs of Pain, 'Ugly Music' also contains a handful of songs from Don't Be Scared, and The What of Whom, as well as three unreleased songs.[2] The song 'Natalie Queen Of Wierton', had previously been uploaded to Jeff Tartakov's SoundCloud page in December of 2015.[3] That same week, Tartakov also posted an alternate version of 'Brainwash', which may have originated from the same tape.[4]

Songs of Pain (the Al Pomplas version, 1983)

In November of 2017, Tartakov posted two photos of a version of 'Songs of Pain' dated 'late 1982 - early 1983.' [5] The track listing appears to contain material from Johnston's first three official albums, as well as a few unreleased songs.[6] The song 'Greensleeves' seems to have been posted as a YouTube video in 2008.[7]

Someday You're Gonna Make It, Joe (1983)

On July 15th, 2019, Discogs user MusicThatShapes posted information on a 1983 tape titled 'Someday You're Gonna Make It, Joe' to the website. MusicThatShapes had also submitted the 'Al Pomplas' Songs of Pain, as well as the 1982 version of What of Whom[8][9]

Someday You're Gonna Make It, Joe appears to be very similar in track listing to the 'More Songs of Pain' tape, with only a few additions. The song 'Surely You Don't Work All Night' from What of Whom appears to be featured.

The 'Joe' cassette was showcased at the 'I Live My Broken Dreams' exhibit.[10]

Rejected Unknown Members Area (1980-1982, 1986-1987)

Between October 2003 and November 2004, the Daniel Johnston fan-site 'RejectedUnknown' uploaded several rare early recordings to the 'members only' section of the site, dating between 1980 to 1987.[11] Some of these recordings have since circulated as 1979 demo tapes.

The Daniel Johnston Story / Daniel Interviewed By Daniel

On March 9th, 2015, Discogs user 'Marcuj' posted a tape released in the UK titled 'The Daniel Johnston Story.' Over a year later, 'Katossa' contributed photos of the tape to Discogs, which feature a photograph of Johnston circa 1985.[12] That same day, Marcuj posted a tape titled 'Daniel Interviewed By Daniel' dated 1989.[13]

Mei Clover uploads

Many unreleased Johnston tracks have been uploaded by rare music collector Mei Clover on YouTube.[14] Many of these appear to be sourced from bootlegs which have surfaced onto the internet.