Monday 2 June 2008

Jonathan Richman live in his livingroom



LIVING ROOM DEMOS aka SOLO ACETATE

After the Lovers broke up Jonathan resumed playing solo. This recording brings us probably as close as we'll get to hearing what those shows sounded like. Don't be misled by the long list of song titles; while there are a number of great fully-formed songs, many of these are loose song sketches and snippets. The music helps fill in the gaps between 1973 Jonathan and post-1976 Jonathan; there are a number of songs (I'm Young in particular) that would've sounded great with the original Lovers, but the vintage cover selections and the more ambitious melodies of some of the originals help point the way to new musical adventures.

On the advice of the better-informed, I've given up trying to guess why this recording was made. It surfaced as an acetate, which is a kind of LP produced in very small quantities. The looseness of the performances and the production lend this a wonderfully intimate atmosphere (hence the "Living Room Demos" nickname).

There's an audience of two or three friends tops, Jonathan wanders from guitar to tambourine to acapella, repeating songs, extolling the virtues of playing solo and, at one point, asking someone take a telephone message for him.

Falling In Love Must Be Two Way
Touch Me If You Want To

RAR 1
RAR 2

*updated links*

3 comments:

L said...

And thanks for this treasure as well. You're colossal.

Bucklberry said...

I recall this one being posted on some forum ages ago, and the folk there went mental for it, yet did any say thanks? Yours are appreciated!

ROOKSBY said...

Hey, never come across this before, many thanks for sharing... x