Hi, How Are You: The Unfinished Album is the sixth self-released music cassette album by singer-songwriter

Singer-songwriter

Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...

 Daniel Johnston

Daniel Johnston

Daniel Dale Johnston is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and artist. Johnston was the subject of the 2006 documentary The Devil and Daniel Johnston. He currently lives in Waller, Texas....

, recorded in September 1983. It is arguably his most popular album. Johnston claims he almost had a nervous breakdown recording it and calls this his "unfinished album."

The album is one of the most sonically varied of Johnston's early output. While earlier records found him focusing on piano

Piano

The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...

 or chord organ

Chord organ

The chord organ is a kind of home organ with a keyboard and a set of chord buttons, enabling the musician to play a melody or lead with one hand and accompanying chords with the other, like the accordion....

 songs almost exclusively, this album blends both approaches along with experiments in tape and noise collage, and some tentative guitar playing. Two songs feature Johnston singing along with an instrumental LP by Johnny Dankworth.

This was the first Daniel Johnston album to be given a widely distributed release, as a vinyl LP

LP album

The LP, or long-playing microgroove record, is a format for phonograph records, an analog sound storage medium. Introduced by Columbia Records in 1948, it was soon adopted as a new standard by the entire record industry...

, on Homestead Records, in 1988.

It has been released on CD at least once as a two-fer with his 1985 album Continued Story.

The album was reissued in 2007 by Eternal Yip Eye Music as a vinyl LP

LP album

The LP, or long-playing microgroove record, is a format for phonograph records, an analog sound storage medium. Introduced by Columbia Records in 1948, it was soon adopted as a new standard by the entire record industry...

.

Kurt Cobain

Kurt Cobain

Kurt Donald Cobain was an American singer-songwriter, musician and artist, best known as the lead singer and guitarist of the grunge band Nirvana...

 was frequently photographed wearing a t-shirt featuring the album's cover image which music journalist Everett True

Everett True

For the cartoon character, see The Outbursts of Everett True.Everett True is a British music journalist, who grew up in Chelmsford, Essex...

 gave him.

Track listing

All songs written by Daniel Johnston

Daniel Johnston

Daniel Dale Johnston is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and artist. Johnston was the subject of the 2006 documentary The Devil and Daniel Johnston. He currently lives in Waller, Texas....

, except where noted

1. Poor You
2. Big Business Monkey
3. Walking the Cow
   Walking the Cow
   Walking the Cow is a song written and recorded by singer-songwriter Daniel Johnston, from his 1983 album Hi, How Are You.In October 1994, Pearl Jam covered the song in a performance at Neil Young's Bridge School Benefit concert, and this subsequently became available on the bootleg album In Rock We...
   
   
4. I Picture Myself With a Guitar
5. Despair Came Knocking
6. I Am A Baby (In My Universe)
7. Nervous Love
8. I'll Never Marry
9. Get Yourself Together
10. Running Water
11. Desperate Man Blues
12. Hey Joe
13. She Called Pest Control
14. Keep Punching Joe
15. No More Pushing Joe Around