Jack Johnson biographyJack Johnson LyricsSource: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Johnson_(musician) Jack Johnson (born Jack Hody Johnson, May 18, 1975) [1] is a Hawaii-born singer-songwriter who has achieved commercial success and a dedicated following since the release of his debut album, Brushfire Fairytales. His latest album is Sing-A-Longs and Lullabies for the Film Curious George. Jack Johnson was a professional surfer until an accident in which his front teeth were 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. 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 and met his wife, Kim, a Waco, Texas, native. There, he played rhythm guitar for the hippie rock group "Soil." In his time off after graduating, Jack traveled. While striking friendships with Garrett Dutton of G. Love & Special Sauce, he recorded "Rodeo Clowns". The song is on Johnson's "On and On" album and was also released on 1999's Philadelphonic by G. Love and Special Sauce. Ben Harper also took Johnson under his wing after hearing his music. Johnson's first album, "Brushfire Fairytales", was produced by Harper's producer and fellow surfer, JP Plunier. This launched his music career and led to the release of his first album Brushfire Fairytales in 2001. Jack toured with Ben Harper and gained much publicity from that tour. After touring for almost two years, Johnson recorded 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. For the album, Johnson started his own label called Brushfire Records. A studio, The Mango Tree, was built in Hawaii by Johnson's brother to facilitate the new record label. More than a year later, it was still on the charts, where it was positioned at #3 (March 21, 2006). Also released in 2006 was the Johnson-created soundtrack for the motion picture Curious George titled Sing-A-Longs and Lullabies for the Film Curious George. 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, which was, in effect, a remix of Johnson's own song "Gone" from his On and On album. While recording the smash hit Gone Going, Johnson borrowed the phrase, "hats for bats, keeps bats warm," originally coined in the movie Major League. In February 2006, he won a Brit Award for Best International Newcomer, beating The Pussycat Dolls, John Legend, Arcade Fire and Daniel Powter. In May 2006, "In Between Dreams" surpassed one and a half million sales in the UK. |