jack johnson

Introduction to Music

Jack Johnson was a professional surfer until an accident in which he broke his wrist, had his front teeth knocked out and received more than 150 stitches to his mouth and forehead. While he was recovering in bed, he spent his time writing songs and playing guitar. He was also a keen skateboarder, and learned how to surf and skate from his father's best friend Alex Conwell. Alex also taught Jack to play the guitar and the flute. Johnson learned to play guitar at age 14, but did not seriously pursue a career in the arts until his college years at the University of California, Santa Barbara, where he graduated with a degree in film. There, he played rhythm guitar for the hippie rock group "Soil." In his time off after graduating Jack travelled and, during 1997-98, co-directed and shot the purist surf film Thicker Than Water to be released later.

Music

Making friends with Garrett Dutton of G. Love & Special Sauce, he recorded "Rodeo Clowns" to be released on their 1999 album Philadelphonic. Ben Harper also took Johnson under his wing after hearing his music. This launched his music career and led to the release of his first album, Brushfire Fairytales, in 2001 to aid in the Thicker than Water soundtrack.

After touring for almost two years, Johnson released his second album, On and On, to generally favorable reviews in late 2003. Many of the songs on On and On had previously been released on bootlegs, such as J.O.A.T. and B.O.A.T., but received the accompaniment of a full band on the new album.

His third studio album, In Between Dreams, was released on March 1, 2005. Over a year later, it was still on the charts, where it was positioned at #3 (March 21st 2006). Also released in 2006 was the album Sing-A-Longs and Lullabies for the Film Curious George. A common feature of Johnson's music is major chord tonality in his basic chord progressions.

Johnson was featured on the Sublime tribute album Look at All the Love We Found, and was on Handsome Boy Modeling School's White People, released in 2004. In 2005 he appeared on the Black Eyed Peas album Monkey Business on the track Gone Going.

In the music video for "Sitting, Waiting, Wishing", everything happens in reverse. Johnson is pelted with various objects and liquids are dumped over his head, but everything appears to fly away from him as the video plays backward from the way it was filmed. In order to achieve this, Johnson learned to mouth all of the lyrics to the song backwards. The music video for his song "Taylor" features a guest appearance from actor Ben Stiller.

In February 2006, he won a Brit Award for Best International Newcomer, beating The Pussycat Dolls, John Legend, The Arcade Fire and Daniel Powter. In May 2006, "In Between Dreams" surpassed one million sales in the UK.

Trivia

• Johnson is a vegetarian

Discography

Albums

• 2001 Brushfire Fairytales (Everloving Records) #34 U.S. #13 Australia, #36 UK (peak April 2006)
• 2003 On and On (The Moonshine Conspiracy/Universal) #3 U.S., #30 UK (peak May 2006), #2 Australia
• 2005 In Between Dreams (Brushfire/Universal Records) #2 U.S., #3 Canada, #1 UK, #1 Australia, #1 New Zealand
• 2006 Sing-A-Longs and Lullabies for the Film Curious George (Brushfire/Universal Records) #1 U.S., #1 Canada, #15 UK, #1 Australia

Soundtracks and EPs

• September Sessions
• Thicker Than Water
• Out Cold
• Sprout
• A Broke Down Melody
• Some Live Songs EP

Virtual albums

• iTunes Originals - Jack Johnson

Singles

"Sitting, Waiting, Wishing" re-issue

The 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 ITV 1. 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.

Unofficial bootlegs

• B.O.A.T.
• Lullabies (Jack Johnson)
• J.O.A.T.
• T.R.I.P.1
• T.R.I.P.2

Films

Jack Johnson has also helped create several movies over the years through the company Moonshine Conspiracy Films, of which his label, Moonshine Conspiracy Records, was an offshoot. This company has since been renamed WoodShed Films. Some of their productions include:

• Thicker Than Water
• The Seedling
• Sprout
• Shelter
• September Sessions
• A Broke Down Melody

Surfing-related

Johnson's interest in surfing has also led him to produce and score several surfing films including September Sessions and Thicker Than Water, the soundtracks for which were released on CD/DVD between the release of Brushfire Fairytales and On and On. Johnson appeared in the surf film Shelter, created by his manager Emmett Malloy, and also in Sprout, where he was featured in the Sprout House Band (Jack Johnson, Tommy Guerrero, Money Mark and Adam Topol).

Other projects

Jack Johnson also owns Brushfire Records which released the soundtracks for the aforementioned films. Other artists on that label include Matt Costa, Animal Liberation Orchestra, and G. Love & Special Sauce.

In 2004, Johnson co-founded the Kokua Hawaii Foundation, which is a non-profit organization that supports environmental education in the schools and communities of Hawaii. The Kokua Festival is the Kokua Hawaii Foundation's annual benefit event that brings together environmental organizations, eco-friendly businesses, musicians, artists, teachers, and community leaders to promote environmental awareness in Hawaii.

See also

• List of singer-songwriters

External links

• Official site
• Jack Johnson's MySpace
• Brokedown Melodies
• Jack Johnson Lyrics
• Kokua Foundation
• Transworld Surf Feature: The Brief Jack Johnson History