Jimmy "Flim" Johnson

[mb94952]

Hi Jimmy !!
I am a HUGE Allan Holdsworth fan. I've been hooked since the first time I saw him in 1989 at New George's in San Rafael, CA. Chad was playing drums and YOU were playing bass. I had never heard anything like it, but I was already into Stanley Clarke, RTF, etc. I remember you did a solo and Neil Schon was blown away (but of course he was !). The next day on my lunch break I went to the local record store and bought every cassette I could find by Allan. Since then to this day, I always have at least one Allan Holdsworth CD in my CD changer in the car. Yes, I still like CD's. I don't know how to download music and I like owning a hard copy. I think those guys are lucky to play with you ! Thanks for the advice you gave me here to follow my heart and my ear when I asked about lessons. That is GREAT advice !
Thanks Jimmy J ! - Michael

[mb94952]

Hi Jimmy !!
I am a HUGE Allan Holdsworth fan. I've been hooked since the first time I saw him in 1989 at New George's in San Rafael, CA. Chad was playing drums and YOU were playing bass. I had never heard anything like it, but I was already into Stanley Clarke, RTF, etc. so it was a smooth transition. I remember you did a solo and Neil Schon was blown away (but of course he was !). The next day on my lunch break I went to the local record store and bought every cassette I could find by Allan. Since then to this day, I always have at least one Allan Holdsworth CD in my CD changer in the car. Yes, I still like CD's. I don't know how to download music and I like owning a hard copy. I think those guys are lucky to play with you ! Thanks for the advice you gave me here to follow my heart and my ear when I asked about lessons. That is GREAT advice !
Thanks Jimmy J ! - Michael

[JimmyJ]

Michael,

(Words so nice he posted them twice?  Ha!)

Thanks again, that's a great story.  As I said, Allan's music was not everybody's cup of tea.  There were often some very confused looks in the audience as they tried to figure out what the heck they were hearing. 

But despite the struggle involved in presenting this unusual music (Chad and I trading off as tour managers / van drivers, chasing down the club owners to get paid, running up our own credit cards, etc...), the greatest thing about it was that at every gig there would be at least one or two people like yourself who were hearing it for the first time - and it connected.  Sometimes profoundly!  At the end of every gig somebody would come up and say "OMG you guys!!"  That made it all worthwhile.  Even while making the 8 hour drive to the next club we would have this feeling that "tonight somebody was going to hear something they've never heard before".  We were all proud to have been a part of that!!

Cheers,
Jimmy J

[David Houck]

... "tonight somebody was going to hear something they've never heard before" ...

   

[eddievig]

Jimmy,
How goes Vegas?  I was working out there at some Caesars properties last week, but the requisite long hours meant I never got free to catch a show. It was very cool to see your Alembic plastered all over LED signs on The Strip, however.
Best,
Ed V

[JimmyJ]

Hey Ed,

Sorry we missed each other.  Yeah, we're finding some kind of groove.  It's very strange to be on the road but staying in one place.  Here's the Series II on the digital billboard.  HA!

Jimmy J

[David Houck]

Great picture!

[goran]

That's a cool pic!

[growlypants]

Holy Smokes!!  You outdid James, himself!!!  (On the pic, anyway!)

[JimmyJ]

No, that still shot was captured from my 1-second video moment during the ad.  I stood there and waited for it to come around again.  Ha!!

Jimmy J

[keith_h]

You still look like your doing ok to me. You could have gotten zero seconds. 

[edwardofhuncote]

That's fantastic. 

[mb94952]

I read a story, i think it was here on the Alembic Club, or Talk Bass. James Taylor and the band were at the airport terminal waiting for a flight or something. A guy walked to the group of Taylor People quickly and James' people got nervous or something by this man's determination on his face, so they went in to "protect" James. The man walked right past James and to the REAL star of the band - Jimmy Johnson ! I always loved that story.

[JimmyJ]

Well Michael, that's not exactly true but thanks anyway.  I only have one similar funny story...  JT is a blend-in kind of guy.  He can be out in public riding his bike, going to the local Army surplus store, whatever, normally without drawing any attention.  Unless we're all flying somewhere together he has no entourage and we don't have any security personnel on the crew. 

But one time when he was in LA I drove him to a Whole Foods so he could stock up for his stay.  While we were checking out the person running the register said "Aren't you ...... Jimmy Johnson?"  That's a highly unusual experience for me, but it did get a smile out of JT as he continued to bag his own groceries.   

Jimmy J

[goran]

Sorry for saying this, but would first recognize you Jimmy and then James