Album Notes

Songs from the Beach is a collection of original songs from my first 4 albums. There are tracks from my first album in 1987, Take It Light, 1989's Crazy This Seems, 1994's Mitch & Dave, and my 2000 recording - Into The Cool Blue. Many songs show a strong influence from many years of living in Grand Turk, Turks and Caicos Islands, and playing for over 15 years in a reggae calypso band. I am talking the real thing here... I was the token white boy (pun intended) and earned the nickname Spot! The other guys in the band were all Turks & Caicos Islanders and the reggae and calypso music was what they grew up with as a dominant part of their culture. They were awesome!! It took me long time to "get the groove" but eventually I relaxed enough to fit in... In the meantime they were a bit curious about some of my rock and roll licks. It was fun when they would let me rock out once in a while and even the crowds thought it was fun for a song or two.... "Go Johnny GO GO GO!" :-)

But back to the songs.... They are a real mix, from the first track, Grand Turk Blues, which was written over 30 years ago when I was 18, a classic blues tale in good form, to some down right rocking out electric guitar on the instrumental Sea Minor Jam. In between are the expressions of a lonely beach boy writing his songs in the moonlight and combining it all together. Cruisin Now, I Live in the Islands, Crazy This Seems, Island Girl, and Stolen Moments are all songs that start with a quasi-reggae groove to tell the story, but always manage to squeeze in some snappy guitar licks to fill things out. And just to stir it up even more, there is Mother Tongue... in my opinion one of the highlights of the album and the only song I did not write. The style is obviously way different than to the rest of the album and the singer is the same as the composer. Dave has a great voice and it inspires me to this day. All in all it is a blast from the past. Some good songs that I hope to keep alive with new recordings and bands...if you like this... wait til you see what I come up with next!!