Daniel Johnston

Daniel Johnston recorded his songs alone on a cheap cassette recorder, at a chord organ, piano or battered guitar, first in his parents' basement in West Virginia and then in Texas, handing the tapes to anyone who would take them around Austin. The results, on tapes like Songs of Pain and Hi, How Are You, are raw, wobbly and utterly direct: songs about unrequited love, Casper the Friendly Ghost and the devil, sung in a high, cracked voice.

Kurt Cobain wearing the frog from the Hi, How Are You cover on a T-shirt set off a label bidding war that ended in a deal with Atlantic, and admirers from Tom Waits to Beck later covered his songs. The 2005 documentary The Devil and Daniel Johnston told his story, including his long struggle with mental illness. He died in 2019.