Have one to sell? Sell yours here
 
 
There's Something About Jonathan : Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers
 
See larger image
 

There's Something About Jonathan : Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers (Paperback)

by Tim Mitchell (Author)
5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)

Available from these sellers.


7 used from £8.71

Customers Viewing This Page May Be Interested in These Sponsored Links

  (What is this?)
   Jonathan Richman Tickets opens new browser window
Seatwave.com/Jonathan-Richman  -  Get Jonathan Richman tickets Only 16 left, all 100% Guaranteed 
   Jonathan Richman CDs opens new browser window
www.cdconnection.com  -  Large selection of Jonathan Richman CDs in stock at discount prices! 
  
 

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

The Modern Lovers

The Modern Lovers

~ Modern Lovers
5.0 out of 5 stars (2)  £9.88
Not So Much To Be Loved As To Love

Not So Much To Be Loved As To Love

~ Jonathan Richman
Her Mystery Not of High Heels and Eye Shadow

Her Mystery Not of High Heels and Eye Shadow

~ Jonathan Richman
£21.99
I, Jonathan

I, Jonathan

~ Jonathan Richman
Roadrunner, Roadrunner: The Beserkley Colection

Roadrunner, Roadrunner: The Beserkley Colection

~ Jonathan Richman And The Modern Lovers
5.0 out of 5 stars (1)  £8.98
Explore similar items

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.co.uk Sales Rank: 383,654 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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


Book Description

A biography of the eccentric, influential and unique American musician, Jonathan Richman, best known as the author of hits such as 'Roadrunner' and 'Egyptian Reggae'.

Cited as a major influence by people as diverse as the Sex Pistols, REM, Cornershop, Lightning Seeds and Pulp and with celebrity fans like Neil Young, Bob Dylan and Lou Reed, Jonathan Richman is a seminal artist whose career has spanned three decades. He has also gone from early involvement in the Andy Warhol scene in the late sixties to hanging out with people as diverse as the Velvet Underground and Gram Parsons, from proto-punk hero in the mid-seventies to cult troubadour in the eighties and latterly, to big-screen stardom in the hit film, There's Something About Mary.

Contains previously unseen photos and a select discography


Tag this product

 (What's this?)
Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organize and find favorite items.
Your tags: Add your first tag
 

 

Customer Reviews

1 Review
5 star:
 (1)
4 star:    (0)
3 star:    (0)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
5.0 out of 5 stars (1 customer review)
 
 
 
 
Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Great book on a great artist, 18 Oct 1999
By A Customer
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.

Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)


Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
 
 
 
Only search this product's reviews



Customer Discussions

This product's forum
Discussion Replies Latest Post
No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
 


Active discussions in related forums
   
Related forums


Listmania!


Look for similar items by category


Look for similar items by subject


Feedback

Ad

Your Recent History

 (What's this?)

After viewing product detail pages or search results, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in.