OPO/POO: Daniel Johnston

I'll second that.

Speeding Motorcycle is ace though and covers by Yo La Tengo and the Pastels are wonderful.

Anyone got the tribute album? It's tremendous by and large. Flaming Lips & Sparklehorse do beautiful things with Go and M Ward contributes an awesome Story Of An Artist.

Sad news:

So terribly sad to hear the news, from my dear friend Jeff Tartakov, that Daniel Johnston died late last night. Daniel is my all time favourite pop songwriter. His music captured so much with its honesty, humour, poignancy and great melodic heart. https://t.co/sULL7Ib3RJ pic.twitter.com/S7JWJaJcgn

— Duglas T Stewart (@DuglasTStewart) September 11, 2019

Oh fucking no :(

rip

https://www.austinchronicle.com/daily/music/2019-09-11/austin-singer-songwriter-daniel-johnston-dead-at-58/

RIP, what a songwriter

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCoXzh3t0Ho

rip, ugh

but the album 1990 is maybe my all time favorite album. daniel alone at the piano. "true love will find you in the end" and "some things last a long time" AHHH the beauty!!!!

this was the first one i heard, and still my favorite. and those two are my very favorites.

RIP

RIP Daniel :(

Ah jesus, terrible news. RIP.

There for sure will never be another like him

otm. no one could ever take his place

RIP Daniel, proper DIY genius

god, RIP, what a fascinating figure and supernaturally talented songwriter

He was incredible. Grateful for how often his music gave me goosebumps with a simple and honest lyric. Thought of this lyric in particular when I heard the news:

Gee, it's great to be alive
Takes the skin right off my hide
To think I'll have to give it all up some day

been a while since i've genuinely teared up over a musician's death.

didn't know there was another thread on this. sad news and wished i knew more of his stuff. RIP.

This blows :(

Have always mentally associated Daniel with Roky Erickson (both Texan visionaries, both have have touch of the William Blakes about them (Daniel's drawings, Roky's lyrics)). And now we've lost them both within a couple of months.

this has been a bad year overall for outré music heroes

cried. met dj ten years ago - he signed my ticket for the show in my friends eyeliner with a trembly hand. never a purer soul. chord organs sing on. god bless.

thread:

Around 2007 / 2008 Daniel Johnston played several shows in Dublin @Vicar_Street and @whelanslive Accompanied by his brother and minder Dick, Daniel brought an all-star band of great musicians and songwriters to Whelan’s on July 27th and 28th.

— Leagues O'Toole (@foggynotions) September 11, 2019

just ate a big mcdonalds in your honour, dan. there's golden arches waiting for ya up there.

Strong Sad's @danieljohnston tribute. I just couldn't bring myself to throw creamed corn at him like I planned. pic.twitter.com/NbYVobJos1

— Strong Bad (@StrongBadActual) September 13, 2019

From Pitch Perfect PR:

On January 31st, dBpm Records will release Chicago 2017, an album composed of songs from Daniel Johnston’s final Chicago performance at The Vic Theatre in 2017, as well as a session recorded at The Loft, backed by Tweedy (Jeff & Spencer Tweedy, James Elkington, Liam Kazar, and Darin Gray). Today, they offer a preview of this limited release, Johnston’s timeless song “Worried Shoes,” performed live at The Vic.

Chicago 2017 was recorded by Tom Schick and will be limited to 2000 black, blue, and white splatter vinyl-only copies, available through the Wilco Store and indie retailers. Proceeds from this release will benefit the Hi, How Are You Project (HHAY), the non-profit started with the support of Daniel and his family. Hi, How Are You inspires new conversations around mental health issues by funding and creating thoughtful media content, projects and events.

LISTEN TO “WORRIED SHOES”
https://youtu.be/5j5rVXyQuJI

"Jeff Tweedy and Wilco have been incredible ambassadors of Daniel's music for years,” says Tom Gimbel, Daniel’s longtime manager and co-founder of HHAY. “So many fans have discovered Daniel's work through covers and interviews by notable artists such as Jeff and Wilco - and we are certainly grateful. I think this album captures the perfect Daniel Johnston setlist and does so with Jeff and the band's expert musicianship and thoughtful arrangements. I'm so glad that this show from Daniel's last tour was recorded with such care. It's something fans will be able to enjoy forever."

Jeff Tweedy adds: “There is and was only one Daniel and to be able to work with him and help present his music was a huge honor for me and the band, one for which we are all very thankful. “

Ahead of the release of Chicago 2017, HHAY will host its annual benefit concert for its third consecutive year on January 22nd at Austin City Limits Live at the Moody Theater in Austin, TX. The Hi, How Are You Day concert features Cage The Elephant, White Denim, Tunde Adebimpe, plus more special guests. This celebration of the life and legacy of the late great Daniel Johnston is both a tribute and a call to action to remove the stigma around mental health, and to encourage conversations about well-being.

Pre-order Chicago 2017
http://bit.ly/DJChicago2017

Chicago 2017 Tracklist:
Side One
1.The Story Of An Artist
2. Like A Monkey In A Zooe
3. Casper The Friendly Ghost
4. Hey Joe
5. Worried Shows
6. Cold Hard World
7. Crazy Love

Side Two
1.Girl Of My Dreams
2. Walking The Cow
3. Funeral Home
4. I’m So Tired
5. Speeding Motorcycle
6. True Love Will Find You In The End / Spirit World Rising / Funeral Home

For more information on Hi, How Are You? & Hi, How Are You? Day, contact: i✧✧✧@hihoware✧✧✧.o✧✧

Sorry, forgot to re-format that email---try info at hihowareyou dot org

this is even better than their loveless shirt:

https://i.imgur.com/6nwhjJ4.png

https://i.imgur.com/q0I59UB.png

hopefully some of the money will go to his family

I'm curious if there was ever trouble caused by has regular usage of Captain America and Casper The Friendly Ghost or anything like that? Selling art is fine because basically most comic artists sell these commissions and convention sketches all the time without permission to use these characters but I don't think anything he did went much beyond that or featuring a Kirby comic cover on an album cover.

The original tapes are up on Bandcamp

https://danieljohnston.bandcamp.com/

Should add -- pay what you want through Dec. 20th

Thanks!

Joaquin Phoenix actually sings one of his songs over the end credits of Joker: Folie à Deux. I'd normally count that as a goldmine for whoever controls his estate, but probably not in this case.

From Anthology Film Archives in NYC:

DANIEL JOHNSTON
September 20-22, 2025

Songwriter, musician, and artist Daniel Johnston passed away in 2019, but both his music and artwork continue to attract rapturous attention. Johnston is certainly best known as a stunningly prolific songwriter, whose unique, deeply personal, vulnerable, and unapologetically lo-fi songs – most of them initially recorded and distributed on cassette tape – attracted legions of fans despite, or because of, their unpolished textures and their disarming reflections of the mental illness with which he struggled throughout his life. Celebrated both by critics and fellow musicians (most famously Kurt Cobain, but also Jad Fair, Tom Waits, Jeff Tweedy, and many others), Johnston’s music was only one manifestation of his creativity. He was an equally prolific artist, compulsively producing countless drawings that reflected – perhaps even more than his music – his singular preoccupations, highly distinctive set of characters and symbols, and his unique view of the world.

In collaboration with Johnston’s sister, Marjory Johnston, as well as gallerist Deborah Colton, Anthology presents a weekend of screenings of some of the films and videos that have documented Johnston’s life and work, including the acclaimed documentary THE DEVIL AND DANIEL JOHNSTON (2005), the concert film THE ANGEL AND DANIEL JOHNSTON: LIVE AT THE UNION CHAPEL (2008), and a brand-new work, FLAT TIRE DOWN MEMORY LANE (2025), in which filmmaker Avalon Stevens provides a fascinating glimpse of Johnston’s artwork and the collections that he assembled and among which he lived in his home in Waller, Texas, in his final years.

Marjory Johnston will be here in person to present the screenings!

Special thanks to Marjory Johnston, Deborah Colton, and Avalon Stevens.