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
11. F-Stop Blues
12. Losing Hope
13. It's All Understood

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1298 in Music
• Brand: JOHNSON,JACK
• Released on: 2002-01-29
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .13 pounds

Album Description
Features a guest appearance from Ben Harper.

Amazon.com
Fans of Willy Porter, Ben Harper, and G. Love will all want to check out Jack Johnson's engaging folk- and blues-inflected pop. 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 J.P. 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 album) 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

Nice acoustic set by a future star
Being a person whose favourite genres of music are Soul and Avant-garde Jazz, sometimes a break is needed from the ever-amazing art created by soul artists and the mad cacaphony of white noise created by avant-gardists. Increasingly, I am a fan of the acoustic guitar in it simplicity, especially if it is one of only a few instruments. Singer/Songwriter James Taylor springs to mind as an artist who I really enjoy listening to. He can make you calm after a storm just by playing his guitar and singing a song with his soothing voice.

An artist who I discovered while talking to some surfer friends was Jack Johnson. I decided to give him a go, and I found his album to be just the thing I was looking for. With his trio of guitar, bass and drums, this is a real acoustic album through and through. Brushfire Fairytales is like a cross between James Taylor's mellow singer/songwriter work and the slightly more upbeat work of Ben Harper (only slightly). Even Jack's singing style is like a fusion of the two.

The album is simply amazing based simply on its merits; simplicity. It is an feat in minimalism that this album can hold your attention without the commercial smoke and mirrors of more poppish acoustic rock. Also, Jack is an artist who has something to say in his sometimes cryptic lyrics. He only brings in a little help on Flake, using Ben Harper and Tommy Jordan. Inaudible Melodies, Posters, Sexy Plexi, Flake, Bubble Toes and The News are my favourites.

Some criticise this album for its lack of variation. Sure; he seems to stay in a fairly steady pace and sound, but I have heard jazz albums with less variation that are celebrated masterpieces (Kind of Blue for all it brilliance is pretty much easy going all the way through; John Coltrane's Ascension is madness all the way through [it is one song though]). The point is that he makes good music, writes his own songs, plays guitar and is appealing enough to make it to the Billboard Top 100 albums chart. In other words he is the best of both worlds; a popular artist who is actually talented.

I hope that he has considerable fame and success based on his talent and that he will continue to make excellent music like this for years to come.

Great debut
I first heard Jack Johnson on a bootlegged live recording. The quality was horrible, but something about it compelled me to go out and buy his cd. For me, this is very unusual. But there was just something about Johnson's mellow sound that made me feel good. And Brushfire Fairytales is no exception. From start to finish, the cd makes me want to drive down to the beach and just enjoy the little things in life. The best part about it is that Jack's lyrics will also make you think. Songs like "The News", "Posters", and "It's All Understood" will leave you saying, "Yeah, I've felt that way before!" but maybe never vocalized it. Jack tends to pick up on those little things that some of us have trouble putting into words. That's one of my favorite things about him. That and his complex phrasing. The rhythmic vocals fit perfectly with the guitar, bass, and drums. It's almost like he uses his voice as another percussion instrument at times.

I must say that this is one of the best debut albums I've heard in a long time. (The last one that comes to mind is Pearl Jam's Ten) Jack is truly inspirational and I hope he continues to make music even though he's a surfer at heart.

If I could give this ten stars, I would!
It has taken me a while to review this album, because I have had a hard time coming up with the words that would express the joy I feel everytime I listen to this album. This is not just an excellent debut album. This is the kind of album that I almost couldn't see an artist top.... but with such beautiful songwriting and instrumentation, how could this be a fluke?
Ever since I bought this album, it has been in my cd player - and will remain there. This could be the perfect folk/alternative album. There are no low points, at all. Sure some songs are better than others, but every track has a wonderful sound all its own - with a message all its own.
As I mentioned at the top, the songwriting is fantastic. Songs like Losing Hope and The New are perfect examples of just how wonderfully Jack writes songs with emotion. The instrumentation throughout is perfect - full bodied where it needs to be (Inaudible Melodies) and sparce where it needs to be (Losing Hope, Fortunate Fool).
This album's standout songs are definately Inaudible Melodies, Flake, Fortunate Fool, The News, Mudfootball, and Losing Hope - but as I mentioned eariler, there is nothing here that is not amazing in its own way.
EVERYONE should own this album. I have 1500+ albums, and a very eclectic taste in music. Before finding this wonderful album, my favorite album was Marvin Gaye's classic, Let's Get It On. I am very choosy on what I consider a classic - and this is!