|
Jack Hody Johnson (born May 18, 1975) is a singer-songwriter, musician, filmmaker,[JackJohnsonMusic.com] and surfer, from Hawaii known for his work in the soft rock and acoustic genres. He achieved commercial success after the release of his debut album, Brushfire Fairytales in 2001. He has since released four more albums and a number of EPs. He is well known for his annual event the "Kokua Festival" where all the money earned goes back to the community. He often invites other celebrities like Dave Matthews to perform at this event.
Early lifeBLP sources Jack Johnson performing at the Austin City Limits Festival 2004.
Johnson was born and raised on the North Shore of Oahu, Hawaii. The son of famous surfer Jeff Johnson, he took an interest in the sport, along with his best friend Ben Schomer. He began surfing and scooting at the age of 5. At 17 he became the youngest invitee to make the surfing finals at the Pipeline Masters on Oahu's north shore. He was eventually disqualified after failing to catch three waves. One week later, however, his brief stint as a professional surfer ended when he suffered a surfing accident at Pipeline. He needed almost 150 stitches.[Jack Johnson Interviews] [Cover Story: Jack Johnson - The Dude Abides : Rolling Stone] He stated about the accident, "I like to joke that I hit my head so hard that that's why I'm so mellow, but I think it did mellow me out."
College and music careerJohnson's songwriting influences growing up included Bob Dylan, Nick Drake, Cat Stevens, Ben Harper, Fugazi, The Beatles, Simon & Garfunkel, Jimmy Buffett, Bob Marley, Neil Young, Sublime, and A Tribe Called QuestCitation needed
Johnson graduated from Kahuku High School on the North Shore of Oahu
. He attended the University of California, Santa Barbara, where he began to develop his passion for music. He graduated with a degree in film. His first breakthrough came after he befriended G. Love on a day of surfing. G. Love would later record Johnson's song “Rodeo Clowns” for his 1999 album Philadelphonic. Johnson sang and played on the track, and it became the first single from the album. His four-track demo soon caught the ears of Ben Harper's producer and right-hand man, J. P. Plunier, who worked with Johnson on his debut album Brushfire Fairytales in early 2001 with Harper and his Weissenborn lap steel guitar making a guest appearance. Johnson also played rhythm guitar for the party band Soil while he attended UC Santa Barbara.
A chronicle of Johnson's 2008 European tour will be released as En Concert, a CD–DVD package on October 27, 2009, according to DirectCurrentMusic.com. [1] The DVD comes via En Concert, a documentary film directed by Brushfire Records co-founder Emmett Malloy.
Personal lifeAccording to TreeHugger, Jack Johnson was awarded "Best Tree Hugger" (for musicians under 50).
In 2000 Jack Johnson married his college sweetheart Kim. They have three children.
Band membersJack Johnson's band is composed of:
- Jack Johnson - Vocals, guitar
- Adam Topol - Drums, percussion
- Merlo Podlewski - Bass
- Zach Gill - Keys, vocals
DiscographyAlbumsSoundtracks and EPs- 2000 Thicker than Water (re-released in 2003)
- 2001 Out Cold
- 2002 September Sessions Pirate Looks At 40 and F-Stop Blues
- 2005 Some Live Songs EP
- 2005 Sprout
- 2006 Sing-A-Longs and Lullabies for the Film Curious George (RIAA: Platinum
- 2006 A Brokedown Melody Let It Be Sung and Home
- 2007 ''I'm Not There'' – Bob Dylan's "Medley: Mama, You've Been on My Mind/A Fraction of Last Thoughts on Woody Guthrie"
- 2008 Sleep Through the Static: Remixed (Remix album)
Virtual albums and EPsCompilations- 1999 G. Love & Special Sauce's Philadelphonic – "Rodeo Clowns"
- 2002 Hear Music Volume 7: Waking - "Fortunate Fool"
- 2004 G. Love & Special Sauce's The Hustle – "Give It to You"
- 2004 Donavon Frankenreiter's self titled album – "Free"
- 2004 Handsome Boy Modeling School's "White People" – "Breakdown"
- 2005 Look at All the Love We Found – "Badfish"/"Boss DJ"
- 2005 The Black Eyed Peas' Monkey Business – "Gone Going"
- 2005 Animal Liberation Orchestra's Fly Between Falls – "Girl I Wanna Lay You Down"
- 2006 G. Love & Special Sauce's Lemonade – "Rainbow"
- 2006 Buena Vista Social Club's Rhythms del Mundo: Cuba – "Better Together"
- 2006 The Acoustic Album - "Breakdown"
- 2007 Instant Karma: The Amnesty International Campaign to Save Darfur – John Lennon's "Imagine"...
- 2007 Stockings By the Fire - "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer"
- 2008 This Warm December: A Brushfire Holiday - "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer" & "Someday at Christmas"
- 2009 Rhythms del Mundo Classics - "Imagine"
Unofficial bootlegs- B.O.A.T.
- Lullabies
- J.O.A.T.
- J.I.T.B.
- T.R.I.P.1
- T.R.I.P.2
- J.O.T.C.
- Live On 94/7 FM
- The Mango Tree
Concert DVDs- 2005 - Live in Japan
- 2005 - A Weekend at the Greek (RIAA: Platinum
- 2009 - En Concert
Chart performanceAlbumsSinglesNote: The archive of the Canadian singles chart (downloads) dates back only to 2006 and the archive of the Canadian album chart dates back to 2005.
"Sitting, Waiting, Wishing" re-issueThe single, "Sitting, Waiting, Wishing" only became a chart hit in the United Kingdom after the re-release climbed into the Top 10 following Jack Johnson's exposure on the 2006 BRIT Awards on ITV1. The single climbed to hit status a week before the release of "Better Together". Both the original release and indeed the re-issue had failed to chart until this point.
"A friend of mine was trying to get this girl named Michelle," said Johnson, "and I tried to write a song that would help him have a laugh at himself because he was spending so much time trying to get her and it obviously wasn't leading anywhere. That was one just to cheer up a friend."
Copyright Citations
This article is licensed under the GNU License
Click here for original article: Jack Johnson
|
|
Photo by: images.amazon.com
|
![- Jack Johnson: En Concert [BLU-RAY] [Blu-ray]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41bu2eIjvmL._SL75_.jpg)
