Fun | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | September 20, 1994 | |||
Recorded | Summer 1994 Waller, Texas | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 45:53 | |||
Label | Atlantic | |||
Producer | Paul Leary | |||
Daniel Johnston chronology | ||||
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Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [1] |
Austin American-Statesman | [2] |
Chicago Tribune | [3] |
Entertainment Weekly | B+ [4] |
Spin Alternative Record Guide | 6/10 [5] |
Fun is the second studio album by singer-songwriter Daniel Johnston, and his thirteenth album overall. It was his first major label release, as well as his only album for Atlantic Records. The album was produced by Butthole Surfers member Paul Leary. [6] Two years after the release, Johnston was dropped from the Atlantic Records label.
By 1991, Johnston was institutionalized at the Austin State Hospital after relocating to Waller, Texas, with his family. During this period, Johnston's popularity continued to grow, with Kurt Cobain wearing a shirt featuring the Hi, How Are You cover in several publicity events, most notably at the 1992 MTV Video Music Awards. The shirt's visibility led to increased publicity for Johnston.
Around that time, Terry Tolkin contacted Johnston's manager, Jeff Tartakov, about signing him to Elektra Records. Tartakov, Tolkin, and Johnston met in the waiting room of Austin State Hospital and had a half-hour business meeting, resulting in a contract taking careful consideration into Johnston's situation. The label would provide Johnston with a physician, not require him to tour, and not drop him for failure to promote a record. Tartakov referred to this as "The most one-sided contract in favor of artists' rights that had ever been drawn up." Elektra intended to sign Johnston for his entire career, with eight records planned.
Over the next few months, Tartakov and Tolkin waited for Johnston's health to improve. Meanwhile, Tartakov was contacted by Yves Beauvais, Vice President of A&R for Atlantic Records, who was interested in signing Johnston. Tartakov told him they were close to signing with Elektra, which launched a bidding war with a $100,000 possibility.
Once Daniel was released from Austin State, he became paranoid about Elektra, worried that they were satanic and that Elektra recording artists Metallica would "beat and kill him." As such, the deal was abandoned. Tartakov eventually discovered he had been replaced as Johnston's manager by Tom Gimbel. [7] Johnston had discovered Gimbel after visiting Austin-based record label Amazing Records. After giving the receptionist a tape, Gimbel recognised Johnston and followed him out to give him his card. Months later, Johnston hired Gimbel as his manager. Gimbel insisted he had no experience as a manager, but Johnston convinced him to try.
Within weeks of Gimbel's hiring, [8] in February 1994, [9] Johnston was signed to Atlantic. The new contract featured no provisions to deal with Johnston's illness, with an emphasis on releasing the album as soon as possible. [8]
Johnston had written a majority of tracks at his piano [10] between 1990 and 1994. The earliest traces of 'Fun' material date back to Johnston's March 14, 1990, live performances at SXSW, during which he premiered the songs "Silly Love" and "Love Wheel." This was during the writing of his previous album, Artistic Vice . In late 1992, Johnston performed a trio of live dates across Texas, [7] the last of which, at the University of Houston, was recorded and released as Frankenstein Love in 1998. [11] The setlist was largely made up of songs which would later appear on Fun, including "Mind Contorted", "Life in Vain", "Love Will See You Through", "Happy Time", "Crazy Love", "Rock 'n' Roll/EGA", and "Foxy Girl."
Beauvais was aware that Johnston's illness would make the album difficult to record, and so he hired Paul Leary to produce. Leary later noted that Johnston had trouble playing instruments at the time, leading to Leary providing much of the backing. According to Beauvais, Johnston was suffering with severe lithium tremors, and his hands were too unsteady to play piano. Johnston would showcase the basic chord progression of songs to Leary, who would then work on the instrumentation and guitar tracks in a local studio owned by Willie Nelson. The vocals were overdubbed in Johnston's parents' garage, just outside Houston. [12] [10]
'Fun' was released on September 20, 1994, selling 5,800 copies. Johnston was dropped by Atlantic in 1996. [9] After this release Johnston would take a hiatus, but would eventually return with Rejected Unknown in 2001. During that period Johnston performed several live shows.
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Love Wheel" (Featuring Paul Leary & King Coffey) | 2:20 |
2. | "Life In Vain" (Ft. Sandy Smallens, Paul Leary & Regina Carter) | 3:22 |
3. | "Crazy Love" | 1:13 |
4. | "Catie" (Ft. Paul Leary) | 2:30 |
5. | "Happy Time" | 2:54 |
6. | "Mind Contorted" (Ft. Paul Leary) | 2:56 |
7. | "Jelly Beans" | 1:24 |
8. | "Foxy Girl" (Ft. Paul Leary) | 4:24 |
9. | "Sad Sac + Tarzan" (Ft. Paul Leary) | 3:08 |
10. | "Psycho Nightmare" (Ft. Paul Leary & King Coffey) | 2:05 |
11. | "Silly Love" | 1:31 |
12. | "Circus Man" | 1:30 |
13. | "Love Will See You Through" (Ft. Bobbie Nelson) | 2:07 |
14. | "Lousy Weekend" (Ft. Sandy Smallens, Paul Leary, King Coffey & Regina Carter) | 2:07 |
15. | "Delusion + Confusion" | 2:44 |
16. | "When I Met You" | 0:56 |
17. | "My Little Girl" | 4:08 |
18. | "Rock 'N' Roll/Ega" (Ft. Paul Leary & King Coffey) | 4:44 |
Total length: | 45:53 |
Adapted from album liner notes
Guest Performers
Technical
Elektra Records is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group, founded in 1950 by Jac Holzman and Paul Rickolt. It played an important role in the development of contemporary folk and rock music between the 1950s and 1970s. In 2004, it was consolidated into WMG's Atlantic Records Group. After five years of dormancy, the label was revived as an imprint of Atlantic in 2009. In October 2018, Elektra was detached from the Atlantic Records umbrella and reorganized into Elektra Music Group, once again operating as an independently managed frontline label of Warner Music. In June 2022, Elektra Music Group was merged with 300 Entertainment to create the umbrella label 300 Elektra Entertainment (3EE), though both Elektra and 300 continued to maintain their separate identities as labels.
Daniel Dale Johnston was an American singer, musician and artist regarded as a significant figure in outsider, lo-fi, and alternative music scenes. Most of his work consisted of cassettes recorded alone in his home, and his music was frequently cited for its "pure" and "childlike" qualities.
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Don't Be Scared is singer-songwriter Daniel Johnston's second self-released album, released in 1982. It was re-released on cassette in 1989 by Stress Records, a label run by Johnston's friend and manager Jeff Tartakov, on mp3 by emusic.com in 2000, and on CDR by Eternal Yip Eye Music in 2004.
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Hi, How Are You: The Unfinished Album is the sixth self-released music cassette album by singer-songwriter Daniel Johnston, recorded in September 1983. The subtitle refers to the length of the album; Johnston had intended for it to be an hour-long release, as a majority of his earlier releases were.
Terry Tolkin was an American music executive and music journalist.
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Artistic Vice is the first studio album by singer-songwriter Daniel Johnston, and his twelfth overall, counting his nine widely distributed demo tapes, two earlier aborted attempts at studio albums,, and collaboration with Jad Fair, It's Spooky. It was his first full-length album recorded after a three-year hiatus. The album is considered more light-hearted than its predecessor, 1990.
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Continued Story is the ninth self-released album by Daniel Johnston, released on cassette tape in 1985. The album includes a cover of the Beatles song "I Saw Her Standing There". It was released on CD in 1991 by Homestead Records and re-released in 2003 on a dual-album CD, along with the 1983 album Hi, How Are You, by Johnston's own label, Eternal Yip Eye Music.
Merry Christmas is the tenth self-released music cassette album by singer-songwriter Daniel Johnston, recorded in 1988. The back of the cover features a typed message from Daniel: "Thanks to everyone who's helped in the past year, especially those who have bought and played my album. Thanks again."
P is the debut and only album by American alternative rock band P, featuring Bill Carter, Johnny Depp, Gibby Haynes and Sal Jenco. It was released on November 21, 1995, through Capitol Records and was reissued on May 8, 2007, under the Caroline Records label. Produced by bassist Andrew Weiss, the album also featured contributions from Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea, Sex Pistols guitarist Steve Jones, and pianist and Los Angeles scene fixture Chuck E. Weiss.