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There's Something About Jonathan : Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers
 
 
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There's Something About Jonathan : Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers [Paperback]

Tim Mitchell (Author)
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Product details

  • Paperback: 212 pages
  • Publisher: Peter Owen Ltd; 2nd edition (1 Jan 1999)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0720610761
  • ISBN-13: 978-0720610765
  • Product Dimensions: 21.6 x 14.1 x 1.8 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 473,422 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Tim Mitchell
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Product Description

Review

'There's Something about Jonathan is no quickie hack job cashing in on Richman's newfound movie semi-stardom. It's a loving, well-researched effort that does a nice job scratching the singer's surface, using the gnarled fingernails that author Tim Mitchell is stuck working with. Mitchell... relies on interviews with various Richman associates. These are universally positive, as is the author's analysis of his subject's music: one can't help picturing Mitchell garbed in cheerleader attire, waiting doe-eyed at the foot of Richman's stage, smiley faced pen in hand. While the Lover may be among the very few performers worthy of such a stack of accolades (188 pages high, not counting one describing an occasion when Jonathan was slightly mean to somebody in 1973), the chorus of praise is ultimately counterproductive. Any performer with a 20-album discography is bound to have a few weak blips along the line. Laying a more critical ear to these moments (his "Here Come the Martian Martians" phase) would help validate praise of Richman's better material. Conversely, some applause here seems too tame: 'I, Jonathan', perhaps one of the most undervalued records of the '90's receives a scant three-page examination, as does the singer's work in 'There's Something About Mary." But this book is as much about its subject's persona as it is about his work - an appropriate tactic, as the two are entwined. The book's money-quote, from producer Brenna Totten, sums this up well: Richman "lives his life in public. He's the same guy when he's painting, and he's the same guy when he's paintig as he is plugging into a Fender twin on stage. Rule one is 'Never lie', ever, under any circumstances." If you wiped out the part about the Fender twin and changed 'Never lie' to 'Always lie,' this quote could be applied to Andy Kaufman, who is either the reverse side of Richman's coin or... well, maybe the exact same guy! Those who complain about how we have no more consummate performers should look no farther than Jonathan Richman, who is currently doing some of is best - and most high-profile - work in Hollywood comedies. Mitchell is clearly in the camp who 'get it', and expresses his admiration with a fan's ardor. But just as no movie can fully explain Kaufman, it's going to take a helluva book to figure out some day what that something about Jonathan really is. --Jay Ruttenberg, Puncture

Product Description

Tim Mitchell, author of Sedition and Alchemy, chronicles the life and music of the writer of 'Roadrunner' and many other American classics. Jonathan Richman has never attained the status of a Lou Reed or a Debbie Harry, though he was part of the New York milieu with them, but he was no less influential.
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23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Great book on a great artist, 18 Oct 1999
By A Customer
This review is from: There's Something About Jonathan : Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers (Paperback)
I've just read a book in one sitting . I read it on a train ride from Gothenburg to Stockholm ( through what Bill Bryson,after having travelled the same route, quite unjustly described as "the never ending pine forest that is Sweden" ). It was Tim Mitchell's book "There's something about Jonathan" and I must admit that I loved it.

I've been a huge fan of Jonathan for 22 years or so, and I thought that I knew the story, but I learned a lot from this book. Interesting things that I haven't seen anywhere else, like information on Jonathan's childhood. And real fascinating jiggzaw pussle-bits that explains things I have wondered about, like the information that Glen Matlock, Steve Jones and Paul Cook actually had access to and listened intensively to a tape of The Modern Lovers John Cale-sessions long before that was available on record and while they were still a proto-Sex Pistols. Lots of things like that actually, and in the form of the first thorough "Life and letters of Jonathan Richman" that gives both the chronology and deals more in detail with the music and the songs.

To me, who has been listening closely to this man's music for the best part of my adult life, it was very interesting to read someone else's thoughts about the songs and the man.Parts of this book rises way above a "rock-biography" and becomes an essay on artistic honesty and on loneliness, among other things.Sometimes when you read about what Jonathan has done and said ( like when he had the Modern Lovers do excercises before shows ), you think:"this man is weird, maybe even mad". And then you read about ,for example, his shows on children's hospitals, and you think:"The world could do with more madness like that".

The book is very well researched and written ,and has many fine photos. (Some of the early photos of the longhaired, quite hip-looking Modern Lovers, with that tiny little shorthaired boy wonder in front and in charge really made me smile).Jonathan himself has not been interviewed, as could be expected,but lots of his friends and fellow Modern Lovers from various eras have. The fact that Jonathan is only quoted from magazine articles and such sources is of course a pity in a way, but on the other hand I have a feeling that he would have taken over the book if he had decided to go against his principles and talk in detail about himself. He is very much in the centre of this book but he is also distant and almost elusive,which mirrors the way I've seen him through his music.He is a man who sings his heart out and who no doubt deals with very private feelings, but by not analyzing the songs in public he allows them to be general and allows us to feel them and think about them on a level where they are not only Mr Richman's songs but our songs also.

I may make a fool out of myself by saying this, but there are parallells between the music of Jonathan Richman and that of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and I'm positive that they would have gotten along splendidly.

Anyone interested enough of Jonathan Richman to read this should of course immediatly get Tim Mitchell's book.

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4 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars An informative, unauthorized, rock music biography., 4 May 2000
By Midwest Book Review - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: There's Something About Jonathan : Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers (Paperback)
Exclusive interviews with Richman's band Modern lovers, ex-members of the Velvet Underground and others who knew him well contribute to a well-rounded unauthorized biography which examines the works and legacy of the rock musician. Recommended reading for fans of the artist who want to know more.
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