Product Description

Surfer-turned-rocker Jack Johnson has composed songs for G.Love and Special Sauce, and is signed to Ben Harper's manager's record label, so it's no surprise that his debut turns out to be the kind of laid-back acoustic funk beloved of fans of both those outfits. What is surprising, however, is theunpretentious way these songs are presented--BRUSHFIRE FAIRYTALES is packed with bare-bones arrangements that highlightJohnson's catchy way with a lyric, so that when something unusual happens, such as the steel drums that dimly inhabit the background of "Flake", it's almost shocking.
Johnson'ssongs are simultaneously well crafted and executed in an almost throwaway manner. "Fortunate Fool" is airy yet acidic--this surfer dude is no airhead--while "F-Stop Blues", on thesurface a paean to the surfer lifestyle, is really a lamentfor wasted time that features Johnson's pleasant, lazy vocals to excellent effect. BRUSHFIRE FAIRYTALES displays the kind of insouciance born of innocence, almost as if no-one involved cared if the album sold ten copies or ten million--andof course that's the attraction.

Track Listing

1. Inaudible Melodies
2. Middle Man
3. Posters
4. Sexy Plexi
5. Flake
6. Bubble Toes
7. Fortunate Fool
8. The News
9. Drink The Water
10. Mudfootball (For Moe Lerner)
11. F-Stop Blues
12. Losing Hope
13. It's All Understood
14. Flake
15. Inaudible Melodies

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2907 in Music
• Released on: 2002-10-14
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 54 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
Fans of Willy Porter, Ben Harper and G Love will all want to check out the engaging folk and blues-inflected pop of Jack Johnson's Brushfire Fairytales. Born in Oahu, Hawaii, Johnson--a former surfer and film-school graduate--has a knack for acoustic ballads whose calm surfaces hide a subtle but strong lyrical undertow. "It seems to me that 'maybe' pretty much always means 'no'," sings Johnson on "Flake", which features crony Harper on slide guitar. Production by JP Plunier (who also handles Harper's recordings) is simple and uncluttered: acoustic guitar and drum tracks share the foreground with Johnson's easygoing vocals, which evoke everyone from G Love (who recorded Johnson's "Rodeo Clowns" on his Philadelphonic) to Nick Drake to Willy Porter. And while Johnson may not have Porter's guitar chops, these songs have a relaxed beauty and understated depth that reward repeated listening. --Bill Forman

Customer Reviews

Go Away Jack
This is the kind of album that is just a little bit better then the commercial pop, still for me it's like an endless conversation with some pretentious hippy what a be. You've sold out jack times up...

Grows off you
I'm a big fan of acoustic-based singer/songwriter stuff, so I thought I might like Jack Johnson too. And at first I did. His music is laid back, quite catchy, softly sung, undemanding. Anybody would like it, I guess. But after a while I started to find this CD a bit annoying. When you listen over and over to something really good, it reveals things you didn't see the first few times you played it. But all that's revealed here is a rather `lite' and one-dimensional approach to songwriting and arranging. Lyrics that sound cute at first soon sound empty. It's okay on whimsical songs like `Sexy Plexi', but when he tries to be more serious it doesn't hit the mark. And you may soon tire, as I did, of the crack of the drum that accompanies every song, not to mention that one guitar lick Jack can manage and always does. The band's instrumentation is admittedly fairly minimal, but somebody like Josh Ritter or Garrin Benfield gets more variety with just a guitar and fewer notes.
So ultimately, this one has landed back on the shelf where I fear it will gather dust. It simply doesn't have enough depth or breadth.

So good.... it's a secret
I heard someone elses' review quoted on a television advert shown on CH4 last night.
All I can say is the record company has been pretty lazy not getting this man more exposure.
A heartfelt and wonderful collection of songs, perfect for any time of your life. Almost provoking tears with the humble lyrics topped by a voice that is warm and full of emotion.
This album is to be highly recommended; and I am not a core member of his audience demographic and would normally steer clear of this genera.
You will not regret the money you spent!