I met my future brother-in-law, Tommy Dunbar, at a family Thanksgiving. We spent the day raving about our favorite records. I asked Tommy if he knew Jonathan Richman, since both Jonathan and The Rubinoos had recorded for Berserkeley. Tommy told me that he'd played on two of my favorite Jonathan tracks - "New Teller" and "Gov't Center." I had been listening to those songs since I was in high school. When I got to college, my friends thought I was nut. Jonathan did not fit into the typical radio formats they'd been fed. "This guy can't even sing!" they complained. I was impressed beyond belief and immediately felt a new surge of hope for my family life.
"If your sister doesn't marry this man, I'm going to kill myself," I told The Long-Suffering Mrs. Chance on the drive home.
Jonathan and Tommy are still pals. We always go to Jonathan's shows in Sacramento. I have never seen a performer with such a desire to entertain. Jonathan has said of himself, "I have a lot of nerve and I'm not afraid of being laughed at." He's certainly proved it by, for example, crawling around the stage on all fours to portray the title character in "I'm A Little Dinosaur."
A typical Jonathan show combines singing, dancing, percussion instrument freak-outs, acoustic guitar power strumming, dancing and comedy monologues, all wrapped around Jonathan's "anything-can-be-a-song" compositions. They're all based Jonathan's feelings about ordinary life experiences: riding the bus, going to an art museum, driving at night and listening to rock and roll radio, dancing at a lesbian bar for the first time, running after the ice cream truck. His entire body of work, even the songs about suffering, are unified by a single message: "I'm Happy To Be Here Damn You Bet."
Jonathan believe in experiencing every aspect of life fully, including sadness. Every critic acknowledges Jonathan's child-like approach. Some people prefer to call it infantile, but it's refreshing to hear at least one artist utterly free of the typical "I'm so angry and cynical" singer-songwriter pose.
My daughter, Sara, grew up listening to Jonathan in the car, but was not a fan. "Dad, he's just so cheesy," she complained at age 11. After we forced her to attend Jonathan's show at the Great American Music Hall last year (Tommy and the Rubinoos opened) she softened her attitude. "I get it a lot more now," she said.
At Thursday's show, Jonathan's songs tackled subjects including:
• Cell phones and how the screw up eating breakfast or hanging out at the beach
• The Dutch Painter Jan Vermeer
• Using air conditioning, Prozac and gated communities to avoid really living and feeling
• The difference between lesbian bars and boring heterosexual bars
• Women who don't need make up and high heels to be mysterious and sexy
Jonathan is one of my favorite guitar players. His unique lead/rhythm style gets so much music out of a simple tool: a nylon-stringed flamenco guitar that's not even plugged in. When he wants it louder, he moves up to the microphone. For quieter he steps back, just like the performers at the Grand Ole Opry used to do. Jonathan's guitar antics are similar to my other favorite guitarist, Wilko Johnson, co-founder of the great 70s British R&B outfit Dr. Feelgood. Even though Johnson is loud and electric, thrashing is famous red-and-black telecaster, the similarities seemed obvious on Thursday.
• Jonathan and Wilko both disdain the pick, raking the string flamenco-style with their fingernails.
• Both play lead and rhythm at the same time to fill out the minimalist sound. Wilko's now fronts a guitar bass and drums band. Jonathan is accompanied on drums by Tommy Larkins.
• Both offer a unique stage presence. Wilko stage presence featured an ugly pudding basin haircut, cheap black suits, bulging eyeballs, jerky robotic movements and a habit of carrying his guitar like a machine gun.
• Jonathan and Wilko are big influences on punk. Critics have graced both with the title, "Godfather of Punk."
• Both of these mad geniuses are still playing clubs for small, but devoted crowds. Wilko rarely leaves England, but he's quite active. He's bald now, but the black suits, bulging eyeballs and frantic energy is still intact. You can check them both out on YouTube.
Jonathan sent Tommy his latest single last month - an actual 45! It's called "You Can Have A Cell Phone That's Okay But Not Me." The record echoes the stomping blues chant of "Pablo Picasso." The audience on Thursday night loved it. "Cell Phone" is joining Jonathan's long list of most-requested tunes.
I've never met Jonathan. I won't even ask to be introduced. Jonathan doesn't like to talk before or after the shows to save his voice. I don't think he cares much for the meet-and-greet aspect of performing. Jonathan came up to Tommy before the show. He was standing within 3 feet of me! I held my ground. What was I going to do? Barge in with some lame fanboy line like "I'm really a big fan and uh...it's...uh great to meet you?" I'll pass. You should never meet your heroes. What if he told me to get lost or had bad breath? You have to be careful with Jonathan. A person could end up in one of his songs.
©2008 by Edward Dean Chance. All Rights Reserved. My lawyer will pinch you head off!
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