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Here you'll find info about artists, rumors, camping tips, and the infamous Roo Clues. Have a look around then create an account and join in the fun. See you at Bonnaroo!!
I just watched a videobiography of this guys life. Apparently he is well known but i am just now hearing his story. It was on starz and i dont get starz so i had to watch thru the fuzz but his story was so interesting i couldnt switch it off. Dude had connections with some great musicians.. Butthole Surfurs, Sonic Youth, Nirvana,Flaming Lips.. over 150 artists have covered his songs but the guy was an acid casualty with full Syd. Barret credentials, totally gone fishing. He was obsessed with death and god vs. satan and was commited several times but continued to persue music and art and it got fuzzy at the end so im not sure if this guys is still alive or not but his art and music is very .. inovative. I felt a certain kinship with him while watching his life that i quickly compared to the kinship with froto and gollum.
Post by stallion pt. 2 on Sept 10, 2007 12:36:38 GMT -5
Was the film you watched "The Devil and Danial Johnston?" If not, you need to go see that film right now. I also reccomend the "Late, Great Danial Johnston" 2 CD tribute album. The covers are great, and the 2nd disc has all the originals.
John: We don't even understand our own music Spider: It doesn't, does it matter whether we understand it? At least it'll give us . . . strength John: I know but maybe we could get into it more if we understood it
nice, i knew someone here had heard of this guy. I dunno what the title of the film was, i didn't catch the beginning but i think ill check out the tribute album. Crazy people write some good lyrics. One of the stories that blew my mind was the one when he was flying home from a gig with his father (his dad was piloting a single engine Cessna type plane) and he grabbed the key, turned off the engine and then threw the key out the window. They crashed in some trees and escaped with minor injuries but wow, thats pretty hardcore fvcking nuts.
Post by dudezer47 on Sept 11, 2007 21:45:16 GMT -5
The guy's still alive. I saw him play this past April with his new band (Danny & the Nightmares). They play mostly surf rock stuff that's a little grungy. The set was about half and hour and pretty fun.
yeah he still plays sold out venues in ny and cali. i wonder why the tribute album was title "The Late Great" and pictured his tombstone with his death in 2004..
Sweeeet flick. I was in my local BlockBuster, unimpressed with the new releases, and remembered having read about this on inforoo. Had heard remotely of Daniel in the past-probably through Butthole Surfers or Sonic Youth references. But wow. Talk about a cat beaming with talent. Some of those early movies are really cool. When he started the dosing, I was like"OH SHIT, it's trouble from here for sure !
Really eager to check out that double album.
Thank you to Spiral for the discovery and Stliion for the confirmation. Best movie I've seen in awhile !!
Post by stallion pt. 2 on Sept 24, 2007 12:40:07 GMT -5
Had a dream las night that I was super excited about having tickets to see Danial Johnston play in Phoenix. I woke up so excited only to realize it was just a beautiful dream. Oh well, here's hoping that it comes true.
John: We don't even understand our own music Spider: It doesn't, does it matter whether we understand it? At least it'll give us . . . strength John: I know but maybe we could get into it more if we understood it
yeah the album is sweet. You'll love Becks cover of "True love will find you in the end" Beck has covered two or three other Daniel Johnston songs that appear on his studio albums.
Just got done watching this. Good film! Very interesting.
To be fair, though, I don't think I would say that he is an acid casualty. Not that the acid did good things for him, but he is bipolar. He was obviously fvcked up before he took it. That was why he left college, and why Gibby Haynes said that he should not have been given acid in the first place. I think, with or without the acid, he was still destined to be well on his way to the dark side of the moon.
I dont think being bi-polar would account for the dillusions and paranoia. Ive heard that extremely creative people have a hard time taking acid and i think thats the case with this guy, but i actually missed the first part of the movie and only tuned in when he first dosed so, who knows.
On a side note im reading a book right now called "Conciousness and the mystery of death" by Stanislov Groff. This guy is a doctor who has done alot of work with lsd and holotropic states of conciousness attained through various methods from bloodletting to meditation and breathwork. He also covers case evidence for the existence of a collective uncouncousness and reincarnation. He is most know for his work using lsd and dpt on terminally ill cancer patients back in the 60's - 70's with very positive results on the patients general attitude about facing death and even the unexpected affect of being delivered from chronic pain that was unsucessfully treated with narcotics. Its not an easy read, you have to be genuinely interested in Holotropic states to make it through the book but he covers it from every angle and i'd recomend the book to anyone who wishes to use these states of concousness as a tool for self exploration and a fuller understanding of their cosmic purpose. n stuff
I dont think being bi-polar would account for the dillusions and paranoia. Ive heard that extremely creative people have a hard time taking acid and i think thats the case with this guy, but i actually missed the first part of the movie and only tuned in when he first dosed so, who knows.
Not to be argumentative (okay, a little to be argumentative, but in a friendly way), but I think you are wrong:
From Wikipedia entry on Mania (which is part of the cycle of bipolar disorder):
In addition to decreased desire for sleep, other manic symptoms include irritability, anger or rage, delusions, hypersensitivity, hypersexuality, hyper-religiosity, hyperactivity, racing thoughts, talkativeness or rapid speech, and grandiose ideas and plans.
(my emphasis)
From the entry on Bipolar Disorder:
Psychosis can occur, particularly in manic periods.
Their behavior may become aggressive or intrusive. People may feel they have been "chosen", or are "on a special mission", which are considered grandiose or delusional ideas.
At more extreme phases, a person in a manic state can begin to experience psychosis, or a break with reality, where thinking is affected along with mood.
A number of recent studies have observed a correlation between creativity and bipolar disorder, although it is unclear in which direction the cause lies, or whether both conditions are caused by some third, unknown, factor. It has been hypothesized that temperament may be one such factor.
From Webmd on Bipolar Disorder:
Additionally, in rare cases patients experiencing mania may become psychotic, hearing voices or seeing things, which may in turn incite a violent reaction.
Some people with bipolar disorder become psychotic, hearing things that aren't there. They may hold onto false beliefs, and cannot be swayed from them. In some instances, they see themselves as having superhuman skills and powers -- even consider themselves to be god-like.
On the LSD side:
From the Wikipedia entry on LSD:
There are some cases of LSD inducing a psychosis in people who appeared to be healthy prior to taking LSD. This issue was reviewed extensively in a 1984 publication by Rick Strassman.[49] In most cases, the psychosis-like reaction is of short duration, but in other cases it may be chronic. It is difficult to determine if LSD itself induces these reactions or if it merely triggers latent conditions that would have manifested themselves otherwise. The similarities of time course and outcomes between putatively LSD-precipitated and other psychoses suggests that the two types of syndromes are not different and that LSD may have been a nonspecific trigger. Several studies have tried to estimate the prevalence of LSD-induced prolonged psychosis arriving at numbers of around 4 in 1,000 individuals (0.8 in 1,000 volunteers and 1.8 in 1,000 psychotherapy patients in Cohen 1960;[50] 9 per 1,000 psychotherapy patients in Melleson 1971[51]).
But Daniel Johnston was experiencing symptoms well before he started taking acid. I'm not saying the acid didn't affect him (perhaps by putting, or strengthening, certain ideas in his head), but I don't think it was, by any means, the cause of his problems.
Incidentally, Brian Wilson has also been diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder.
Okay his Syd Barret credentials are hereby revoked, and now that i think about it maybe Syd Barrets wasnt an acid casualty either and maybe there is no such thing.
Post by stallion pt. 2 on Oct 24, 2007 11:19:40 GMT -5
I think the acid gets unfairly blamed in many instances. It brings latent mental disorders to the forefront, but it doesn't create them out of thin air. DJ was already manic depressive, as was Brian Wilson. Syd Barrett likely had Asperger's Syndrome. Skip Spence had mild schizophrenia. Heap a ton of psychadelics on these already unstable minds and you're just asking for trouble, but it's not the root cause. But "Acid casualty" sounds so GOOD in the media. They can't resist using it.
John: We don't even understand our own music Spider: It doesn't, does it matter whether we understand it? At least it'll give us . . . strength John: I know but maybe we could get into it more if we understood it
Not to mention the POWER of a mid eighties Austin Butthole Surfers show to get one unglued !!
I think one is most probably a little easier to cave to the power of suggestion(existing or imagined) under such influence. In DJ's case, he was alone, and under incredible pressure from his own creativity as well as his parent's expectations. He also had some mental issues, but who doesn't. In my honest opinion, I believe it was a little of everything prementioned in this thread, all coming together in a perfect storm.
Daniel was also aware of his mania's power to destroy him as well as force more creativity from him, as evidenced in many of his lyrics as well as his habit of going off his meds several days before scheduled performances....
