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Freedy's wasting time

Frayed Knot Apr 13 2008 06:41 AM

This sounds like it might be a fun listen; [u:b43aa91212]Freedy Johnson: My Favorite Waste of Time[/u:b43aa91212] -- an album of all cover tunes. I know there are a couple of Freedy fans kicking around here and his previous covers - such as 'Witchita Lineman' and 'Love Grows (where my Rosemary goes)' - have proven to be a fun change of pace to his own often sullen tunes. I just heard 'Bus Stop' on the radio which is what clued me in the seeing what else was on the album which, at least for now, is apparently only available [url=http://www.freedyjohnston.com/myfavoritewasteoftime.htm]through his website[/url] 1) You're My Favorite Waste of Time - Marshall Crenshaw 2) I Want You Bad - NRBQ 3) Do You Know the Way to San Jose - Bacharach & David 4) The Sad Cafe - The Eagles 5) I've Been Waiting - Matthew Sweet 6) Listen to What the Man Said - Paul & Linda McCartney 7) Let 'em In - Paul & Linda McCartney 8) Shadow of a Doubt (A Complex Kid) - Tom Petty 9) Bus Stop - The Hollies 10) Night and Day - Cole Porter

Rockin' Doc Apr 13 2008 07:28 AM

I really like Freedy's music. I will have to give the new album of covers a listen. I wish he would release an album of new original material. Right Between the Promises in 2001 was was his last fully realized work of original material. Since that time, he has released only The Way I Were: 4-Track Demos in 2004 which contained stripped down demos of songs that never made it onto his previous recordings. In 2006 he released Live at McCabes Guitar Shop a recording of just Freedy and his guitar playing previously released music. I keep waiting for fresh, new material from Freedy.

seawolf17 Apr 13 2008 11:31 AM

I love cover albums. A bunch I've liked recently (Tesla, Def Leppard, Aerosmith's blues CD), a few more in the pipeline (Wildhearts, Everclear) that look vaguely interesting. There are other recent ones, I know, but I can't immediately think of them.

John Cougar Lunchbucket Apr 13 2008 12:06 PM

I'm sure this is good but agree with Doc ... Freedy badly needs some new stuff; preferably, good new stuff. "Promises" really wasn't much of a record; the hit was a cover I think there was 8 more songs total, so that basically means his last new record worth hearing was "Blue Days" which came out, as I recall it, the day of the mofo picnic ('01?). Ancient history.

sharpie Apr 13 2008 02:22 PM

Covers albums are never as good as original albums for decent songwriters. David Bowie's Pin-UPs, Patti Smith's 12, that one Bryan Ferry did -- all fine but I'd rather hear their own material. I think Freedy has been killing what looked like a fine career for some time now.

AG/DC Apr 13 2008 03:42 PM

Ferry always claimed Bowie came in to the studio heard him doing a soul cover album, stole the idea and beat him to market.

John Cougar Lunchbucket Apr 13 2008 08:05 PM

Holy crap. That's 2001 for "Promises" not "Blue Days." THAT record was 1999. That's too long.

Frayed Knot Apr 13 2008 08:44 PM

What's the boy been doing with himself??

John Cougar Lunchbucket Apr 13 2008 08:49 PM

He probably has a day job somewhere.

John Cougar Lunchbucket Apr 13 2008 09:45 PM

This really is a troubling mystery, now that I've given it more thought and a little googling. Here are a few wild theories as to his seeming inactivity Break up with Graham Maby at your own risk Graham (best known as Joe Jackson's resplendent bassist) produced the magnificent Can You Fly and played bass for that early stuff. He was replaced as producer and in the band since; he apparently played with FJ once again and they could only play stuff from CYF. Either way, he's never made a new record with the same producer twice: Maby, then Butch Vig (Perfect World) then Danny Korchmar (Never Home) then T-Bone Burnett (Blue Days) then Cameron Greider (Promises). One thing this assured was each of these records having a different feel (raw, lush, sharp, morose, garage-y, respectively) He's a dick in real life Came across more than a few instances of audiences turned off by his behavior. He apparently is intensly private, doesn't suffer fools, and was "contemptuous" of people discussing his work on the web (I guess, like me). Perhaps he got on the wrong side of the right people. I have to say, tho, he always seemed eager to please and personable when I saw him, and playing a billion gigs a year surely gets your bad ones on the net somewhere... like this one: ]...when the hecklers disrupted a solo performance of Johnston's song "Emily," the singer backed away from his microphone, singled out one of them and announced, "I'm coming for you, motherfucker." [url]http://citypages.com/databank/21/1023/article8807.asp[/url] Married a rich girl And needn't work. That's just a guess too, though I saw him discussed as "newly married" in '03 and that being one theory of his spotty whereabouts. Farm work is hard work Told an interviewer he'd spent 2 years working on his brother's farm in Oklahoma in the early oughts. He sold more than the farm to feed the band Soul belonging today to one Louis Cipher.

AG/DC Apr 14 2008 05:48 AM

Other theories: Writer's block. It happens to the best of them. I just never thought it would be beneath him to run with a few ideas that don't seem to work at face value. He's depressed. He's deep into his fourties and thought he'd make it by now. What's the use? What's the use? The vicious cycle. Guys in his market position don't tend to prosper from the records, but from the constant touring. The albums have to keep coming though to give the label incentive to underwrite some of the tour expenses and to give the fans incentive to return again to see a new set. But, as we know from VH-1's Behind the Music, "it's hard to write songs on the road." Kids. Has he had any kids? Look what happened to Delgado.

sharpie Apr 14 2008 08:26 AM

He got dropped by his record company a few years back. That can't help.

themetfairy Apr 14 2008 09:26 AM

Whenever I see an established artist doing covers, I think of [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_Thudpucker]Jimmy Thudpucker[/url].

AG/DC Apr 30 2008 07:12 AM

I got the album, and there's enough to be encouraged by here. These aren't two-take guitar-bass-drum machine covers, but full-blown sessions, with bigger arrangements than you find on a typical Freedy album, including horns (thus the inclusion of ("Let 'Em In" and "Listen to What the Man Said") and backup singers (typically used sparingly on Freedy records, because he sings off key and backup singers have a way of underscoring that). In other odd in-between-album-packages comes a record from Mudcrutch. Tom Petty's band before the Heartbreakers, Mudcrutch moved from Gainesville to LA only to find their big recond deal falling through. They disbanded and went their seperate ways in the LA scene, with Tom Petty pursuing work as a singer-songwriter. When Petty landed a deal of his own, he had found that Mudcrutchers Mike Campbell and Benmont Tench had started a new band and he re-hired them to back him up as the Heartbreakers. The rest is history. Or was. The original Mudcrutch lineup has reunited to produce an album of oldd and new songs, including at least one member who left the band in 1972, before they trekked out to Hollywood. The album is available to download (probably as a CD also) and the band is doing a small tour.