Hi, How are You
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''Hi, How Are You: The Unfinished Album'' is the sixth self-released
music cassette The Compact Cassette or Musicassette (MC), also commonly called the tape cassette, cassette tape, audio cassette, or simply tape or cassette, is an analog magnetic tape recording format for audio recording and playback. Invented by Lou Otten ...
album by singer-songwriter
Daniel Johnston Daniel Dale Johnston (January 22, 1961 – September 11, 2019) 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 a ...
, 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.


Background


Recording

On September 1, 1983,
Daniel Johnston Daniel Dale Johnston (January 22, 1961 – September 11, 2019) 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 a ...
was evicted from his brother Dick's home in
Houston, Texas Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...
. Daniel had been living with Dick throughout the summer and recorded his previous album ''
Yip/Jump Music ''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 b ...
'' in the garage. Following his eviction, Margie Johnston, his sister, let Daniel live with her in her
San Marcos San Marcos is the Spanish name of Saint Mark. It may also refer to: Towns and cities Argentina * San Marcos, Salta Colombia * San Marcos, Antioquia * San Marcos, Sucre Costa Rica * San Marcos, Costa Rica (aka San Marcos de Tarrazú) ...
home, where he worked in
Pizza Delivery Pizza delivery is a service in which a pizzeria or pizza chain Delivery (commerce), delivers a pizza to a customer. An order is typically made either by telephone, or over the internet, in which the customer can request pizza type and size, a ...
. Margie didn't have any extra furniture for Daniel, so they bought a mattress which was placed on a floor for him to sleep on. Margie notes that Daniel thrived in this environment because he was allowed to make a mess. The backing music to the song 'Desperate Man Blues' comes from a song by
Johnny Dankworth Johnny is an English language personal name. It is usually an affectionate diminutive of the masculine given name John, but from the 16th century it has sometimes been a given name in its own right for males and, less commonly, females. Varian ...
titled 'Desperate Dan' from the album 'England's Ambassador of Jazz', which Johnston owned. The track resonated heavily with Johnston, leading to its inclusion on the album. The album is one of the most sonically varied of Johnston's early output. While earlier records found him focusing on piano or
chord organ Chord organ is a kind of home organ that has a single short keyboard and a set of chord buttons, enabling the musician to play a melody or lead with one hand and accompanying chords with the other, like the accordion with a set of chord button ...
songs almost exclusively, this album blends both approaches along with experiments in tape and noise collage, and some tentative playing on a stringed instrument, referred to as a guitar, a toy guitar, or a ukulele.


Artwork / Title

The album's artwork is a sketch of '''Jeremiah The Frog of Innosense''' (sic), a character created by Johnston inspired by an old rubber stamp box he discovered while working at AstroWorld that previous summer. The box featured a picture of a frog along with the text 'Hi, How Are You?' Johnston became inspired by the phrase and remembered that he had previously used it in his song '''Grievances'',' from
Songs of Pain ''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.
.
''And I saw you at the funeral, you were standing there like a temple'' ''I said, "Hi, how are you? Hello"'' ''And I pulled up a casket and crawled in''
Since he had already called back to Grievances countless times throughout his previous tapes, he felt it was only appropriate to continue to use the phrase as yet another call-back. 'Jeremiah', the frog's name, was taken from the song "
Joy to the World "Joy to the World" is an English Christmas carol. The carol was written in 1719 by the English minister and hymnwriter Isaac Watts, and its lyrics are an interpretation of Psalm 98 celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ. Today, the carol is usua ...
" by
Three Dog Night Three Dog Night is an American rock band formed in 1967, with founding members consisting of vocalists Danny Hutton, Cory Wells, and Chuck Negron. This lineup was soon augmented by Jimmy Greenspoon (keyboards), Joe Schermie (bass), Michael A ...
, which opens with the lyric, '''Jeremiah was a bullfrog.'''


Promotion

Daniel would promote the album through handing out copies to people he met. One individual given a copy of the album was
Kathy McCarty Kathy McCarty is an Austin, Texas-based musician and painter. Career After getting her start with the band Buffalo Gals (1981–1983), McCarty was a founding member and co-leader of the band Glass Eye. After Glass Eye disbanded in 1993, she t ...
, who said that 'That weird kid is probably the only genius I've met in my life!" This was the first Daniel Johnston album to be given a widely distributed release as a
vinyl LP The LP (from "long playing" or "long play") is an analog sound storage medium, a phonograph record format characterized by: a speed of   rpm; a 12- or 10-inch (30- or 25-cm) diameter; use of the "microgroove" groove specification; and ...
; it was released on Homestead Records in 1988.


Legacy

In 1988, when the album was pressed on LP by
Homestead Records Homestead Records was a Long Island, New York-based sublabel of music distributor Dutch East India Trading that operated from 1983 to 1996. The label was known for not paying its artists and not spending any money on promotion. History The l ...
, Mark Lerario for the '' Reading Eagle'' said that it sounded like 'A basement tape haphazardly put together by deaf hippies.' The song "Big Business Monkey" appeared in the soundtrack to the 1990 film,
Slacker A slacker is someone who habitually avoids work or lacks work ethic. Origin According to different sources, the term ''slacker'' dates back to about 1790 or 1898. "Slacker" gained some recognition during the British Gezira Scheme in the early ...
. By 1992 Kurt Cobain began wearing a
t-shirt A T-shirt (also spelled tee shirt), or tee, is a style of fabric shirt named after the T shape of its body and sleeves. Traditionally, it has short sleeves and a round neckline, known as a ''crew neck'', which lacks a collar. T-shirts are general ...
of the album's cover, launching Johnston into mainstream popularity. Two years later, in 1994,
Kathy McCarty Kathy McCarty is an Austin, Texas-based musician and painter. Career After getting her start with the band Buffalo Gals (1981–1983), McCarty was a founding member and co-leader of the band Glass Eye. After Glass Eye disbanded in 1993, she t ...
released her Johnston tribute album, which featured five tracks from ''Hi How Are You''. In 2006, Ty Burr Globe for the
Record-Journal The ''Record-Journal'' is an American daily newspaper based in Meriden, Connecticut, that dates back to the years immediately following the American Civil War. It is owned by the Record-Journal Publishing Company, a family-owned business entit ...
described "Walking the Cow" as "Demented and heartbreakingly fragile". A 2015 documentary about Johnston, titled ''
Hi, How Are You Daniel Johnston? ''Hi, How Are You Daniel Johnston?'' is a 2015 American short documentary film about musician Daniel Johnston. The film was directed by Gabriel Sunday and executive produced by Lana Del Rey and Mac Miller. It premiered in Los Angeles at the Mama ...
'' was named after the record. In 2018, the Mayor of Austin, Texas, declared January 22 (Johnston's birthday) to be "Hi, How Are You Day", a day dedicated to mental health awareness funded by the non-profit organisation of the same name. In 2019, American
post-disco Post-disco (also called boogie, synth-funk, or electro-funk) is a term to describe an aftermath in popular music history circa 1979–1985, imprecisely beginning with an unprecedented backlash against disco music in the United States, leading to c ...
duo
De Lux De Lux is an American post-disco musical duo from Los Angeles, consisting of Sean Guerin and Isaac Franco. Guerin and Franco began creating music together at the age of 15. , the group is signed to Innovative Leisure. The band released their first ...
released a cover of 'Get Yourself Together.' On April 9, 2021, The Johnston estate announced an
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based on the album's cover.


Track listing


Release History


References

{{Authority control Daniel Johnston albums 1983 albums Unfinished albums Self-released albums