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DEAN JOHNSON
Dean
Johnson
is evidence of
the enduring scope for simply picking up a guitar and singing with it” –
Paul Du Noyer (From
‘Wondrous Place’,
Liverpool
Music from The Cavern to Cream)
The above
quote from Mojo magazine
founding editor Paul Du Noyer’s
latest book, a wonderfully simple and evocative description of Merseyside’s
self-styled troubadour Dean Johnson,
is as good a place as any to start this brief biography.
Born
in Birkenhead
at the height of Beatlemania, his burgeoning solo career began in 1994 with
Dean Pan Alley, the first in a punningly titled series of albums. Two years later, with the release of
Scouse Pie, the NME writer
John Perry went as far as to
mention Dean in the same breath as
The Beatles and The Bunnymen
when describing the album as ‘bedsit genius’. The same journalist went on to
nominate the attendant single, Being
Young as ‘Near Single Of The Week’. Such praise resulted in a flurry of
great reviews, and landed Johnson a publishing deal with
London’s Eaton Music (previously publishers for
Harry Nilsson and
Jim Webb).
A
demo of Dean’s next album, The
Training Of The Shoe, led to an introduction to
Chris Difford, founder member of
Squeeze, and no mean judge of a
good song himself. Difford was an early champion of Johnson’s quirky
wordsmithery, and keen to spread the word on his protégé, introduced him to
Bona Fide pop sensations Wet Wet Wet.
They agreed to both back him and produce his next album,
Multi Stories, in return for
Dean adding a little lyrical bite to their music. The record was mixed by
future Coldplay and
Gomez producer,
Ken Nelson.
The
winter of 1999 saw Dean touring the
UK
with Squeeze, being joined periodically onstage by
Difford & Tilbrook. A live
document of this, entitled The Road
To Hull again found much for the critics to admire, with rave notices
from Mojo and even Loaded
magazine.
As
the new Millennium dawned, two further albums appeared: the first, entitled
Loser Friendly, was the best
received of all Johnson’s seven albums, with
The Guardian describing him as
having “the passion of
Bob Dylan with
The
Gallaghers’ way with a tune”.
In 2001, the live retrospective
Chapters further underscored his reputation as a sharp and incisive
lyricist and tunesmith. The latter finally brought Johnson into the
mainstream with the BBC Radio 2
playlisted single, Everybody’s Got
It, a collaboration with Scouse Soul Brothers
The Christians, with whom
Johnson had toured extensively. The song lodged itself on the airwaves for
more than a month. Sharing the Beeb’s airtime simultaneously was everyone’s
favourite muso, Paul Carrack,
who, strangely enough, was also a member of Squeeze, who took Dean as his
opening act across the UK for the next eighteen months,
culminating in a career-defining performance at
The Royal Albert Hall in
November 2002.
With
all this exposure to a large and discerning audience, Johnson broadened his
musical horizons, and his next album,
Soul System, not only reflected
Dean’s growing maturity as a writer, but also set him free to develop into a
songwriter with a genuinely crafted approach to his music.
2006
saw successful UK tours with
The Orchestra (the former members of
ELO) and Bill Wyman’s Rhythm
Kings. His opening set was received well on the former’s tour, and Dean
would sometimes outsell the headline act in CDs on the merchandise stand.
In 2007, the
album The Black Arts
was released;
a return in some ways to the anger and incisive wit of old, but in more
depth, covering a range of much darker subjects, such as drug taking and
mental illness. The Daily Mirror proclaimed “this
release should ensure a much wider audience for his acoustic blues and
electric rock firestorms”.
Sadly it
didn't, so it was back to the studio for Dean, to record the album
You Spill More Than You Drink, also released in 2007, a quirky
album which saw a return in many ways to the sound of his debut album
Dead Pan Alley. It also features members of
Wet Wet Wet on one highly
amusing track.
During
September 2007, Dean travelled to Nashville to record with
top ex-pat producer Stuart Colman (Jeff Beck,
Shakin' Stevens,
Little Richard and more)..
In October and
November 2007, Dean also toured the UK successfully
with 10cc.
2008 sees the
release of I Survived, a cover version of the lost
Adam Faith classic, to be released as a charity single in aid of
The British Heart Foundation, recorded with the full
blessing of the song's co-writer and producer David Courtney,
and also a massive 48-date tour as special guest of David Essex,
where I Survived is sure to get a good airing!
The latest
project in Dean’s startlingly busy schedule is his forthcoming Christmas
single, Mary’s Song, co-written
with Stewart Blandamer (writer
of Frankie Miller’s big hit
single Darlin’ and former member
of Paul Young’s band
The Q-Tips
and
Adam and the ants. Recorded in Spain, this heart-warming and
delightfully old fashioned feel-good festive song should be a treasured
addition to anybody’s stocking, and hopefully lead on to great things in
2009.
THE
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW
Matchbox's Dale Olivier recently had a few
words with Dean and the full results can be seen below.
1. What made you decide to start a career in
music. Tell us a bit about your history to date ?
I didn’t really choose a career
in music, it chose me. I was obsessed with music from about the age of 9 and
started writing songs at 11. I began performing solo in folk clubs at 17,
then through a number of pub bands in the 80's. I recorded my first CD Dead
Pan Alley in 94 and began to play support slots on major tours for the likes
of Squeeze, Beach Boys, Bryan Ferry, etc.
2. Who or what are your influences ?
Classic singer/songwriters: Neil Young, Bob Dylan, and
also poets like Dylan Thomas and the Mersey
poets like Adrian Henry, etc.
3. What modern artists do you like ?
Leonard Cohen: he’s been gone so long
he’s like new again. But I haven’t really heard anything since Nirvana that
has blown me away.
4. You have recently come off tours with E.L.O and David Essex. Tell
us all about it how did they go and what sort of audiences were you playing
to ?
These were the most successful tours I’ve
ever done. I sold hundreds of CDs to 3 generations of audience. These acts
were giants of the 70's music scene and their songs still stand up today.
Also David Essex is one of the nicest people I’ve ever met.
5. What inspires you to write your music/lyrics ?
Personal relationships, world events, poetry. Sometimes a title will come to
me and I’m off. I just like playing with words; I like to approach everyday
situations from a different angle.
6. Name your all time fave track by another band/artist ?
A Man Needs A Maid by Neil Young.
7. Your new Xmas themed single "Mary's song" is lovely. What's the
story behind it and is it based on a real life experience ?
It’s a boy meets girl story. It takes place on Christmas
Eve sometime during the war. I don’t know if they stay together because its
only one night. I just chose Mary because its a Christmassy name. She’s
heartbroken and this guy puts a smile back on her face.
8. How would you describe your music and what genre do you think
it fits into ?Lyrical based
acoustic rock. I’m a singer/songwriter so the song dictates the style in
which it’s recorded in.
9. Where was your new material recorded and who was producing ?
It was recorded in
3 or 4 places all over the UK. A lot of people collaborated on
it but I would say I produced it.
10. We have heard rumours that co writer of your new single who also
plays sax on the song once played with Paul Young , Adam and the Ants and on
the legendary song Baker Street. Who is it and what other projects have you
they been involved in ?
You can’t always believe what you hear in this business
but a few big names are on this track and they are veterans of many big hit
records.
11. Who else have you worked with ?
I’ve worked extensively with Wet Wet Wet
- co-writing with them and having them play as my backing band on my album
Multi Stories.
12. In the U.K music and food has combined with celebrity rock and
pop stars now appearing and cooking on TV food shows. Please can you give us
your favourite recipe ?
Take away curry! I don’t know what they
put in it but it’s never the same when you make it yourself. I think it must
be pretty unhealthy but there were people on the Titanic that refused the
dessert.
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