1.1 What’s Jack up to now? Any word on the next tour?
Jack, Adam, and Merlo are currently working on their second album.
Jack just recently announced plans for a huge US and Europe tour. His tour dates are below:
09/16/2002 - London, UK - Borderline
09/20/2002 - Berlin, GER - Knaack Klub
09/23/2002 - Brussels, BEL - AB Club
09/25/2002 - Paris, FRA - La Boule Noire
10/02/2002 - Barcelona, SPA - Bikini
10/10/2002 - Santa Barbara,CA - Santa Barbara County Bowl
10/11/2002 - Los Angeles,CA - Greek Theatre
10/12/2002 - La Jolla,CA - UCSD RIMAC Field
10/13/2002 - Avila Beach,CA - Avila Beach Resort
10/15/2002 - Vancouver, Canada,BC - Orpheum Theatre
10/16/2002 - Seattle,WA - Paramount Theatre
10/18/2002 - Berkeley,CA - Greek Theatre
10/20/2002 - Salt Lake City,UT - Kinsbury Hall
10/22/2002 - Denver,CO - The Fillmore
11/02/2002 - New Orleans,LA - Voodoo Music Experience
11/04/2002 - Atlanta,GA - Roxy Theatre
11/05/2002 - Charleston,SC - Music Farm
11/06/2002 - Raleigh,NC - The Ritz
11/08/2002 - Norfolk,VA - Norva Theatre
11/09/2002 - Washington,DC - 9:30 Club
11/10/2002 - Philadelphia,PA - Electric Factory
11/13/2002 - New York,NY - Roseland Ballroom
11/14/2002 - Boston,MA - Orpheum Theatre
11/15/2002 - Providence,RI - Lupo's Heartbreak Hotel
11/17/2002 - Toronto, Canada,ON - Phoenix Concert Theatre
11/18/2002 - Detroit,MI - State Theatre
11/20/2002 - Chicago,IL - Riviera
11/21/2002 - Minneapolis,MN - First Avenue
To find out the most up-to-date tour dates, click here : http://www.jackjohnsonmusic.com/ontour.asp
It is the official Jack Johnson web site's On Tour listing. Check back there often for new tour dates.
Top
SECTION 2 - MEMBERS
2.1 - Who is Jack Johnson?
Jack Johnson is a surfer, singer/songwriter, and film maker.
Jack has made such surf films as 'Thicker Than Water' and 'September Sessions.'
Jack's debut album is 'Brushfire Fairytales.'
2.2 - Who is in Jack's band?
Merlo plays bass in the band
Adam Topol plays drums in the band
2.3 - Who plays on 'Brushfire Fairytales'?
Jack Johnson plays guitar/piano/vocals on the album 'Brushfire Fairytales'
Merlo plays bass on the album 'Brushfire Fairytales'
Adam Topol plays drums on the album 'Brushfire Fairytales'
Ben Harper plays slide guitar on the song 'Flake'
Tommy Jordon plays steel drums on 'Flake'
2.4 - What is Merlo's last name?
Merlo's last name is Podlewski (spelling?) It is long, and hard to spell, so he normally goes by just "Merlo".
2.5 Who are Gio Loria and Morgan Alstot? When did they play with Jack?
On January 29, 2000, Jack played with bassist Gio Loria and drummer Morgan Alstot at "The Mint"
in Los Angeles, CA. This was around when "Rodeo Clowns" became a hit. These two musicians were
hooked up with Jack for this show, and possibly other shows around this time. This was before
Jack was hooked up with Adam and Merlo in the summer of 2000.
Pictures from this show can be seen here:
http://msnhomepages.talkcity.com/TwitchTr/craiglassen/Jackphoto1.html
Top
SECTION 3 - BAND HISTORY
AND ISSUES
3.1 - Where is Jack from?
Jack is from Hawaii, and went to college at UCSB in Santa Barbara, CA.
3.2 - When did the band get together?
The band got together in the summer of 2000.
3.3 - How did the band come together?
Adam has said… "JP Plunier introduced me to Jack. I was in a Latin Group with Merlo. I
suggested him and it went from there"
3.4 - What other bands has Jack been in?
Jack has said (in Guitar World Acoustic issue #53) … "When I was in high school I
used to be into heavy metal and punk rock. I had a punk cover band; we'd do Bad Religion
and Fugazi songs". The name of this band was 'Limber Chicken'.
When Jack was at school at UCSB, he was in a band called 'Soil'. He played backup
guitar, and Soil has been described as a fun Isla Vista party band. Soil opened
for the Dave Matthews Band when they played the Santa Barbara Bowl in 1995, and Soil also opened
for Sublime the same year.
3.5 - What other bands have Adam and Merlo been in?
Adam… "I have been in more bands than I can count. The last one
was the Martinis with ex pixie joey Santiago. I am working on an afro Cuban
record with some wonderful drummers and singers."
Merlo was in a band called 'Spain' but probably isn't as involved with them as much any more.
3.6 - Do any of them still make music outside the band?
Adam is currently working on a afro-cuban project.
3.7 - What are Jack's influences?
Jack has said in many interviews that bands like Fugazi, Jimi Hendrix,
Ben Harper, G. Love and Special sauce, and many others influence him and his
music.
Top
SECTION 4 - RECORDING
HISTORY AND ALBUMS INFO
4.1 - What albums have the band
released? When was each album released?
Jack has only released one studio album. That album is
Brushfire Fairytales and was released on February 6th 2001.
4.2 - How many copies of each album
have they sold?
Though exact data is not available for this, Rolling Stone magazine, as well as
Billboard magazine recently reported that the number of albums sold was 500,000.
Making it certified Gold.
4.3 - What songs are on each of the
albums?
On "Brushfire Fairytales":
Inaudible Melodies
Middleman
Posters
Sexi Plexi
Flake
Bubbletoes
Fortunate Fool
The News
Drink the Water
Mudfootball (For Moe Lerner)
F-Stop Blues
Losing Hope
It's All Understood
4.4 - But I know I have heard other Jack songs. What Gives?
Just like every band ever on the face of the earth, Jack has songs
that he performs and hasn't released on an album. Some are originals that didn't make
the cut for Brushfire, some are newer tracks that may be released on future albums,
some are covers of other bands song. Almost all of them can be found in one form or
another online.
4.5 - What was the first song released by Jack?
The first song Jack released was 'Rodeo Clowns' on the G Love and
Special Sauce's 'Philadelphonic' album, which was released on August 3, 1999.
The song was credited as a 'G. Love' song, but Jack wrote it and played with
Garrett (G. Love) on the album's track.
4.6 - Are there any live Jack shows
available commercially?
No, there are no commercially available live shows. However, Jack does support trading his live concerts.
Currently, there are many live shows of Jack's out and about.
Live recordings / live music trading should NEVER be paid for. Doing so steals money from
jack, so never pay or accept money for a live music trade.
4.7 - What did I hear about jack signing with a major record label?
Enjoy Records was having a hard time distributing the album.
Jack would play a show in a town, and the people at the show would go
to their local record store, but there was no "Brushfire Fairytales". In order
to solve this problem, Jack and Enjoy hooked up with Universal Music Group
to distribute the album. Because of this, the album was "re-released" on
January 29, 2002. The album is exactly the same packaging, music, etc. except
that on the back, right above the bar code, the www.universalmusic.com website
is listed underneath the www.enjoy-records.com web site. This is the only
difference between the two versions. With Universal in charge of distribution,
Jack's album gained a much wider distribution and sales.
4.8 Has "Brushfire Fairytales" ever been on the Billboard 200 chart?
Yes. Currently (August 3, 2002 issue) Jack's "Brushfire Fairytales" is #38 on the
Billboard 200. It's highest position was #38 in the August 3, 2002 Billboard chart.
4.9 - What is the "Boat" CD?
The "Boat" CD is a bootleg that was most likely recorded in the
late Summer of 1999, most likely during a part of the Sept. 1999 surf
trip that later was immortalized in Jack's film "September Sessions". It was probably recorded
by Rob Machado.
It has a tracklist of:
1) F-Stop Blues
2) Fortunate Fool
3) Instrumental
4) Timmy Curran (La-ta-Dee-Dah)
**the remainder of the disk is filler material of Jack demos and rare
tracks. A lot of the filler appears on JOAT and/or the Lullabies CD**
4.10 What is the "Lullabies" CD?
The "Lullabies" CD is another bootleg, which contains childrens songs of both
Jack on some tracks and another musician on other tracks. It was supposedly
made around Christmas 1999 as a family christmas present, but somehow it started
spreading around.
4.11 What is the "Jack Of All Trades
(J.O.A.T.)" CD?
Jack Of All Trades, or J.O.A.T. as it is commonly known, is a 2 disk collection
of rare tracks, early demos, and live stuff. It was put together in May 2001 by Beatnikdaddio.
Drawn from many disparate sources, this collection gives a great overview of early
Jack Johnson material from the period around the release of Brushfire Fairytales
album and the first tour opening for Ben Harper and The Innocent Criminals in early 2001.
Disc 1: "ESSENTIAL RARITIES/LIVE"
Thug Style [05:49.68]
Who's To Say? (G.A.T.E.) [02:25.65]
F-Stop Blues [03:28.35]
Inaudible Melodies [02:52.47]
Rodeo Clowns [02:02.74]
Taylor [02:59.36]
Posters [03:02.51]
Bubble Toes [02:45.44]
Middle Man [02:03.65]
Flake [02:36.73]
Holes To Heaven [02:29.53]
The News [01:35.60]
Drink The Water [02:38.51]
Nice Car, Boy [01:57.44]
Fall Line [01:56.14]
Alien Casinos [01:31.12]
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer [02:09.28]
Acoustic Lullabie [01:54.42]
Just Can't Go To Sleep [01:50.74]
Dust My Broom/Stones In My Passway/ [01:46.26]
Ramblin' On My Mind
Frankie and Albert [02:40.31]
Thicker Than Water Acoustic Jam [01:23.06]
Rocky Raccoon ^ [03:43.51]
Who Do You Love?/Stones In My Passway/ [05:23.54]
Hellhound On My Trail/Fallin' Up >
Mudfootball ^
Mediocre Bad Guys + [03:56.30]
F-Stop Blues $ [03:05.08]
Timmy Curren (la-ta-de-dah) $ [02:24.18]
Bubble Toes (reprise) [01:04.16]
Total: [73:39.51]
^ - House Of Blues, Myrtle Beach, SC (02/24/2001)
+ - The Mint, Los Angeles, CA (01/29/2000)
$ - BOAT CD
Disc 2: "ALTERNATE TAKES/EXTRAS"
Rodeo Clowns (with G-love) [02:57.30]
Middle Man (Loose Change version) [03:16.00]
Flake [02:23.54]
Taylor [03:46.37]
Drink The Water [02:28.64]
Posters [02:46.12]
Inaudible Melodies [02:07.53]
Flake [02:33.66]
Middle Man [02:10.68]
Rodeo Clowns [01:04.23]
Posters [03:01.25]
Flake [02:42.66]
Drink The Water > Taylor [05:36.02]
FILLER: Jack Johnson, Rochester, NY (02/10/2001) [22:31.65]
Inaudible Melodies
Drink The Water
Sexy Plexi
Middle Man
Bubble Toes
Rodeo Clowns
F-Stop Blues (fade-out)
Total: [59:27.40]
4.12 - What is the "T.R.I.P." CD?
There are two TRIP CD's: T.R.I.P. I and T.R.I.P. II. T.R.I.P. stands
for "Television, Radio, Interviews, Performances". T.R.I.P. I was put together in
November, 2001, and T.R.I.P. II was put together in March, 2002. They were both
created by Ben Taylor in Colorado. They consist of video clips, pictures, and audio
tracks, and can be played in a regular CD player, or in a computer's CD-ROM
drive for the video clips.
4.13 Where did all these bootlegs of rare and early material come from?
Jack explains in the interview he did for the extra bonus features on the
Poor Specimen DVD of Taylor Steele's film "Loose Change" ...
When asked "How did people first start hearing your music" Jack replied:
"Mainly from Rob Machado, Dan Malloy, and Timmy Curren. They're my main copy makers of music.
Actually, Jason Weatherly as well. Makes a lot of copies, and burns it, and just passes
it out to everybody. Just slowly started spreading around to all the surf friends that we have"
It is these few people who would burn copies for friends, who would burn copies for friends,
and so on, creating a true grass-roots fan base for jack's music, even in the days before
his album came out. Then these demos and collected bootlegs began to be spread around the
ben harper trading communities.
Top
SECTION 5 - SONG INFO
5.1 - Does Jack play [insert song] live?
Jack has played every song off of Brushfire Fairytales live at one point or another.
If you attend one of his live shows you are more likely to hear songs not on Brushfire
Fairytales, as well as some songs that have influenced Jack throughout the years.
5.2 - What is [song] about and whats the inspiration?
The only person who can answer that is Jack. However, he has given some of
his meanings away in his live shows, and in interviews he has done.
5.3 - What songs has Jack covered?
A partial list :
1. Who Knows? - Jimi Hendrix and the Band Of Gypsys
2. Cissy Strut - Meters
3. Plastic Jesus - Ernie Mars
4. Trenchtown Rock - Bob Marley and the Wailers
5. Garden Grove - Sublime
6. Ring the alarm - Tenor Saw
7. Who Do You Love? - Bo Diddley
8. Pirate Looks at 40 - Jimmy Buffet
9. Express Yourself - Charles Wright and the Watts 103rd Street Rhtytm Band
10. High tide low tide - Bob Marley and the Wailers
11. Fallin up - Black eyed peas
12. Dust my broom - Robert Johnson
13. Rocky Racoon - Beatles
14. Frankie and Albert - Taj Mahal
15. Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer - Gene Autry
16. Last Thoughts on Woodie Guthrie - Bob Dylan
17. Sad to know you're leaving - Gregory Issacs
18. Stones in my passway - Robert Johnson
19. We're Going to be Friends - The White Stripes
20. Me and Julio (Down by the schoolyard) - Paul Simon
21. Stir It Up - Bob Marley and the Wailers
22. Secret Heart - Ron Sexsmith
23. Nothing - Mason Jennings
24. Steppin Stone - G. Love and Special Sauce
25. Please Me Like You Want To - Ben Harper
26. Living In a Moment - Mason Jennings (During the Oct/Nov midwest and east coast
2001 tour when Mason opened
for Jack, it was usual for mason to come out during the encore and perform this with jack.
In addition to this song, the two of them would play "Plastic Jesus.")
27. Don't Let Me Down - Beatles
Top
SECTION 6 - PEOPLE
6.1 - What is Jack's connection with G-Love?
This quote is from a G-Love and Special Sauce concert
on May 5, 2001, at The Vic Theater, Chicago ...
Garret introduces the band and then introduces Jack. He
reminds everyone about thier new records, and then says:
"...we're gonna do a song that Jack wrote... (Jack: "Give it up for G. Love
and Special Sauce, everybody") G: "you know you might think Jack's just a
great musician but he's also an old pro surfer, man, this guy's like...tubin'
the waves at pipeline an' shit, man, ha ha. I met jack one day when I was
recording my record "Philadelponic" out in LA, a friend of ours introduced
ourselves with each other. First we went out surfing down at this place
Topanga Canyon, rippied it up, shredded, on a early mornin' wake-an-bake. We
came back, Jack was like "you wanna jam out?" I said, "Fuck yeah I wanna jam
out...." We jammed out... Jack pulled out all his gang of hits and I said, "Yo
Jack man, that shit is fat , dude, " ha ha... So then, and within three days
we went in the studio, we laid down this track, and it goes like this..."
And they go into "Rodeo Clowns".
Furthermore, Jack has said in interviews that Garrett was the one to name the song
"Posters". One time in an interview Jack mentioned how when he was first hanging out
with Garrett, Garrett told him to 'play that one … play "posters" ' so Jack decided to
call it 'Posters'.
6.2 - What is Jack's connection with Ben Harper?
"The Harper connection came about purely by chance. His album producer
(and subsequently Johnson's), J.P. Plunier, is a surfer, and he and Johnson
hung out on the water together. 'I didn't even tell J.P. about my music for four,
five months -- not until a friend of mine passed him some four-track tapes of mine.' "
** Taken from the Honolulu Star Bulletin **
So Jack met Ben through J.P. and Jack went on tour opening for Ben Harper
from February 1, 2001 to May 28, 2001
6.3 - What is Jack's connection with Emmett Malloy?
(From the Pollstar magazine Nov. 16, 2001 issue) … "Johnson and his best
friend-turned-manager, Emmett Malloy, met during shooting of a film featuring Malloy's
cousins who were also surfers. Malloy has gone on to direct Blink-182's latest videos
including "Rock Star" and Lit's upcoming "Lipstick and Bruises." … Malloy's management
career began when Johnson had lots of free time during his film "Thicker Than Water."
Johnson would play his songs during filming breaks. 'I just kind of jumped on board as
his manager because, well, who else was it going to be?' Malloy said. 'I wanted to make
sure this got dealt with properly so I took it upon myself. He's a real fragile guy …
If it's not fun for him, he doesn't want to be a part of it.' "
6.4 - Who is 'Big Hats'?
Big Hats was one of Jack's friends that he grew up with on the North Shore
of Hawaii, and he was this big dude, and he would tackle the crap out of Jack and the
other kids when they would play "Mudfootball". Hense the verse in Mudfootball 'Big hits,
big hats, hey give me the ball' .
6.5 - Who is Jack's manager?
Josh is his road manager. Emmett Malloy was the original manager, and still does most managing things.
6.6 - Who has opened for Jack?
Ben Lee (August 2001 tour)
Mason Jennings (majority of Oct/Nov Midwest and East Coast 2001 tour and Feb 2002 shows, and
June 15, 2002)
DJ Evil Vince (May 2002 shows)
Glen Phillips (former lead singer from Toad the wet Sprocket, opened for Jack on 10.6.01, 2.16.02, and a few others)
Quirk (some July 2002 Australia shows)
Carus (some July 2002 Australia shows)
The Beautiful Girls (Some April 2002 Australia shows)
6.7 - Who has Jack opened for?
Ben Harper (most shows in the Feb 1, 2001 - May 28, 2001 tour)
Toots and the Maytals (July 2001 shows)
Jurassic 5 (5.28.01 show)
String Cheese Incident (3.25.02 show)
John Butler Trio (April 2002 Austrailia shows)
Galactic (5.2.02 show)
Dispatch (6.15.02 show)
6.8 - Who is Moe Lerner? On the back of the
album it says "Mudfootball (For Moe Lerner)" What gives?
Maurice E. "Moe" Lerner was the owner of the Haleiwa Joe's Restaurant in
Jack's home town in Hawaii. He was close to the Johnson family, and
a great guy. He passed away in July 2000.
Top
SECTION 7 - FAMOUS EVENTS
7.1 - What festivals has Jack played at?
Jack played at the 'East Coast Blues and Roots Festival' in Byron Bay, Australia on
4.15.01 through 4.16.01
Jack played at the 'Street Scene' in San Diego, CA on 9.7.01
Jack played at the 'East Coast Blues and Roots Festival' in Byron Bay, Australia on
3.29.02 through 3.31.02
Jack played at the 'Music Midtown Festival' in Atlanta, GA on 5.4.02
Jack played at the 'Nashville River Stages Festival' in Nashville, TN on 5.5.02
Jack played at the 'Jammin on Main Festival' in Cincinnati, OH on 5.10.02
Jack played at the 'Sasquatch Music Festival' in George, WA on 5.25.02.
Jack played at the '91X X-Fest' in San Diego, CA on 6.8.02
Jack played at the 'KROQ Weinie Roast' in Irvine, CA on 6.15.02
Jack played at the 'Bonnaroo Music Festival' in Manchester, TN on 6.22.02
Top
SECTION 8 - VIDEOS AND AWARDS
8.1 - What Videos has Jack done?
Jack released a music video for 'Flake' to MTV in mid-June 2002. The flake video is
a collage of performances, however, the main performance of the video with Ben Harper was
taken from the 4.26.02 performance in San Diego at the Rimac arena.
8.2 - What surf films has Jack made?
Jack made "Thicker Than Water" in 1998, which won Surfer magazine Video of the
Year during 2000, and "September Sessions" in 1999, earned the Adobe Highlight Award at the ESPN
Film Festival that same year.
8.3 - Did Jack make the surf film "Shelter"?
Jack did not make "Shelter". Jack and Ben Harper make brief long-boarding
appearances from when they were playing the Byron Bay Blues Festival in Australia
in March 2001. The 'Shelter' Crew was near the Byron Bay filming the movie, and
since Jack and Ben were close by, they stopped by one day and caught some waves.
Jack's manager Emmett Malloy, along with Taylor Steele, made the surf film
"Shelter" in 2001. For more info go to http://www.shelter2001.com
8.4 - I heard there is a Jack Johnson concert
video online for free. Is this true?
Yes. As part of their ongoing concert series, Warner Brothers webcast Jack Johnson's
April 6, 2001 concert at the Bridges Auditorium in Claremont, CA. This was just Jack solo acoustic, opening
for Ben Harper.
You can watch the entire concert, as well as clips from Jack's two surf films here:
http://www2.warnerbros.com/web/wblcs/concert.jsp?concert=jack_johnson
8.5 - What musical awards has Jack won?
Jack has won the 2001 ESPN Action, Sports & Music Award for Surfing's Music
Artist of the Year. Jack won the 2002 ESPN Action, Sports & Music Award for Surfing's Music
Artist of the Year.
Top
SECTION 9 - TECHNICAL / MUSIC
INFO
9.1 - What instruments do the band
members endorse/use?
Jack has said (in Guitar World Acoustic issue #53) ... "I had been playing
an acoustic Guild my parents gave to me when I was 16. Then last year I was down
at the Byron Bay Blues and Roots Festival in Australia and tried a brand of guitar
down there called Maton - really nice handmade guitars, with their own pickup system.
Ben Harper gets a lot of gear from them, so he talked them into giving one to me, and
that's the one I play now"
9.2 - Where can I get ahold of some Jack guitar tabs?
http://www.stanford.edu/~reedg/guitartab.html
http://members.optushome.com.au/jaimitchell/index1.html
SECTION 10 - LIVE MUSIC TRADING
10.1 - What is a "B&P"?
A "B&P" stands for "blanks and postage". It is the method commonly used to get live shows from
fellow jack fans. A complete, thorough run down of what to do for a B&P can be read about here:
http://www.mcnichol.com/bnp/
10.2 - Where can i find live Jack Johnson shows?
There are many avenues for you to pursue:
The first and easiest is to look on the "Trading" portions of the forums at both http://www.jackjohnsonmusic.com
and http://www.fortunatefool.com. Look for
open B&P offers and sign up for them. Or post a newbie plea for help, and someone will
most likely help get your collection started. Everyone had to start somewhere, and even the
traders who have 300 shows at one time had 0 shows, and were helped by someone. Be kind and help
others once you have been helped.
You could also try http://www.furthurnet.com.
On that site you can download FurthurNET the program. Using this Furthur program, you can download entire shows in .shn format. Plus, once you download a show, it
gets easier and easier for more and more people to get that show, as the program works on a
peer-to-peer sharing system.
You should also check out both :
http://www.etree.org and
http://db.etree.org
10.3 - What is the ".shn" file format all about?
Shorten (extension .shn) is an audio compression scheme written by Tony
Robinson of SoftSound that can compact wav files without subtracting out any frequencies.
It's "lossless"- everything in the original wav is there, so that full quality is maintained.
For many traders of live music, Shorten files (shns) therefore have an undisputed advantage
over "lossy" mp3-format files. A shn file made from a wav is quite a bit larger than the
corresponding mp3, with a size perhaps ~50-60% of the orginal wav.
This site is a very good .shn FAQ site. read up on .shn's! They are great!
http://research.umbc.edu/~hamilton/shnfaq.html
SECTION 11 - Jack Johnson Links
11.1 - Jack Johnson Links ...
The Official Jack Johnson website:
http://www.jackjohnsonmusic.com
Fortunatefool.com:
http://www.fortunatefool.com
Jai Mitchell's Unobtrusive Tones :
http://members.optushome.com.au/jaimitchell/index1.html
the Jack Johnson MSN communities page. Upload your Jack Johnson photos :
http://communities.msn.com/JackJohnsonMusic/