At 14 Below, Jonathan Richman Goes His Own Way--as Always

Jonathan Richman has seen fame come and go. He helped invent punk rock in the early ‘70s, but quickly left that all behind for two decades of joke lyrics and songs of tortured love. And with his appearance as the roaming troubadour in last year’s hit movie “There’s Something About Mary,” the singer is again flirting with accidental popularity.

At 14 Below in Santa Monica on Thursday, Richman was still in no mood to pander to popular tastes. He remains part Velvet Underground, part sidewalk crank, singing teary-eyed folk for the late 20th century boy, with such lines as “If you don’t think Paris was made for love, maybe your heart needs a telegram from above.”

While even his recent albums are full-band productions, on stage Richman is happily lo-fi and low-budget. Accompanied only by drummer Tommy Larkins, Richman was a deft and energetic player on acoustic guitar, strumming through “I Was Dancing in the Lesbian Bar” with furious abandon.

Richman was mostly straight-faced through all this, gazing dolefully at his crowd of strangers. He gave a nod to his early career by playing “Pablo Picasso,” though the song lost much of its original edge in the stripped-down approach. Richman closed his set with the more recent “Surrender,” a lovely ballad that suggested his two-decade left turn from loud guitars might not have been so wrong after all.

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* Jonathan Richman plays tonight at Linda’s Doll Hut, 107 S. Adams St., Anaheim. 9 p.m. $10. (714) 533-1286.