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 by Homestead Records. The album has been re-released twice by Eternal Yip Eye Music: once in 2003 on CD and CD-R, and once in 2007 as a double vinyl LP.
Yip/Jump Music is the first album to feature Johnston on the chord organ. It was recorded in his brother's garage in Texas.
Background
In early 1983, Johnston's family (with whom he was still living) became increasingly concerned about his mental and emotional health. His brother Dick offered to have Daniel stay with him over the summer in his home in Houston, Texas while he worked at Astroworld. Since Daniel's piano had remained in West Virginia with his parents, Johnston purchased a chord organ and converted his brother's garage into a recording studio.[3] Along with the Chord Organ, Johnston also performed tracks on a detuned ukulele,[4] most noticeably on "Sorry Entertainer", which concludes with Johnston strumming the instrument's four strings.[5]Yip/Jump Music was recorded throughout 1983, with sessions beginning in April and concluding before Hi, How Are You was recorded in September.
According to the album's liner notes, most of the material was written in May 1983, but a handful of songs originated a month prior in April. The latter songs include "Dead Lover's Twisted Heart", "Love Defined (The Bible)", "Museum Of Love" and "I Remember Painfully".[6] A 'demo' version of "Love Defined" can be found on the Lost Recordings collection.
The album makes several references to Johnston's relocation. Most notably in "Worried Shoes" and "Chord Organ Blues". The latter opens with the line "Everything's Big In Texas, you know it is / I think I might have made a big mistake". Yip/Jump also features several pop culture references, with songs dedicated to The Beatles, Casper The Friendly Ghost, Danny Rapp, and King Kong, the latter of which Johnston used as a metaphor for heartache.
Stylistically the album uses typical progressions from rock and roll, doo-wop and religious hymns, with a definitive and notable influence from The Beatles.[7]
Legacy
Johnston would later re-record 'Casper' for three separate albums, Continued Story (1985), Merry Christmas (1988), and It's Spooky (1989), the latter of which is a studio take and appeared only as a bonus track on the CD edition. On Johnston's online store, Yip/Jump is referred to as 'The most popular Daniel Johnston album of all.'[8]
By 1993, Kurt Cobain had included Yip/Jump Music at number 35 in his top 50 albums list,[10][11] and The Bartlebees recorded a cover of "Casper The Friendly Ghost".[12] The following year Kathy McCarty released her Daniel Johnston tribute album, Dead Dog's Eyeball, which featured four songs from Yip/Jump Music - "Rocket Ship", "Sorry Entertainer", "Museum of Love" and "The Creature".[13] That same year, Half Japanese included a cover of "King Kong" on their album BOO! Live In Europe 1992.[14] In 1995, "Casper The Friendly Ghost" was featured in the cult filmKids, and Mary Lou Lord covered "Speeding Motorcycle" for her self-titled EP.[15]
Groovie Ghoulies covered "Love Defined" on a split 10 inch EP, released in 1999.[16]
On the 2004 album The Late Great Daniel Johnston, four selections from Yip/Jump Music were included: Clem Snide's version of "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Your Grievances", Calvin Johnson's "Sorry Entertainer", Starlight Mints' "Dead Lover's Twisted Heart" and Tom Waits' "King Kong". In 2005, Kathy McCarty released an extended version of "Dead Dogs Eyeball", featuring an abridged version of "Worried Shoes".[17] In 2006, Robert Deeble covered "Speeding Motorcycle"[18] and the tribute album I Killed The Monster was released, featuring Dot Allison performing "Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Your Grievances" and Sufjan Stevens' "Worried Shoes".[19] In 2008, B. Fleischmann covered "King Kong" on his album Angst Is Not A Weltanschauung!.
Shortly following Johnston's death, The Irish Times published a retrospective on the artist; the article described his music as "The Beatles as being sung with sincerity and intensity [...] that the cliches take on a real emotional power".[23] In November 2019, Ben Lee released his cover of "Speeding Motorcycle" on his album Quarter Century Classix.
In June 2021, the album was reviewed by Fruzsina Vida for The New Yorker; Vida described it as "a unique and often bizarre spin on these old themes [loneliness and unrequited love], reducing them to an almost childlike interpretation, rendering his songs rare and untouched by clichés". She also commented on the production style, saying that on first listen it was distracting, "as Johnston seemingly milks his trademark DIY aesthetic for all it's worth".[7] The following month, American singer-songwriter Sasami released a cover of "Sorry Entertainer",[24] similar in length to Calvin Johnson's version, and in style to Kathy McCarty's rock version.
Track listing
All tracks are written by Daniel Johnston, except where noted. All tracks produced by Johnston
[1]
