Timeline

William Dale Johnston (Daniel’s Father) was born on May 29 in Chester, West Virginia. He was the second of three children.

Bill and Mabel Johnston were married on May 6, 1947. Bill was raised in the United Presbyterian Church. Mabel recounted Bill saying, “I was born a Presbyterian but I’m a Christian by choice.”

The family moved to Brigham City, Utah in July 1961, where Bill worked for Thiokol in the development of Minuteman missiles for the government, about 20 miles out near the Salt Flats. Daniel’s only clear memories from the years he lived in Utah were of living in a suburban neighborhood and playing with children of his own age.

When Daniel was four years old in 1965, Mabel began the practice of supplying him with small three by five inch notepads to draw in so that he would behave at church. In later years, when asked how he began as an artist and who first encouraged him, he credited his mother Mabel for encouraging him and buying him “lots of paper.” Although he drew a lot during church services, he was still able to absorb the sermons and he eagerly participated in the group singing. As a small child, Daniel was a little rambunctious but he was well-liked by …

The only rock group Daniel supposedly knew about when he decided to start drawing was The Monkees. “And I still like The Monkees. I still listen to them.” This is notable as coincidental to the constant theme of and identification with ‘monkeys’ in Daniel’s later songwriting and notebooks. Although Daniel claims that he found them at four years old, in the 1991 Harris Video Interviews Jeff Tartakov pointed out that The Monkees didn’t exist until Daniel was five, so Daniel’s memory is a bit off here.

In January of 1966, seven months before he would enter kindergarten, Daniel was enrolled in a preschool program call “Head Start,” at a public school in Pughtown, where he attended grammar school. Pughtown was about four miles from the family home and Daniel took the school bus there. Daniel was an energetic, bright, and unusually creative student. He placed first in each program he was in, and teachers and school administrators took notice of the special kid in their midst. Mabel looked after two neighborhood children, David and Sherry Cowey, who were close to Daniel in age. After school, the …

He was very popular among his peers, a phenomenon he later described as feeling like “the captain of the big gang.” But, even though he received an unusual amount of attention from friends, family, teachers, and fellow churchgoers, Daniel often felt like a “loner” and spent a lot of time by himself, whiling away the hours by drawing. As a child, Daniel often attended Arner Funeral Home after church. As he would relate it later, when he was on his way out the door, the funeral director would say, “See you later!” He repeated this, jokingly, to elementary school friends, …

When he was seven years old in March 1968, Daniel discovered a Doberman Pinscher hanging by its neck from the swing set of Sarita Berkheimer, a girl his age that lived down the hill and across the road from the Johnston home. Daniel was badly spooked, both by the general scene and by a perfect triangle of feces that had formed beneath the dog’s corpse. Daniel would go on to recount this story again and again. It is memorialized in the song “Dead Dog Laughing in a Cloud” on Continued Story and it may have played a small role in …

Daniel began a lifelong habit of recording himself practicing and playing the piano, and then playing the recordings back. In a 1969 letter to Margy, Mabel wrote, “Danny enjoys playing the piano but I have to push him to practice.” After re-reading the letter to David Thornberry on a 1983 tape letter, he went on to explain, “Mom paid for my sister Sally to have [piano] lessons. Then Sally taught Margy, Margy taught Cindy, and Cindy taught Dick, and Dick and Cindy taught me.”

Cindy left home to attend Abilene Christian College (ACC) in August 1970, leaving Dick and Daniel as the only siblings still living at home.

Daniel was baptized, four days after his twelfth birthday.

Daniel had a pizza party at home, and invited all his friends. Randy Yost, Daniel’s best friend at the time, was picking on Daniel’s friend, Pete Chevron, for wearing hand-me-down clothes. Daniel leapt to Pete’s defense. This is consistent with “associating with the lowly,” a Christian value that Daniel was taught in church and practiced forever after.

Dick moves to Abilene, TX to attend Abilene Christian University in August 1972, leaving Daniel alone at home with his aging parents.

Daniel learned about youth art classes, but said that Mabel told him he’d have to wait until college to study art. He said that he planned to study it on his own, by looking at art books and comic books.

In August 1973, Daniel leaves elementary school and begins junior high (grades seven-nine). Daniel entered seventh grade and junior high school in Chester, West Virgina. Daniel’s depression begins, potentially influenced by the change. Mabel takes Daniel to counselors. In the Chester area, students that had been together since kindergarten were divided and reallocated to three different junior high schools. As a result, Daniel would have attended school with many more of his elementary school friends if the Johnston family home had been only a short distance from where it was. The transition from elementary school to junior high school is …

Dick and Daniel do many creative projects together, including filmmaking. “It Must Be Monday” produced; mother having provided a film editor. Daniel begins high school (grades ten-twelve) at Oak Glen High School. Things are looking up for Daniel, he gains popularity; he is known as the school artist. He paints the school mascot (a bear) on walls, does art for all the event papers and 1979 yearbook, librarian displays new art each week in the library. Daniel pursues girls by talking with British accent; begins writing songs; discovers rock and roll via Kevin Stills. Senior year makes friends with David …

In tentgh grade, Daniel discovered The Beatles. He reported that he felt “saved” and that The Beatles “saved my soul.” An interesting note: before he discovered The Beatles, Daniel discovered Paul McCartney, through a single (“Hi Hi Hi/C-Moon”) he’d bought, blindly, at a rummage sale. He recalled being at a record store soon afterward, seeing a Beatles album, and thinking, “This is his old band. I wonder if they’re any good.” The entry below is only to give you guys a fuller picture and will be deleted after you’ve read it: If only he’d kept significant notebooks or recordings during …

One day in his junior year, 1977, he remarked on Ron Harris’s Beatles t-shirt and they become fast friends. Until meeting Ron, Daniel describes himself as “not having any friends.” Afterward, he describes Ron as having been his “only friend.” However, Daniel soon made another good friend, the young preacher Dale Dudgeon, who was a year behind Ron and Daniel in school. In Daniel’s junior year, and early senior year, Dale spent the night at the Johnston home on occasion. He observed that, in this period, Daniel and his mother Mabel, got along exceptionally well—far better than Dale got along …

During high school, Daniel expressed suicidal ideation in writing and in very private conversations with Dave Lyons (the patriarch of the home where he often played piano, composed “Living Life,” and jammed with Dave’s young daughters). He told Dave Lyons that he thought about killing himself because he didn’t have any friends, he was made fun of a lot, and he didn’t know how to get along in the world. In a high school notebook from 1979, in what reads like a suicide note, he writes on facing pages, in all caps: “I’m sorry” and “I’m going to kill myself.” …

In August of 1979 Daniel arrived in Abilene for a two-week freshman orientation. By this time his sister, Sally, had become a professor there. It is difficult to determine his affect during the two-week orientation. By the time Daniel began his freshman year at Abilene Christian University (ACU), he was extremely disoriented. He was missing classes and failing to complete assignments or fulfill even the most basic responsibilities. He did somewhat well early on in art classes but soon after he lapsed in his work there as well. Sally suggested he take her music theory class but Daniel demurred. She remembered …

Songs of Pain is the first album by folk singer-songwriter Daniel Johnston, recorded on a simple tape recorder and released on Compact Cassette. Johnston recorded these songs in the basement of his parents’ house in West Virginia. Johnston recorded the tape between 1980 and 1981, and it was later mass produced on cassette by Stress Records in 1988, and on Compact Disc in 2003 by the label Dual Tone, together with More Songs of Pain as Early Recordings Volume 1. Background Songs of Pain was recorded between 1980 and 1981 during Daniel Johnston’s Freshman, Sophomore and Junior years studying at Kent State University in East Liverpool, Ohio. During this period, Johnston lived in his parents’ basement …

Background The album was recorded in August 1982 between Johnston’s Junior and Senior years studying at Kent State University, East Liverpool, Ohio. The album, like Songs of Pain and Don’t Be Scared before it, was recorded in his parents’ basement in West Virginia, where the 21 year old Johnston was living at the time. A guest writer for Atwood Magazine noted influences from Elvis Costello and The Beatles (particularly early John Lennon) on the track ‘Man Obsessed.’ During this same time, Johnston recorded an unreleased tape known as ‘Ugly Music’ for his friend John Fair. The tape was largely made up of material written for Songs of Pain, but also included Don’t Be Scared and What of …

Available for the very first time in 24bit lossless audio, each recording has been remastered from the original source tapes by Kramer (Shimmy-Disc founder and longtime collaborator of Daniel Johnston). 100% of profits go to the Daniel Johnston Estate for the purpose of securing his musical and artistic legacy. credits released January 1, 1983 These recordings were originally released on cassette by Stress Records in Austin, TX. The audio was sourced courtesy of Jeff Tartakov, Stress founder and Daniel’s manager between 1986-1993. The Lost Recordings (1983) by Daniel Johnston

Background In early 1983, Johnston’s family 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. Until that point, Daniel had been living and recording in his parents’ home in West Virginia, and following the relocation, no longer had access to this piano heard throughout his earlier tapes. Johnston instead purchased a chord organ and converted his brother’s garage into a recording studio. Along with the chord organ, Johnston also performed tracks on a detuned ukulele, most noticeably on “Sorry Entertainer”, which …

Background Retired Boxer was Johnston’s first album recorded in Austin, Texas, a location where he found much success. During the recording of ‘Hi, How Are You‘ the previous year, Johnston was living with his sister Margie but disappeared in April 1984 after his mother suggested institutionalizing him. He only told his parents where he was on Fathers Day of that year. He had purchased a moped and rode it to the local carnival where he began working at the Corn Dog Stand. Six months later, when the carnival arrived in Austin, Johnston had upset someone with how long he was taking on the porta-potty, which resulted in Johnston being …

Background In the eleven months between the recording of Retired Boxer and Continued Story, Daniel Johnston had been expanding his reach with local live performances in Austin, Texas. appearing at the Woodshock 85 festival with The Texas Instruments and on the MTV program The Cutting Edge. These appearances featured Johnston performing newly written non-album material such as ‘I Live My Broken Dreams’ and ‘The Marching Guitars‘. About a month following his appearance on MTV in August, Johnston stopped playing live shows; a decision referenced in the track ‘Running Water Revisited.’ During this period, Johnston was still working at McDonald’s. The managers there were aware of Johnston’s popularity and were amused by it, so they expanded …

Writing Daniel Johnston wrote the album over four years between 1984 and 1988. The song “True Love Will Find You in the End” is possibly the earliest and had initially appeared on Johnston’s December ’84 demo tape Retired Boxer. In December 1985, an earlier version of “Funeral Home” appeared on his Continued Story album; later, in 1987, Johnston released an early version of “Don’t Play Cards with Satan” on A Texas Trip. Johnston had spent the entirety of 1987 living in West Virginia with his parents; he was heavily medicated after a severe mental breakdown in December 1986 and found himself unable to write new material. …

Writing Following his year-long stay at Weston Mental Hospital, Johnston recorded the Laurie EP in December 1989, the title track of which is featured on this album. A few months later, after the release of Johnston’s 1990 album, Johnston was invited to promote it with three short performances at SXSW. Instead of performing material from the album, Johnston debuted new material and reworked selections from his 1983 demo tapes. Johnston premiered four songs at these shows, ‘Silly Love,’ ‘Do You Really Love Me?’, ‘A Lonely Song’ & ‘Love Wheel.’ ‘Do You Really Love Me?” was eventually re-worked into ‘Tell Me Now’, and the rest were shelved for future releases. Immediately following …

Why Me? is a live album recorded in Germany by Daniel Johnston. Recorded live at Volksbühne am Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz in Berlin, Germany on 6/6/1999. Why Me? (2000) by Daniel Johnston

Fear Yourself is an album by the American musician Daniel Johnston, released in 2003. It was produced by Mark Linkous. The album included an 8-page booklet with exclusive Daniel Johnston drawings. Critical reception The Independent wrote that the “fancy production … works to a point, but, by the end, you find yourself preferring Johnston’s usual eerie starkness.” The Washington Post determined that “Johnston’s pained, humble songs are eerie and sensuous, emotionally textured in a way that demands only amplification, and Linkous’s vintage box of tricks suits the songs beautifully.” The New York Times concluded that Linkous’s contribution to the music “reveals the cracked, epic romances hidden within Mr. Johnston’s singsong.” …

The Late Great Daniel Johnston: Discovered Covered is a 2004 Gammon Records two-disc set. The first disc features covers of Daniel Johnston songs by a variety of different artists. The second disc features the original versions of these eighteen songs, as well as “Rock This Town”, a previously unreleased Johnston track. It was curated and produced by Mark Linkous of Sparklehorse. Despite what the title and cover art may suggest, Johnston lived to see the album’s release; he died fifteen years later in 2019.   Disc 1: No. Title Artist Length 1. “My Life is Starting Over Again” Teenage Fanclub with Jad Fair   2. “Don’t Let the …

Daniel had various art exhibits around the world in 2005, dates and locations listed below:

Lost and Found is a 2006 album by Daniel Johnston, his 16th release since 1981. A companion album to ‘Rejected Unknown’, these songs were recorded by a 45 year old Daniel, no longer a giddy youth, now more deeply haunted by love and scorched by the loneliness and torment of mental illness. These songs explore the turbulently joyous life of Daniel’s soul, enhanced by the palette of Brian Beattie’s eclectic and experimental musical choices. Daniel’s voice aches raw and seeks it’s target, the heart… relentlessly. 100% of profits go to the Daniel Johnston Estate for the purpose of securing his musical and …

“Welcome To My World” is a collection of some of Daniel’s most-beloved songs. These are the songs that built the legend…a must-have for the legion of devoted Daniel Johnston Fans as well as the perfect introduction for new listeners. Includes several tracks from out-of-print publications like “Laurie” and “Lennon Song”. credits released April 18, 2006 Remastered in 24-bit Lossless Audio from the original source tapes by Kramer (Shimmy-Disc founder and longtime collaborator of Daniel Johnston). Welcome To My World (2006) by Daniel Johnston

Daniel had a fair amount of exhibitions across the western world in 2007. Below is a list of locations and dates:

On January 31, 2009, Daniel and The Swell Season (Including Glen Hansard) performed “Life in Vain” alongside a youth choir at Austin City Limits. This came after recording another version of the song at Austin City Limits in September 28, 2008. All together again in August 22, 2015 at The Mohawk in Austin, Daniel performed more songs including “Life in Vain” alongside Glen Hansard.

Beam Me Up! is the eighteenth and final album by Daniel Johnston released on June 17th 2010. The album was recorded with the eleven-piece BEAM orchestra, and features reworked versions of Johnston’s older songs along with three new songs: “Sarah Drove Around In Her Car”, “Mask”, and “Last Song”. Credits Remastered in 24-bit Lossless Audio from the original source tapes by Kramer (Shimmy-Disc founder and longtime collaborator of Daniel Johnston). All songs were written by Daniel Johnston, published by E.Y.E. Music and BMG Music Publishing. Arrangements by Bart van Dongen, Eric van der Westen, Richard van Kuijsdijk and Andreas van Zoelen. Recorded by Kaneoka …

Released January 19, 2024, this historic release is available in three distinct vinyl pressings and one limited-edition cassette. The 1st pressing is limited to 555 hand-numbered LP’s on 150gm black vinyl. It includes a VERY SPECIAL Art Print of a previously unseen Daniel Johnston colored marker drawing available ONLY in this first pressing. This very special release also features a limited-edition 2nd pressing of 999 LP’s on “Ghost White” vinyl, in memory of ‘Casper’, one of Daniel’s favorite characters. An “Invisibly Clear” vinyl pressing is also available, and will arrive in stores on January 19, 2024 along with the limited-edition …

“Dear Jeff, Well, here’s another issue of ‘The Lost Recordings.’ I swear when I listen to these tapes I get a deja-fu, and I can remember the moment and the melodies. Every time! It’s uncanny! I went up to the house today and banged on the piano. I can still make up melodies but the words aren’t coming quite yet. From listening to these tapes you can really tell just how in love I really was! I’d think about her all the time, romantically at the piano! It’s really what my music was all about. Before I left West Virginia …