December 9, 2004

Bernard Perusse, Montreal Gazette

"A question about what kind of music he's listening to these days rekindled the enthusiasm, drawing high praise for Tajik vocalist Aqnazar, Argentinian pop group El Simbolo and singer-songwriter Vic Chesnutt. And, as often happens when Richman tackles that topic, conversation turned to Neil Young. The voice on the other end of the line began to croon Are You Passionate?

"I still play that on guitar. Ah, what a great melody," he said. A suggestion that Young is an underrated melody writer almost had him shouting: "Damn right!," he said, singing Lotta Love to support the argument. "What a guy! What melodies he makes!"

Another bona fide legend, David Bowie, covered Richman's Pablo Picasso last year, but a query about Bowie's version committed the fatal sin of bringing the talk back to Richman's music. "I haven't heard it yet," came the credibility-straining answer. "But it's always nice when people do stuff.""