"Walking the Cow" | |
---|---|
Song by Daniel Johnston | |
from the album Hi, How Are You | |
Released | 1983 |
Genre | |
Length | 3:35 |
Label | Stress |
Songwriter(s) | Daniel Johnston |
"Walking the Cow" is a song written and recorded by singer-songwriter Daniel Johnston from his 1983 album Hi, How Are You . The title was inspired by an illustration on a wrapper for Blue Bell ice cream depicting a young girl attempting to lead a reluctant cow by its reins. [1]
Johnston recorded an updated version of the song on his 2010 album Beam Me Up! [2] [3]
Austin band The Reivers included their version of the song as a bonus track on the 1988 CD release of Translate Slowly , their 1984 debut album. [4]
During Johnston's wave of popularity in the early 1990s, several musicians released covers of "Walking the Cow". Mike Watt's group Firehose included a version on Flyin' the Flannel (1991). Kathy McCarty of Glass Eye included it on her 1994 Daniel Johnston tribute album Dead Dog's Eyeball. [5] Also in 1994, the Austin surf-rock band Whirled Peas released a version on their second and final album, War and Peas. In October of that year, Pearl Jam covered the song in a performance at Neil Young's Bridge School Benefit concert, and this subsequently became available on the bootleg album In Rock We Trust. [6]
Watt performed the song on a 1995 solo tour; a recording opens his live album Ring Spiel Tour '95, released in 2016. Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder used the song to open every show of his 2008 solo tour. [7]
It was covered by A Camp on their 2001 album A Camp . [8]
On the 2004 tribute album The Late Great Daniel Johnston: Discovered Covered , TV on the Radio contributed their cover of the song.
On September 11, 2020 — the one-year anniversary of Johnston's death — Electric Lady Studios released a video tribute album, Honey I Sure Miss You, via YouTube. It included a cover of "Walking the Cow" by the indie-pop band Lucius. [9]
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.
Translate Slowly is the 1985 debut album by The Reivers. This album was originally released under the band's original name, Zeitgeist, but was remixed in 1988 and re-released under the band name The Reivers, after another band claimed rights to the name "Zeitgeist."
"Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town" is a song by the American rock band Pearl Jam. The song is the tenth track on the band's second studio album, Vs. (1993). Although credited to all members of Pearl Jam, it was primarily written by vocalist Eddie Vedder. The length of the song's title was a reaction by the band to the fact that most of its songs featured one-word titles. The song is often referred to simply as "Elderly Woman" or "Small Town" by the band and its fans. Despite the lack of a commercial single release, the song reached number 17 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart. An acoustic version of the song can be found on the "Go" single. The song was included on Pearl Jam's 2004 greatest hits album, rearviewmirror .
Songs of Pain is the first album by folk singer-songwriter Daniel Johnston, recorded on a simple tape recorder and released on Compact Cassette. Johnston recorded these songs in the basement of his parents' house in West Virginia. Johnston recorded the tape between 1980 and 1981, and it was later mass produced on cassette by Stress Records in 1988, and on Compact Disc in 2003 by the label Dual Tone, together with More Songs of Pain as Early Recordings Volume 1.
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.
The What of Whom is the third self-released music cassette album by singer-songwriter Daniel Johnston, recorded in 1982.
Yip/Jump Music is the fifth self-released music cassette album by singer-songwriter Daniel Johnston, recorded over the summer 1983. The album was re-released on cassette in 1986 by Stress records, and in 1988 released on CD and double LP by Homestead Records. The album has been re-released twice by Eternal Yip Eye Music: once in 2003 on CD and CD-R, and once in 2007 as a double vinyl LP.
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.
"Everyday" is a song written by Buddy Holly and Norman Petty, recorded by Buddy Holly and the Crickets on May 29, 1957, and released on September 20, 1957, as the B-side of "Peggy Sue", which went to number three on the Billboard Top 100 chart in 1957. The song is ranked number 238 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time".
It's Spooky is a collaborative album by musicians Jad Fair and Daniel Johnston. It was first released in 1989 on 50 Skidillion Watts Records, under the title Jad Fair and Daniel Johnston. Although receiving praise from critics and fans alike, the record was commercially overlooked. Both Johnston and Fair play the majority of instruments, including vocals, guitars, piano, keyboards and drums.
Glass Eye were an influential art rock group based in Austin, Texas, and were primarily active from 1983 to 1993. Popular in Austin, and on the college radio and tour circuit, the band's unusual and unique musical style, blending melodic hooks with dissonance and occasional tendencies for the avant-garde, delighted critics. Considered "one of Austin's most popular and influential bands", their commercial success never matched their critical acclaim. Through self-release, and being signed to Wrestler and Bar/None Records, they released four LPs, two EPs and one single, and when the band regrouped in 2006, they released their previously lost final LP, Every Woman's Fantasy, on their own label, Glass Eye Records.
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.
1990 is the eleventh album by American singer-songwriter Daniel Johnston. It was released in January 1990, through record label Shimmy Disc. Like Continued Story before it, 1990 was intended to be Johnston's first studio album, but had to be completed using live recordings and home demos.
This is a list of the discography of Daniel Johnston, who lived in Austin, Texas.
Retired Boxer is the seventh self-released music cassette album by singer-songwriter Daniel Johnston, recorded in 1984. The album's nine songs are performed in Johnston's usual confessional piano ballad style. This album, like those before it, was recorded with a consumer grade tape player. Evidence of this is found in the warbling tape hiss and distortion.
Respect is the 8th self-released music cassette album by singer-songwriter Daniel Johnston, released in 1985. It features covers of the Elvis Presley song "Heartbreak Hotel" and the Bert Berns song "A Little Bit of Soap", made popular by The Jarmels.
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."
Beam Me Up! is the eighteenth and final album by Daniel Johnston released in 2010.
Kathy McCarty is an Austin, Texas-based musician and painter.