Music

Average customer rating:

I feel like such a traitor...
Jonathan mixes it up nicely on his Vapor debut
not the best
Come aboard me hearties!!
Among Jonathan's best stuff

Surrender to Jonathan
Jonathan Richman
Manufacturer: Vapor Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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I'm So Confused
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ASIN: B000005J5H
Release Date: 1996-09-10

Tracks:

Just Look At Me
Not Just A 'Plus One' On The Guest List Anymore
That Little Sleeper Car
French Style
Surrender
I Was Dancing In The Lesbian Bar
To Hide A Little Thought
Egyptian Reggae
When She Kisses Me
Satisfy
Rock 'N' Roll Drummer Straight From The Hospy-Tel
My Little Girl's Got A Full Time Daddy Now
Floatin'

Amazon.com

Many people have never forgiven Jonathan Richman for completely revamping his music after releasing one classic album of brilliant, Lou Reed-inspired rock'n'roll,Modern Lovers, in 1976. He abandoned loud guitars and young-adult angst for songs of un-ironic innocence about "Rockin' Leprechauns" and the "Abominable Snowman in the Market," set to the sparse instrumentation of pre-Beatles rock and pop. His core audience, which sustained Richman through constant touring and an album-a-year on small labels, apparently included Neil Young, who has signed the former Modern Lover to his new label, Vapor. Richman's first Vapor album, "Surrender to Jonathan," isn't much different from its predecessors on Rounder, Sire and Beserkley, and even recycles three songs--"Egyptian Reggae," "I Was Dancing in the Lesbian Bar," and "To Hide a Little Thought." --Geoffrey Himes

Customer Reviews:

I feel like such a traitor..........2002-11-10

Giving a Jonathan record less than four stars feels like a sin since I would be happy if everybody listened to all of his records but Jonathan just doens't seem very focused on this one.

There are a few great songs like "Surrender", "Just look at me" and "My little girl's got a full time daddy now" but the others just don't do it for me. He's rehasing old material like he always does but "Egyptian Raggae" and "lesbian bar" are here in very lackluster versions.

"Rock and Roll drummer" is just Jonathan doing what he does best best which is being dumb but this sounds like forced dumbness (yes I realize that is a ridiculous observation). This is OK, it's just not up to par, I love my life, Jonathan.

Jonathan mixes it up nicely on his Vapor debut.......2002-06-08

On his first album for Neil Young's Vapor label, Richman addresses his separation from his longtime wife Gail: He considers her lasting impact on his life ("Just Look at Me"), tries to figure out why she left ("Not Just a 'Plus One' on the Guest List Anymore"), muses about his growing relationship with their daughter ("My Little Girl's Got a Full-Time Daddy Now"), and expresses his general feeling of loneliness ("Satisfy"); but that's only about a third of the disc. The remainder consists of silly stuff ("Little Sleeper Car," "French Style," "Rock 'n' Roll Drummer..."), brassy, fun re-recordings (1977's "Egyptian Reggae," 1991's "When She Kisses Me," 1992's "...Lesbian Bar," 1995's "To Hide a Little Thought"), and a pair of ballads I'll discuss later.

The results are uneven but not whiplash-inducing, thanks to Jonathan's consistently warm delivery and basic rock 'n' roll sound. That sound is a little more pop-y and slick than usual here, embellished by piano, organ and (especially) horns, but Richman still sounds like himself; his voice is one-of-a-kind, and his lyrics are as funny and poignant as ever. (No matter how polished his sound becomes, he will never, ever be mistaken for, say, Phil Collins or Sting.) Worth hearing if only for "Surrender" (which has Jonathan crooning romantic advice) and "Floatin'" (a frightening dream about drifting around on a tiny raft in the middle of the ocean just as a storm is brewing, as well as a frightening dream-within-a-dream about being stuck in a plane), two of his finest ballads. (Cute cover, too.)

not the best.......2002-01-02

If you would like to buy any Jonathan record, this would be number 10 to buy. Go out and listen, there is much better stuff, including the latest one ("High Heels"), "I, Jonathan", "You must ask the heart" and all the albums from the 70's (the Beserkley-years). So Go Jo JO.

Come aboard me hearties!!.......2001-10-15

A Curious Melancholy affects me every time I play this album. "Just Look at Me" and "Floatin' ache with confusion prefiguring the adventures on the next album, "I'm so confused".
Bookending "Surrender", these two songs encapsulate the confidence a new experience can engender, and the strange sense of loss and disconnectedness that runs simultaneously.
In between the two tales, Jonathan tells his listeners of things and places and people that offer some concrete response to orient oneself during upheaval. I suggest the great man was in the throes of divorce when writing a lot of this album.
The music is at it's best during "French Style" and "Surrender" with their rich harmonics and spot on chordal work.
A surecard was placed on the baby Jonathan at birth.
Let the world and fools beguile,
We lose it not as long as we smile.
Jonathan gives and gives and America just ignores him.

Among Jonathan's best stuff.......2001-08-26

I would put this up with The Modern Lovers self-titled debut, Rockin' and Romance, Jonathan Sings and I, Jonathan as some of Richman's finest and most memorable recordings. "Not Just A Plus One On The Guest List Anymore", "That Little Sleeper Car", and especially "Rock 'N' Roll Drummer Straight From The Hospy-Tel" are incredibly catchy fun. "French Style" is a terrific companion piece to the earlier "Give Paris One More Chance" (which he still performs live). This disc also includes more famous songs like "Lesbian Bar" and "Egyptian Reggae". Highly recommended! Two advices: see JR live as soon and as often as possible, and look for the Jonathan Sings! CD on eBay. I don't care if you are bidding against me and driving up the price -- they turn up there every so often and it is a must-get album, especially if you like Surrender To.

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