Jack Johnson

Flashback to 1996 and at some moment in time, you may have found me slouched under a pool table building lego cities and listening to the laid back bluesy tunes of a band called G.Love and Special Sauce. [Don’t ask…] I never really delved into these guys, but just like all gateway drugs, it led me onto an awesome track that came out in 1999 from their Philadelphonic album called ‘Rodeo Clowns’. Great track, but moreover, it was the first introduction we had to this weeks cover artist.

Jack Johnson literally personifies the surf culture. Born and raised in Hawaii, he turned more to music instead of a pro surfing career after a few lost teeth and 150 stitches to the head after an accident at Hawaii’s infamous Pipeline [Nice move Jack].

His music style is pretty simple and easily digestible, but I think that’s the charm of it. Its simplicity. Every time I listen to it I feel like I’m somehow part of a Corona advertisement & get grandiose ideas of living in a shack across from a quiet little beach with epic swells that are so crystal blue you can see the sand banks at the bottom…hmmm.

That’s not such a bad feeling. In fact, the more I can feel like that the better my world will be. What I really mean to say is that his music makes me want to slow down. A feeling you can never have too much of. Add to this the beautiful lyrics that accompany his tunes and what you get is an artist that seems to be singing so effortlessly, and straight at you.

Yeah, maybe that’s it. It’s personal. Somehow giving you the feeling like you could be just hangin out on the front porch with him during a midsummer afternoon with nowhere to go. And I get that some people I know love him to bits while others don’t dig him at all. Not their vibe. But for me, I have had many Jack Johnson phases where I will play his albums from woe to go and over again. Very distinct mood changer.

He’s punched out a couple of studio albums now, but ‘In Between Dreams’ while being his first big album, is actual his best I think. After two previous efforts, this seemed to be a step up. More ‘I’m a musician’ as opposed to ‘I’m an ex-surfer trying my hand at something else’.

There are a couple of gems on this album that make it pretty darn awesome, and probably the one I would most likely play from top to bottom. There is more variation in his tracks, but essentially still very Johnson-esk.

Stand outs are the album intro with ‘Better Together’ or the track that’s a little bit sexy ‘Banana Pancakes’. [Really, perfect for a rainy day in bed with someone]. Another song of note is a beautifully simple love song near the end of the album called ‘Do You Remember’ which really speaks volumes about the way he writes his lyrics.

But the one that hit our shores the hardest was ‘Sitting, Waiting, Wishing’. And quite rightly. Great track. But if you delve a little before this album, you will find a couple of absolute treasures that you might remember as well.

The two that would stand out are ‘Flake’ off his first album ‘Bushfire Fairytales’. I still love this track…with a really lovely ‘off in the distance’ kettle drum intro, and the other would be ‘Taylor’ from his second offering ‘On and On’.

Both albums are really beautiful and not over produced, but I think thats his slot. He seems like real salt of the earth kind of guy and I really think his music reflects that. If you get a chance, grab a hold of one or chuck one on while you’re rockin around the house on a Saturday arvo and when I said ‘mood changer’, I meant it. Its not the kind of music you clean the house to. Its more what you do once the house is done and the front veranda and a cold glass of beer are calling you.

But I think that the main reason I really vibe with him is because of his dedication to his community, the earth and the connection he has with it. He seriously donates 100 percent of his touring profits to charity. More than $25 million to date to environmental non profits. I don’t care who you fucking are….that’s a clear message of the mans integrity.

Add to this that he pretty much does all of this with his wife Kim who comes across as someone who is just as passionate as he is, and for me….well, it just adds to the quality of his music and their message.

As trivial as it may sound, I somehow feel a little safer in this world knowing there are people out there who choose to give back to the earth in the right way.

With that being said, it’s time to go sit on a beach and dream of the life someone else is living while I brace myself once more for the all too familiar and epically unpredictable Melbourne winter that we all know and love.

So to throw you a humerous bone on this cruisy Friday [see what I did there], I give you a great idea from someone on the Jack Johnson Marketing Train. In 2004 [I remember seeing this on Video Hits] he got Ben Stiller to film his music video for ‘Talyor’. Brilliant.

Enjoy…and relax, because somewhere, somehow, Jack is.

M /