Freedy Johnston

Certain Songs #474: Freedy Johnston – “Neon Repairman”

March 8, 2016 by Jim Connelly

Album: Neon Repairman
Year: 2014

Back in 1993, on the heels of Can You Fly, Freedy Johnston did a pretty good cover of Glen Campbell’s version of Jimmy Webb’s “Wichita Lineman,” which might have even been a small radio hit.

He’s been performing it ever since, which is probably what inspired him to write a follow-up, the title track to 2014’s Neon Repairman, an album that Freedy crowd-funded through Pledgemusic.com.

Because that’s where we are with getting new music from great cult singer-songwriters these days.

Certain Songs #473: Freedy Johnston – “Don’t Fall In Love With a Lonely Girl”

March 7, 2016 by Jim Connelly

Album: Rain on the City
Year: 2010

Of course This Perfect World didn’t make Freedy Johnston into a household word. We’re long past the age of singer-songwriters, and even guy with a misspelled first name and an extra letter in his last name wasn’t going to get around that plain historical fact, no matter how good his songwriting was.

Which isn’t to say that Freedy didn’t remain a helluva cult artist, and while the albums he followed up This Perfect World with — 1997’s Never Home, 1999’s Blue Days, Black Nights, and 2001’s Right Between The Promises — all had their pleasures, you could see the Law of Diminishing Returns set in.

Certain Songs #472: Freedy Johnston – “Bad Reputation”

March 6, 2016 by Jim Connelly

Album: This Perfect World
Year: 1994

Because of the buzz created by the stellar Can You Fly, Freedy Johnston got signed to WEA and went into the studio with Butch Vig to record the follow-up, 1994’s only slightly less stellar This Perfect World.

The muscle that Vig added to his sound was instantly recognizable from the lead track, the minor minor hit “Bad Reputation,” which is probably the only Freedy Johnston song that non-fans might have heard.

Certain Songs #471: Freedy Johnston – “Trying To Tell You I Don’t Know”

March 5, 2016 by Jim Connelly

Album: Can You Fly
Year: 1992

The very dictionary definition of a cult artist, Freedy Johnston has been making great records for nearly 25 years now, starting with 1992’s Can You Fly, one of the best albums in one of my favorite years of music.

The legend surrounding Can You Fly is that Freedy Johnston sold his inheritance in order to finance the recording of the album, and the reason it’s a legend is that Freedy turned around and wrote his best song about that decision.