Jack Johnson
| Videos | |
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| Jack Johnson Plays "Times Like These" |
Jack Johnson Plays "Belle" |
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| Jack Johnson Plays "Banana Pancakes" |
Jack Johnson "Girl I Wanna Lay You Down" |
| Guitarist Quick-Facts |
| Name: Jack Johnson |
| Born: May 18, 1975 |
| Origin: Oahu, Hawaii |
| Guitar Gear |
| Guitars: Cole Clark, Fender |
| Amplifiers: Fender |
| Bands: Past & Present |
| Solo Artist |
Jack Hody Johnson was born on May 18, 1975, on the North Shore of Oahu, Hawaii. His father was the famous surfer Jeff Johnson. Jack's early musical influenceds included Bob Dylan, Nick Drake, Cat jackns, Ben Harper, Fugazi, The Beatles, Simon and Garfunkel, Jimmy Buffett, Bob Marley, Neil Young, Sublime, and A Tribe Called Quest. Jack learned to play the guitar at the age of 14, from his father's best friend, Alex Conwell, but didn't devote serious time to his musical aspirations until he was in college.
At 17, Jack Johnson, who had been surfing since he was five years old, having picked up an interest in the sport from his father, became the youngest surfer to be invited to compete in the surfing finals at the Pipeline Masters and make it to the finals. Jack was disqualified from the Masters after failing to catch three waves. His chances of a career as a pro surfer were cut short one week later after he suffered a surfing accident that knocked his front teeth out and required him to get almost 150 stitches. He later gave his thoughts on the incident, “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.” While he was recovering from the accident, Johnson spent his time writing songs and playing guitar.
When Johnson graduated from Kahuku High School, located on the North Shore of Oahu, he applied for, and was accepted to the University of California, Santa Barbara. While attending UC Santa Barbara, he developed his passion for music, and began playing rhythm guitar for the party band Soil. Jack Johnson graduated from UC Santa Barbara with a degree in Film.
Musically, Jack's big break came after a day of surfing when he befriended G. Love. Jack Johnson wrote a song called “Rodeo Clowns” and G Love recorded the song on his 1999 album, “Philadelphonic”, under the 550 music label. Jack Johnson was also allowed by G Love to play the acoustic guitar and sing backup on the album. The song became the first single off of “Philadelphonic”.
Johnson's next big break came when Ben Harper's producer J. P. Plunier heard his four track demo and worked with Jack on the release of his debut album, “Brushfire Fairytales”. Johnson put together a band to record the album including Adam Topol on drums, Merlo Podwelski on Bass, and Zach Gill on keyboards and some vocals. The album was released on early 2001 and featured Ben Harper playing slide guitar on the fifth track, “Flake” and Tommy Jordan playing the steel drums on the same track. Jack toured in support of the album as an opening act for Ben Harper. The album was a huge success for Johnson, being certified platinum by the RIAA.
Johnson toured for almost two years before he worked on his second record. The album, “On and On” featured several songs that had been ajohnsonlable previously as bootlegs. The studio version of the songs, however, benefited from the accompaniment of Topol and Podwelski's drumming and bass playing. The album was released in late 2003 and sold well for Johnson. The album followed in the success of its predecessor, gaining a platinum record of its own.
For his third studio album, “In Between Dreams”, Johnson created his own record label, Brushfire Records. His brother, built a recording studio, dubbed The Mango Tree, in Hawaii to give Jack a place to record. In reference to the studio, the album cover features a depiction of a mango tree. The album featured a song written by Indian singer/songwriter Alanna Palladino, entitled “Banana Pancakes”. Earning a double platinum record and staying on the charts for over a year, the album is Jack Johnson's most successful to date.
Johnson's fourth album was the first not to be recorded in Hawaii. Johnson went to Los Angeles to record the album at the Solar Powered Plastic Plant. The first single for the album, “If I Had Eyes” was released via Johnson's myspace page on December 17, 2007. The second single, “Hope” got to number 30 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart. The album release followed on February 5, 2008; it debuted at number one on the Billboard charts and the Worldwide chart. It also set a record at the time for weekly digital download sales at 139,000. The third single, “Sleep through the Static”, remained at the number one position for three weeks.
