Jimmy "Flim" Johnson

[JimmyJ]

Ah yes, now I recall meeting you and your friends (sorry, I meet a lot of people and am terrible at remembering).  Thanks for the custom T-Shirts, an unusual gift that definitely made us all smile!
 
Sorry to have missed you at the Potato last July.  Ironically, I was in Europe while you were in LA.  The BP website tends to cut and paste bands which play monthly so I was listed with Otmaro throughout 2009 even though I only played a few times.  I'm a Haslip fan too so I'm sure you had an enjoyable Spud experience.
 
I know Allan is trying to put together a fall EU trip (with a tentative Milan date on Oct 29) but it's still only in the planning stages so we will see what happens.  Maybe we'll see you there!  (No need to bring gifts!)
 
Jimmy J

[edwin]

While we are talking about meeting, were you in Allan's band ca. 1986-87? At the time, after graduating from Berklee, I was driving a cab in Boston. Around 11pm on a Tuesday night, I was flagged down by Allan and his band outside of Quincy Market. Chad wanted to know where the action was, where to find the ladies. Boston is a pretty boring town on a Tuesday night and I was at a loss. I didn't really think the Combat Zone was appropriate, so I drove everyone to Harvard Sq. (with Chad in the front seat) and dropped them off at the Wursthaus. Years later, around 1999 or so, I was hanging out with my friend, Bill Kopper, a wonderful jazz and Brazilian guitarist who I met here in Boulder and was telling him this story. It turned out that the band went straight from my cab to his table at the Wursthaus. Like me, he was a starving musician in Boston and this was his first or second night on the job as a waiter there. Apparently it was also his last! I gather that he managed to screw up the orders pretty badly that night. Although he might be a poor waiter, he is a wonderful guitar player!
 
Anyway, it occurs to me that you might have been in that cab that night!
 
Best,
Edwin

[JimmyJ]

Hey Edwin,
 
Wow, crazy coincidence.  That probably was me, the timing is right.  The only thing you don't remember correctly is Chad asking about ladies, it was never that kind of band.  The request was more likely to be for a brewery so the Wursthaus makes sense as our destination...  
 
I really wish my memory of life's details was better.  Allan can remember all the venues, their sound, and whether or not he had fun there the last time.  I sometimes can't remember a place even while loading in for the 3rd time.  I think my soft drive (brain) is filled up with audio files.  Need more RAM...  Ha!
 
Anyway, nice to meet you back then Edwin!
Jimmy J

[gbulfon]

FYI, I have created a Fan Page for you at facebook, you deserved one. I will keep you informed of the fan numbers rising up, and it already started.
You also have some true friends of yours commenting on you :
 
-Joel Taylor-
Jimmy's the Baddest ever!
 
-Leonardo Pavkovic-
one-of-a-kind bass player and one-of-a-kind guy, one and only, JIMMY JOHNSON a really good friend of mine.....
 
19 fans and these 2 posts already, in just few hours

[JimmyJ]

Gabriele,
 
While I am honored by your enthusiastic support and I have no control over what you or anybody else does on the web ... I wish you hadn't done that.  As stated above - I'm a private guy - and I am not interested in that kind of exposure (or I would have set up my own page).  
 
Please do not post my presence here as a way to contact me, OK?  That's not what this forum is for.  I am here to chat with fellow musicians, bass players, Alembic users, on an equal footing, not to reach out to fans.  I actually don't play music to make fans.
 
thanks for understanding,
Jimmy J

[gbulfon]

Sorry Jimmy, I feel there is a misunderstanding for what I did at FB.
I have been contacted by a couple of persons at Alembic about this, and gave them directions to check what I did, that is absolutely nothing official and nothing pointing to here, but just a page for other people at FB liking your music to share their joy (it is not a FB account about you, but just a page about you, as for example Wikipedia's page about you).
If you still think this is till not appropriate, I will instantly remove it.
I completely share your point of view about fans and about playing music, but sometimes your listeners just like to share their joy, and this is what happening on that page.
Again, sorry for this misunderstanding.
You may want to take a look and decide if you want me to delete it.
Gabriele.

[JimmyJ]

Gabriele,
 
I understand it's not an official page but if Joel and Leo found it then in some way it represents me and as I said I am not interested in this kind of presence.  Again, I have no say over what you do online - and I do understand that you are just being kind and trying to show your support so you are free to do what you want - but since you've offered ... my request would be that you remove the page.  Or at least don't tell me any more about it!  Ha!
 
Thanks again,
Jimmy J

[gbulfon]

I just removed the page
(BTW, Joel and Leo found it because they're both in my friend list at FB, that's how FB goes  )
EOT
 
Now, let's get back to more interesting stuff.
I remember at Treibhaus, while waiting for the gig to start, being worried when looking at the stage and no bass amp was there.
I remember saying to my friends omg, don't tell me that Jimmy is not here tonight!.
Then I was so surprised to see you play with no amp at all, you were probably directly into the mixer. Is it?
Your sound was amazing.
Did you use any device to get that direct sound?

[cozmik_cowboy]

Hi Gabriele, and welcome to the board.  If you'll go back & read this whole thread, you'll that Jimmy addresses those questions in some detail.  I'm not sure how far back it was, so don't forget the archived sections.
 
Peter

[JimmyJ]

Good Lord, don't make him read the whole thread!  
 
Gabriele, thanks for honoring my request.  
Yes, when I travel with Allan I travel light, just my bass and DI box, and I use the stage monitors as my amp.  This works for me because I like the sound of these basses through a full range system - like the PA.
 
Thanks again,
Jimmy J

[keith_h]

 
 
(Message edited by keith_h on April 20, 2010)

[nimachi]

Just had to jump in here.  Jimmy, thank you for many hours of delighful listening.  Doin' some construction stuff this weekend at the pad and I was kept semi-sane by listening to Flim, Wayne J and other old stuff that takes me back to the old days. I love my good buddy Tommy F., but I think I like your sound better.  Don't tell Tommy or Walt.

[jazzyvee]

Gbulfon is the Treibhaus the venue in Innsbruk Austria?
If it is I did a couple of gigs there a few years back when touring in Europe with Apache Indian. Great venue and great responsive crowd too.
 
Jazzyvee

[gbulfon]

Jazzyvee, yes, it's that one.
Very characteristic theatre, and great sound.
 
JJ, I understand that you like the sound through a full range system: it's the same for me with my keyboards (I hate it whan I'm forced to listen in mono or just an unbalanced listening position!).
 
If you don't mind, I'd like you to tell us some secret behind first Chad solo album. That album made me addicted to Allan/Chad/Your way of making music, and I'm deeply tied to the Forty Reason sound. It's almost 20 years old now, but it still delivers fresh music an sounds avantgard.
How did you record that album? Was it a true live session for all the pieces? Any secret will be appreciated
 
Gabriele

[JimmyJ]

Thanks Eric.  Funny, listening to that same music makes me semi-INsane.  Ha! I'm a big fan of the F bros. too.
 
Gabriele, I wish I had a better memory of the details of that recording session but I'm afraid you will need to ask Chad.  The next time you see him be sure to get some stories.  The engineer on those CMP projects was quite an eccentric fellow too.  He added some extra creativity to the final sound.
 
Isn't it great how certain records can really get to you?  We all have them, that's the power of music.  It's cool that Forty Reasons hit you this way.
 
Jimmy J