David Earle Johnson

For other people named David Johnson, see David Johnson (disambiguation).

David Earle Johnson was a percussionist, a composer and a music producer.

Career

Percussionist David Earle Johnson performed on albums by a number of jazz artists in the seventies before releasing a few of his own albums in the late seventies and early eighties. He appeared on numerous albums: Billy Cobham's Total Eclipse and Clive Stevens' Voyage to Uranus (1974); Jan Hammer's First Seven Days (1975); Lenny White's Big City and Miroslav Vitouš' Majesty Music (1977); Jaroslav Jakubovic's Checkin' In, Mark Moogy Klingman's Moogy II, the Players Association's Born to Dance, and Josh White Jr.'s self-titled album (1978); and others.

Johnson's solo debut came in 1978 with Time Is Free, recorded for Vanguard. His relationship with that label proved short-lived, however, and he began recording albums for other labels in subsequent years before his recording career simmered following his 1983 album, The Midweek Blues.

Jan Hammer produced and performed on most of these releases along with John Abercrombie, Jeremy Steig, Col.Bruce Hampton, Allen Sloan, Dan Wall, Ben 'Pops' Thornton, Billy McPherson and Gary Campbell.

David was against the use of "sampled sounds", as Hammer used samples of David's rare Nigerian Log Drums on the Miami Vice soundtrack without David's permission. This resulted in a lawsuit which David ultimately lost.^{[citation needed]}

David Earle Johnson died from cancer in 1998.

Discography

• 1978 - "Time Is Free"
• 1979 - "Skin Deep - Yeah !"
• 1980 - "Hip Address"
• 1981 - "Route Two"
• 1983 - "Midweek Blues"
• 1986 - "The Feeling's mutual"
• 1993 - "White Latening"

Discography for other artists' albums

• Aurora Aurora (2000) Producer
• Bob Belden Ensemble Straight to My Heart: The Music of (1989) Percussion, Conga
• Blast Blast (1980) Percussion, Vocals
• Billy Cobham Total Eclipse (1974) Conga
• Billy Cobham Rudiments: The Billy Cobham... (2001) Conga
• Jan Hammer Early Years (1974) Percussion, Conga
• Jan Hammer First Seven Days (1975) Percussion, Conga
• Col. Bruce Hampton & The... Outside Looking Out (1980) Percussion
• Jaroslav Jakubovic Checkin' In (1978) Percussion
• Klemperer/Reiner Gerald McBoing Boing & Others (1990) Percussion
• Mark Moogy Klingman Moogy II (1978) Conga
• Taj Mahal Like Never Before (1991) Percussion, Go Go Bell
• Oregon Friends (1977) Conga, Timbales
• Oregon Essential (1987) Conga
• Oregon Vanguard Sessions: Best of the... (2000) Conga, Timbales
• The Players Association Born to Dance (1978) Percussion, Conga, Timbales
• Players Association Players Association/Turn the Music (1998) Percussion, Conga
• Sea Level Best of Sea Level (1977) Percussion, Conga
• Sea Level Long Walk on a Short Pier (1979) Percussion, Conga
• Clive Stevens Voyage to Uranus (1974) Percussion, Conga, Timbales
• Swamp Dogg Swamp Dogg (Rat On) (1971) Engineer
• Swamp Dogg Cuffed, Collared and Tagged (1972) Engineer
• Swamp Dogg Have You Heard This Story? (1974) Whistle (Human)
• George Tandy Urban Jazz (1992) Drums, Drums
• Nestor Torres Morning Ride (1989) Synthesizer, Percussion, Drums, Sound Effects, Timbales, Producer
• Miroslav Vitous Majesty Music (1977) Percussion, Conga
• Josh White, Jr. Josh White Jr. (1978) Percussion
• Lenny White Big City (1977) Conga
• John Williams Empire Strikes Back [Original... (1980) Percussion
• Betty Wright Passion & Compassion (1990) Cymbals, Drums
• Various Artists Cool Fever: From Disco Jazz to... (1997) Percussion, Conga, Timbales
• Various Artists Vanguard Collector's Edition (1997) Percussion, Conga, Timbales
• Various Artists World of Drums And Percussion, Vol... (2000) Performer
• Jan Hammer Early Years
• Jan Hammer Oh Yeah?
• Various Artists World of Drums And Percussion, Vol. 2

Personal life

He was married with artist-painter Evelyne Morisot with whom he had four children. He died in 1998.^{[citation needed]}

External links

• a two pages tribute

Persondata
Name	Johnson, David Earle
Alternative names
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Date of birth
Place of birth
Date of death	1998
Place of death