Track Listing 1. It's Over 2. Ain't No Woman Gonna Make a George Jones Outta Me 3. Dead Dog Laughing in the Cloud, The 4. Funeral Home 5. Her Blues 6. Running Water Revisited 7. I Saw Her Standing There 8. Casper 9. Ghost of Our Love 10. Fly Eye 11. Etiquette 12. Walk in the Wind, A 13. Dem Blues 14. Girls 15. Poor You 16. Big Business Monkey 17. Walking the Cow 18. I Picture Myself With a Guitar 19. Despair Came Knocking 20. I Am a Baby (In My Universe) 21. Nervous Love 22. I'll Never Marry 23. Get Yourself Together 24. Running Water 25. Desperate Man Blues 26. Hey Joe 27. She Called Pest Patrol 28. Keep Punching Joe 29. No More Pushing Joe Around
| Details | | Playing Time: | 67 min. | | Producer: | Dick Johnston, Joe Johnson, Tom Gimbel | | Distributor: | Fontana Distribution | | Recording Type: | Studio | | Recording Mode: | Stereo | | SPAR Code: | n/a |
Album Notes Audio Remasterer: Julia Reid. Recording information: 1983. Released in late 2006 around the time that the acclaimed documentary THE DEVIL AND DANIEL JOHNSTON was issued on DVD, this compilation collects two of the troubled indie-rock troubadour's mid-1980s albums, which were originally distributed by the Austin, Texas, resident on cassette tape. At times painfully spare, these songs get to the heart of Johnston's fractured yet fascinating aesthetic, with his helium-voiced yelp relating tales of isolation, frustration, and escapism over what is often little more than a muffed piano or acoustic-guitar line. Despite the off-key, lo-fi presentation, the brilliance of Johnston's songwriting frequently shines through, as on the urgent existential number "Walking the Cow" and the beautifully wistful ballad "Hey Joe" (later covered to wonderful effect by Sparklehorse). Also of interest is Johnston's reverent, minimal reading of the Beatles' "I Saw Her Standing There," which finds the performer occasionally accompanying his nasal singing with the odd piano note. Though this collection won't convert those put off by Johnston's eccentric delivery, it is a fine sampling of the outsider artist's intriguing musical vision, and is essential for his devoted fans.
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