[Jandek] Re: Purity

[djobe]

>===== Original Message From Dave Parent <dave9199 at lycos.com> =====
>I see what your saying, but do you think that if others albums were recorded, 
at least, before House came out that those also
>would count as "pure"?

For sure, at least in the musical sense. And even if friends were aware of 
them (and some of them must have been, since other people play on some of 
them) I doubt they would have imagined these recordings as released vinyl.



 And we don't know if he played songs before House was out to friends or not. 
Maybe there is an "outside
>influence" on House if anyone heard the songs and made any kind of comment on 
them that Jandek used. But we'll never know
>that.

True. You know to somewhat contradict what I said before, "Nancy" or "Eddie" 
or "John" may have helped him reach the decision to release 'Ready for the 
House' in the first place. This is an odd thought.  Maybe there was a small 
set of people who knew of these to begin with and enjoyed them, and the 
thought arose that maybe other people would enjoy them, so he released the 
first album, got no response, and gave up.  Until...


The impression I got from Chusid was he had recorded but before Chusid's 
interest, he wasn't confident enough to release
>them.

...and that's what I was saying in the first place, that in realizing that 
other people WERE open to the music then it WAS worth releasing.  Excited, he 
released a slew of them very quickly. He also was open to contact at this 
point, but rapidly that fades away.  Paranoia?  A desire to retain purity by 
not mixing his life with his music? Maybe he makes a girlfriend out of a fan 
who becomes the second female voice and then leaves him, causing him to swear 
off personal contact forever? Who knows. He retreats like Pynchon into the 
abyss, tossing out vinyl and cds at whim and still consenting to the 
occasional cryptic message.  Then after a period of what I would estimate is 
about ten years (since the last major "outside" contact) there's the Vine 
interview.  Then the consent toward the documentary.  Now the live show.

So is the live show the next release?  Seems that it should be, and for the 
first time ever Corwood has some pressure on it to release a particular 
recording (though I have the feeling everyone who wants an audio copy will 
have one before the audio release, not that this will halt me from getting the 
'official' version anyhow, cause I always do).  So most of the pressure will 
be on the DVD, and that's also new ground.  Or he may just have a new studio 
album called "the Beginning of the End of it All in the New Town that I Had to 
Get Away to" coming out next week.

Danen


>
>>I don't think Seth is implying that Jandek's first album was "pure"
>>because of when it was recorded, but rather because of its potential 
audience
>>(and please Seth correct me if I'm wrong about this).  When that first album
>>was released, it truly was into a vacuum - nobody knew who he was, or what 
to
>>expect.  When 'Six and Six' came out there was an audience (however small) 
and
>>Chusid was getting the gospel out to the six or seven people ready to hear 
it.
>>With each album sales increased (I assume) and a few fanzines, Spin and 
Option
>>responded with pieces. Although the original batch of records may have all 
come
>>from seventies era sessions, Jandek had to feel confident that somebody out
>>there was listening.
>>This is how I understand Chusid's relationship to be important.  Without his
>>boost, our "Representative" may not have felt courageous enough to
>>drop the money on another thousand copies he wasn't gonna "move." Now
>>that he knew there was somebody, he could press on.  I believe this is what 
has
>>kept him going all this time, and that the reason he felt so "alive"
>>may have something to do with the anonymous response of much of the crowd.
>>We've heard the sides of those in the know, or who came into the know, of 
what
>>they were seeing. What about the "90% of the crowd" (to quote Gavin)
>>who had no idea what was going on?  I think that's what boosted him - the 
idea
>>that people could get into what he was doing with no expectations attached. 
How
>>many Richard Youngs fans are walking around right now saying "I don't know
>>who that guy Richard was jamming with was, but that was some wild stuff."
>>I think Jandek proved to himself that his appeal is broader than the
>>"legend" and that the ri
>>ght crowd of people might respond positively based only on what they heard,
>>without all the "mystery" attached. In this sense, one could almost
>>see this gig as being the first "pure" experience since Corwood's
>>only recording artist was called The Units.  This leaves me more curious 
than
>>ever to see what will happen next.
>--
>_______________________________________________
>Find what you are looking for with the Lycos Yellow Pages
>http://r.lycos.com/r/yp_emailfooter/http://yellowpages.lycos.com/default.asp?
SRC=lycos10
>
>
>_______________________________________________
>jandek mailing list
>jandek at mylist.net
>http://mylist.net/listinfo/jandek