Jimmy "Flim" Johnson

[jazzyvee]

Thanks Jimmy, i appreciate your response & feel more relaxed about it now.  :-)
 
Jazzyvee

[jacko]

Hey Jimmy - just thought I'd stoke your ego ;-) It's Father's day in the UK so i got to play holdsworth's 'Sand' at a listenable volume today. I just loved your solo on 'Pud Wud'. Having seen the band live now, I can just imagine the fun you must have had in the studio cutting these early albums. Interesting, even though Allan is using a synthaxe, his playing is unmistakeable. If I closed my eyes it sounded just like his steinberger playing from last week. Have to go - the sun is shining so I have to attend to my BBQ duties ;-)
 
All the best to everyone, everywhere from sunny (for a change) Scotland.
 
Graeme

[white_cloud]

Hi guys. I had terminated my previous account here at the club because I had become concerned about the erratic & unreasonable behaviour of a certain individual (who shall remain nameless) who was severely hampering my enjoyment of hanging here!
 
 
 
Anyway I feel compelled to drop by to pay my highest regards to Jimmy J in relation to the Glasgow Ferry gig with Allan. I was lucky enough to spend a small ammount of time with Allan, Gary & Jimmy on the night and believe me this was a real special occaision for me as I have been a big AH fan since the early 1980's & have been inspred by his music more than any other artist! Its no secret around these parts that I consider Allan to be the finest exponant of the electric guitar alive & finally witnessing him playing with Jimmy has kind of made my life complete now lol! Mention must go to Gary too, I have always considered Chad to be my favourite AH drummer - but Gary totally nailed it & was so on the money it was unreal!
 
I agree with Graeme above, at times the music seemed to enter into the realms of another dimension - I found it hard to take in the sheer magnificence of it all. Jimmy, it was an honour to meet you. Your tone was incredible & your playing was inspirational - but above all of that your quality as a human being shone above all else after the show. It is rare to meet the combination of taste, talent & self depreciating humility in a person.
 
I hope we can meet again sometime. It was a pleasure to be savoured.
 
John.
 
(Message edited by white cloud on June 21, 2010)

[JimmyJ]

Graeme,
Thanks for that.  The records were always interesting experiences.  Sometimes I wish I had been able to spend more time on things or simply possessed a deeper understanding of the harmony,  but all in all I'm very proud to have been a part of this unique music over the years.  I agree that Allan's voice on the SynthAxe is also identifiable, as is his short violin solo on the original I.O.U. record.  It seems the instrument doesn't matter for him ... which is rather astounding.
 
John,  
Thanks for making the effort to come back in and post that kind review.  I'm glad you enjoyed the evening as much as I did!  Allan is indeed an inspirational musician, one of those rare individuals who changed our understanding of what his instrument(s) can do.  Glad you were able to come to that gig.  I hope we can get back over your way again soon.
 
Jimmy J
 
(Message edited by jimmyj on June 21, 2010)

[jazzyvee]

Hi Jimmy, I took your advice and gave the engineer the sound I wanted and he was completely happy with that. I didn't get a chance to hear any of the playbacks because of tight time constraints and other issues. But without going into too much boring detail, it was a memorable experience however not for good reasons but from a cascade of bad vibes, wasting of time and terrible unbalanced and distorted headphone mixes.
Let's hope next time is more rewarding.
 
One good thing though, It will be interesting,  to hear the playbacks if for no other reason than to get an idea of how my bass sounds when recorded in a studio.
 
Life goes on.... :-)
 
Jazzyvee.

[edwin]

Boy, am I sorry to hear that! It's always a drag when things go like that. In this day and age, there's no real excuse for unbalanced and distorted headphone mixes. While I've never had the chance to work in the best of studios, I'd done lots of recording in various local studios and have done quite a bit of engineering (in fact, I run a location recording service, so if anyone needs gigs recorded in Colorado, get in touch for an Alembic forum discount!). Getting together gain structure and learning how to make good headphone mixes should be the first thing an engineer should learn.  
 
I hope that doesn't turn you off studio work! One thing that might help mitigate these issues in the future is something like the Raven Labs headphone amp that allows you to mix in your bass with the mix that the engineer gives you and at least control what you hear of yourself. The Raven Labs is discontinued but there are other products like that or even a small mixer with a headphone out will do the trick along.

[djbass]

Along the line of outboard preamps, does anyone have experience with the Sadowsky bass preamp/DI box? Sounds like its good at boosting passive pickup instruments but it's pricey at $240 and I'm wondering if it's worth it to punch up my old Gibson EB3 and Fender Jazz. It would probably be sacrilege (not to mention unnecessary) to try to run an Alembic through it.

[funkyjazzjunky]

I use it to improve the sound of a Carvin 6 string  in passive mode and love it.  A friend is using it with his Ken Smith & Roscoe basses

[JimmyJ]

Jazzy Vee,  
 
Sorry to hear the experience wasn't a more enjoyable one.  Sometimes sessions can be like that and it takes a lot of effort to make music amidst the chaos...  Not much fun at all.
 
The cue mix (or foldback) is often a compromise, especially if everybody has to share the same mix.  For instance, the drummer will not want as much drums in the headphones as the bass player will, especially if they're in different rooms.  Some of the great rooms here in LA have small self-mixers so you can dial up what you specifically need to hear.
 
At least the engineer liked your sound!!  Hopefully you will be pleasantly surprised when you hear the final product.  
 
And I'm sure your next session will be more fun!
 
Jimmy J

[davidp158]

Hi Jimmy. I'm a new forum member, and this is my first post.  Some of this may have already been discussed, and I will search & read your posts.
 
The Flim & the BB's recordings were the first time I heard you, and both your playing and that music made a huge impression on me. The recordings have held up well over time, and I still listen to them often. I regret never seeing the BB's perform, so the Larry Hutcherson's youtube videos of a BB's show at the World Theater are pretty cool. (Billy's vintage computers on stage crack me up.) Has the BB's ever re-united for shows or recordings?
 
I was fortunate to see you perform with Alan four times, and once with James Taylor. You appear on many CDs I have by other artists. The diversity and caliber of musicians you work with must be very gratifying. Do you find the lower stage volume of a JT gig liberating, compared to the intensity of Alan's gigs? Any thoughts on how to retain bass clarity in a loud mix?
 
Thanks for your contribution to music, and I look forward to hearing you often.

[JimmyJ]

Hey Dave,
 
Welcome to the forum and thanks for the comments.  
 
Glad you enjoy the BB's stuff.  That was a long time ago (as Barber's modern computer proves) and although some of it makes me cringe a bit there were some nice musical and sonic moments scattered throughout those projects.  (Sorry if I'm repeating myself here but this IS too long a thread to reread.  HA!)  The BB's was always just a project band and only played a handful of live shows.  After our two-record experience with Warner Brothers in 1990 we all went our separate ways and haven't done any further projects together.  Everybody is still playing, just not with each other.
 
I have been lucky to have had the opportunity to play with so many great musicians and some of my musical heros.  Sure has been fun so far!
 
The in-ear monitors available today have come a long way in sound quality since when they were first introduced.  I enjoy using them in the JT situation as they allow me to set up a great headphone mix which barely changes from venue to venue.  It helps me concentrate on the task at hand and not be distracted by an echoey arena or a dry outdoor gig.  But standing next to Chad or Gary in Allan's band is also a real blast so I can't say I prefer one situation over the other.  I do wear ear-plugs on Allan's gig.
 
Not sure what you're asking about the mix but we're usually counting on the house sound guy to get the big tone out there...
 
Thanks again,
Jimmy J

[pace]

Jimmy,  
 
I was hoping to touch base with you regarding Allan's September East Coast tour.... If/when you get a chance, shoot me an e-mail (in my profile).
 
thanks,
-Mike

[bigredbass]

So Jimmy, did you ever do any sides with Messrs. Becker and Fagen?  If you did, did you meet Hoops McCann or the Babylon Sisters?
 
J o e y

[JimmyJ]

J o e y,
The closest I got to those cats was working on a record Walter produced for the Norwegian band fra lippo lippi in ... '87?  I don't remember much about the experience but he seemed like a cool guy.  I've worked with many of their sidemen but neither Hoops nor the Sisters.  Ha!
 
-Mike, not sure yet if I'll be on that tour, it's still in the formative stages.
 
Jimmy J

[tubeperson]

Hello Jimmy
 
Big fan, love the music created with Alan, Flim and the BB's and Wayne Johnson.  Do you have transcriptions of songs you recorded with those various tandems?  Last summer, my bass instructer and I attempted to transcribe Sky Pirates, but we had a cassette of the album, and I'nm not sure we are as accurate as we can be.  It was a fun project.
 
Do you still have the 5 string Yamaha bass that served as your fill in when the Alembic was tragically taken away?  I was really impressed with the sound you got with the fill in bass, considering you did not have much time to work with it (I saw the NYC show at The Bottom Line, now closed).