Introducing Prof. Johnston, as he did me
Several weeks ago, I wrote a few brief paragraphs on Jacques Brel, none of which you will remember. Amongst the searing insights, I said many things: “At least, though” for example and “a perversion of himself” for another. Most lamentably, I concluded with this most off-hand statement:
“Incidentally, the most accurate translation of Brel’s works, meeting the standards of the writer’s widow, are by Professor Arnold Johnston, of Western Michigan University. But, naturally, his recordings are hard to come by, due to lack of demand.”
Several weeks fewer than several weeks ago, Professor Johnston extended to me the olive branch of explanation. The issue, as really I knew well, was not lack of demand, but lack of distribution to meet the demand. It is a problem that many musicians face at present. Mr. Costello and I have found that the best way to deal with it is simply to wait until asked directly; this is how we passed around our Awkward Entry epee. Professor Johnston pitched me a similar deal too, offering to send me his record all the way from Kalamazoo.
To flesh out Professor Johnston as character: he is a poet, an author, an actor, and a translator. A Scot by birth and an American by choice, he wrote The Witching Hour, a novelisation of the life of Robert Burns and, with his wife, Deborah Ann Percy, he has written plays that have been performed all over the States, translations that have been read all over Europe, and a collection, Duets, which the Professor was kind enough to include along with the CD.
I haven’t asked, but I like to imagine that Deborah Ann Percy is related to Walker Percy, the author of the lovely The Moviegoer. I will not be told otherwise; not by her, not by anyone.
Regardless of literary connexions, Professor Johnston’s record I’m Here! (a more restrained translation of J’arrive than Mr. Almond’s I’m Coming!) is quite lovely on the whole, especially when the whole is placed in the CD-player. The piano and guitar accompaniments are spare, but pretty, allowing one to focus on the lyrics. While Professor Johnston’s voice, far from the standard academic drone, is clear and articulate - close to Mr. Walker, though perhaps not quite so low and warm; not so harsh and persecutory as M. Brel himself. Although, of course, you should probably ask him about it.
“Incidentally, the most accurate translation of Brel’s works, meeting the standards of the writer’s widow, are by Professor Arnold Johnston, of Western Michigan University. But, naturally, his recordings are hard to come by, due to lack of demand.”
Several weeks fewer than several weeks ago, Professor Johnston extended to me the olive branch of explanation. The issue, as really I knew well, was not lack of demand, but lack of distribution to meet the demand. It is a problem that many musicians face at present. Mr. Costello and I have found that the best way to deal with it is simply to wait until asked directly; this is how we passed around our Awkward Entry epee. Professor Johnston pitched me a similar deal too, offering to send me his record all the way from Kalamazoo.
To flesh out Professor Johnston as character: he is a poet, an author, an actor, and a translator. A Scot by birth and an American by choice, he wrote The Witching Hour, a novelisation of the life of Robert Burns and, with his wife, Deborah Ann Percy, he has written plays that have been performed all over the States, translations that have been read all over Europe, and a collection, Duets, which the Professor was kind enough to include along with the CD.
I haven’t asked, but I like to imagine that Deborah Ann Percy is related to Walker Percy, the author of the lovely The Moviegoer. I will not be told otherwise; not by her, not by anyone.
Regardless of literary connexions, Professor Johnston’s record I’m Here! (a more restrained translation of J’arrive than Mr. Almond’s I’m Coming!) is quite lovely on the whole, especially when the whole is placed in the CD-player. The piano and guitar accompaniments are spare, but pretty, allowing one to focus on the lyrics. While Professor Johnston’s voice, far from the standard academic drone, is clear and articulate - close to Mr. Walker, though perhaps not quite so low and warm; not so harsh and persecutory as M. Brel himself. Although, of course, you should probably ask him about it.