Jonathan Richman

Jonathan Richman has charted a determined yet gleeful path guided by personal inspiration ever since launching his recording career in the early 1970s. He first emerged as the raw, proto-punk frontman of a band shaped by the Velvet Underground before evolving into a stripped-down acoustic storyteller who delivered his concise, fervent material in Spanish with the same frequency as English. Midway through that arc he became recognized for deliberately unadorned songs that celebrated an almost childlike delight in everyday surroundings, delivered through a voice that shifted between gravelly and nasal. Although the original Modern Lovers lineup, later preserved on the album The Modern Lovers, is frequently acknowledged as a harbinger of punk’s initial wave, Richman soon discarded that abrasive approach; with a reconstituted Modern Lovers he turned instead to acoustic instruments and lighthearted numbers such as “Ice Cream Man” and “I’m a Little Aeroplane” on the 1977 release Jonathan Richman & the Modern Lovers and the 1979 album Back in Your Life. Stepping forward as a solo act during the 1980s, he kept the music economical while adding electric guitar and sharpening his songcraft, resulting in the distinctive yet precisely assembled collections Jonathan Sings (1983) and Jonathan Richman (1989). The 1994 album Jonathan, Te Vas a Emocionar! inaugurated a series of projects exploring his affinity for Spanish, while 1998’s I’m So Confused received glossy pop production from Ric Ocasek. In the 2000s his writing grew more overtly poetic and leaned further on acoustic textures, as heard on Not So Much to Be Loved as to Love (2004) and Because Her Beauty Is Raw and Wild (2008). During the 2010s he continued testing fresh directions, incorporating Latin elements on Ishkode! Ishkode! (2016) and ragas on Sa (2018), yet the songs stayed as earnest and openhearted as when he first began playing guitar.

Born in Natick, Massachusetts, on May 16, 1951, Richman began playing guitar at fifteen and soon performed publicly for friends. After discovering the Velvet Underground, a frequent attraction in nearby Boston, he became an ardent admirer and relocated to New York City in 1969 to remain close to the group, even lodging temporarily in the office of their manager. While taking miscellaneous jobs in an attempt to enter the New York music world, he found no audience for his direct songs and distinctive vocal manner, prompting a return to Massachusetts by 1970. There he promptly assembled a band that merged his admiration for the Velvets with his personal vision of rock & roll, enlisting guitarist John Felice, bassist Rolfe Anderson, and drummer David Robinson under the name the Modern Lovers. Their debut performance occurred in September 1970, featuring intentionally straightforward rock & roll numbers that addressed life and relationships with unadorned feeling. Richman also rejected conventional rock-star presentation by keeping his hair short, dressing plainly, and occasionally donning a suit and tie. After Felice and Anderson departed in early 1971—Felice later forming the Real Kids—Ernie Brooks joined on bass and Jerry Harrison, who would subsequently enter the Talking Heads, took the keyboards. The Modern Lovers built a devoted Boston following that attracted label interest; in 1972 they recorded demos for Warner Bros. and A&M Records, the former produced by John Cale, though neither company signed them. Those recordings later surfaced on the 1976 Beserkley album The Modern Lovers, while another 1973 demo set produced by Kim Fowley appeared in 1981 as The Original Modern Lovers.

Once that collection was issued the original Modern Lovers had already disbanded, leading Richman to create Jonathan Richman & the Modern Lovers. The new ensemble reduced the blunt electric attack of the earlier demos in favor of a lighter, acoustic-leaning sound better suited to the playful, youthful character his material had assumed. With Leroy Radcliffe on guitar, Greg “Curly” Keranen on bass, and David Robinson on drums, this version recorded a self-titled Beserkley album also released in 1976; a follow-up, Rock ’n’ Roll with the Modern Lovers, arrived in 1977 after D. Sharpe replaced Robinson, who joined the Cars. Also in 1977, Modern Lovers Live captured yet another personnel shift as Asa Brebner replaced Keranen on bass. The same lineup recorded the 1979 studio album Back in Your Life, yet by the time Richman issued his first major-label effort, 1983’s Jonathan Sings on Sire, he fronted an entirely different group that included Ken Forfia on keyboards, Michael Guardabascio on drums, Beth Harrington and Ellie Marshall on vocals, and Greg “Curly” Keranen returning on bass. Most of those musicians reconvened for 1985’s Rockin’ and Romance, originally slated as another Sire release but ultimately issued by Twin/Tone; Andy Paley produced that album and returned for 1986’s It’s Time For, on which Richman added saxophone to his guitar and vocal duties while Paley and Brebner handled the remaining instruments. Modern Lovers ’88, a concise acoustic set under thirty minutes, featured Richman’s guitar and sax alongside Brennen Totten on guitar and Johnny Avila on drums.

As the Modern Lovers gradually functioned less as a fixed band and more as a flexible name for assorted accompanists, Richman retired the moniker; 1989’s Jonathan Richman stood as a genuine solo statement, most tracks reflecting his current stage format of voice and Fender Stratocaster alone. A creative sidestep arrived with 1990’s Jonathan Goes Country, which paired original songs with country-and-western covers and was recorded in Missouri with the Skeletons. I, Jonathan (1992) was tracked with several friends in a makeshift home studio, while 1994’s Jonathan, Te Vas a Emocionar! marked his first full album sung in Spanish, mixing translated originals with Mexican and Spanish folk material. Around this period he adopted a new live configuration featuring acoustic guitars and drummer Tommy Larkins, previously of Giant Sand. You Must Ask the Heart (1995) closed his long association with Rounder Records; Surrender to Jonathan (1996), a Vapor Records debut on the imprint founded by Neil Young, presented re-recordings of favored songs produced by Andy Paley.

Fellow Bostonian Ric Ocasek produced the next Vapor release, 1998’s I’m So Confused, granting Richman a more polished pop sheen than before. That year also brought wider recognition when Richman and Larkins appeared in the film There’s Something About Mary, performing songs that reflected on its narrative and characters. Combined with occasional spots on Late Night with Conan O’Brien, these exposures introduced Richman to fresh listeners while his lyrics attained greater maturity. Both Her Mystery Not of High Heels and Eye Shadow (2001) and Not So Much to Be Loved as to Love (2004) featured Richman and Larkins augmented by multi-instrumentalist Ralph Carney; the arrangements grew subtle and dynamic while Richman’s voice and words conveyed a newly adult perspective. The vinyl edition of Her Mystery contained an all-Spanish second side, and Not So Much to Be Loved included tracks in both Spanish and French. Filmmaker Miles Matthew Montalbano commissioned Richman to score Revolution Summer; the resulting 2007 soundtrack became his first entirely instrumental album. The Spanish label Munster issued ¿A Qué Venimos Sino a Caer? in 2009, containing four new songs plus eight earlier tracks sung in Spanish, French, Italian, and English. That same year Richman and Larkins produced Skitter on Take-Off for Vic Chesnutt, who had toured with Richman repeatedly. O Moon, Queen of Night on Earth (2010), another understated multilingual set, proved to be his final Vapor release. After several years devoted chiefly to live performance, the independent Blue Arrow label issued Ishkode! Ishkode! in 2016, exploring varied Latin styles; two years later Sa drew inspiration from Indian ragas and was produced by former Modern Lovers bandmate Jerry Harrison.