K McCarthy: Dead Dog's Eyeball - Songs of Daniel Johnston

This was the first I heard of Daniel Johnston, for this is the covers album I referred to when I last wrote about him. 1994. An odd time for music: if you look at John Peel's Festive 50 for that year, it makes fairly grim reading — the Sabres of Paradise being one of the few good things there. So Radio 3's brilliant Mixing It was about the best radar I had for interesting new music, and it was Mixing It that played a track from this album. Evidently I got it from Virgin (£13.49, ouch!), probably on special order.

I like it more now than I did at the time. Back then it was Rocket Ship that was the one song I really enjoyed:

I like almost all of it now, especially the upright piano, sometimes honky-tonk, sometimes a bit more music hall or cabaret. The arrangements and the singing (unselfconscious like Johnston, but more tutored) bring out the best in the songs, and make this my favourite Johnston-connected album. I was disappointed they didn't play more of the songs on the album at the tribute concert a couple of years ago.

I don't think I knew back in 1994, but the film about Johnston's life and work explains that Kathy McCarty was/is a personal friend of Johnston's. Somewhat surprisingly, she doesn't seem to have done another album before or since.

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