The Usual Suspects
Gio Washington-Wright's L.A. Studio Musicians Tribute Site
Tommy's legendary solo on "What The World Needs Now"
by Jackie DeShannon
Tommy Johnson - What The World Needs Now.mp3
by Jackie DeShannon
Tommy Johnson - What The World Needs Now.mp3
John Thomas Johnson (January 7, 1935 - October 16, 2006) was an American orchestral tuba player. He performed on more than 2,000 film soundtracks, most notably John Williams' Jaws score, in which he played a high-register tuba solo as the melodic theme for the shark. He was born in Los Angeles, California to a tailor and his wife. Johnson had a musical upbringing as his father was a baritone soloist in the choir at the Angelus Temple in Echo Park.
He attended the University of Southern California Thornton School of Music, studying under Robert Marsteller. He received a bachelor's degree in music in 1956. He played on his first film in 1958, the score for Al Capone. He went on to become Hollywood's "first-call" tuba player, playing for television commercials and TV series, such as The Flintstones. In addition to Jaws, his films included, The Godfather, the Indiana Jones series, the Star Trek film series, The Lion King, Titanic, The Thin Red Line (1998 remake), The Matrix, Cats & Dogs, Forrest Gump, Air Force One, Back to the Future, A Bug's Life and Lethal Weapon.
The Jaws solo was written in an extremely high range for the tuba. In a 2004 interview with Tubanews.com, Johnson remembered being late to the recording session and opened his music to find the tuba solo. It wasn't until later that he found out it was the theme for the shark. Johnson said he asked composer John Williams why he didn't write the solo for the French horn, an instrument better suited for the register. Williams' response was, "Well, I wanted something that was in that register but I wanted it to sound a little more threatening.
Upon Johnson's death, Williams praised him as "one of the great instrumentalists of his generation. Not only was he the voice of the shark in Jaws, his performance across the full range of the repertoire inspired not only me, but a whole generation of young tubists."
In addition to his work on film soundtracks, Johnson played on recording sessions for many albums by such artists as Elvis Presley and Frank Sinatra. "Weird Al" Yankovic said Johnson was his "go-to guy" whenever he needed a tubist for his polka medleys. Johnson performed the tuba solo on Yankovic's Nirvana parody, "Smells Like Nirvana". His other recordings include The Manhattan Transfer Meets Tubby the Tuba, Partita for Brass Quintet and Tape and Jean-Pierre Rampal Plays Scott Joplin.
Johnson performed as tuba soloist with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, the Pasadena Symphony, the San Fernando Valley Symphony, the L.A. Pops Orchestra, the Henry Mancini Orchestra, the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, the Academy Awards Orchestra, the USC Wind Ensemble and the Los Angeles Tuba Quartet.
He taught junior high school music in the Los Angeles Unified School District for nearly 20 years, but for most of his career, he taught advanced tuba players in private lessons and at USC and UCLA. Among his students were Norm Pearson, principal tubist of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Alan Baer, principal tubist of the New York Philharmonic, Gene Pokorny, principal tubist of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Wesley Jacobs, principal tubist (Ret.) of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, John Van Houten and Jim Self, a jazz tubist and studio musician who worked on many sessions with Johnson. Noted tubist Roger Bobo also studied under Marsteller in the 1950s, and he and Johnson became close friends and friendly competitors, playing many concerts and recording sessions together.
He attended the University of Southern California Thornton School of Music, studying under Robert Marsteller. He received a bachelor's degree in music in 1956. He played on his first film in 1958, the score for Al Capone. He went on to become Hollywood's "first-call" tuba player, playing for television commercials and TV series, such as The Flintstones. In addition to Jaws, his films included, The Godfather, the Indiana Jones series, the Star Trek film series, The Lion King, Titanic, The Thin Red Line (1998 remake), The Matrix, Cats & Dogs, Forrest Gump, Air Force One, Back to the Future, A Bug's Life and Lethal Weapon.
The Jaws solo was written in an extremely high range for the tuba. In a 2004 interview with Tubanews.com, Johnson remembered being late to the recording session and opened his music to find the tuba solo. It wasn't until later that he found out it was the theme for the shark. Johnson said he asked composer John Williams why he didn't write the solo for the French horn, an instrument better suited for the register. Williams' response was, "Well, I wanted something that was in that register but I wanted it to sound a little more threatening.
Upon Johnson's death, Williams praised him as "one of the great instrumentalists of his generation. Not only was he the voice of the shark in Jaws, his performance across the full range of the repertoire inspired not only me, but a whole generation of young tubists."
In addition to his work on film soundtracks, Johnson played on recording sessions for many albums by such artists as Elvis Presley and Frank Sinatra. "Weird Al" Yankovic said Johnson was his "go-to guy" whenever he needed a tubist for his polka medleys. Johnson performed the tuba solo on Yankovic's Nirvana parody, "Smells Like Nirvana". His other recordings include The Manhattan Transfer Meets Tubby the Tuba, Partita for Brass Quintet and Tape and Jean-Pierre Rampal Plays Scott Joplin.
Johnson performed as tuba soloist with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, the Pasadena Symphony, the San Fernando Valley Symphony, the L.A. Pops Orchestra, the Henry Mancini Orchestra, the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, the Academy Awards Orchestra, the USC Wind Ensemble and the Los Angeles Tuba Quartet.
He taught junior high school music in the Los Angeles Unified School District for nearly 20 years, but for most of his career, he taught advanced tuba players in private lessons and at USC and UCLA. Among his students were Norm Pearson, principal tubist of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Alan Baer, principal tubist of the New York Philharmonic, Gene Pokorny, principal tubist of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Wesley Jacobs, principal tubist (Ret.) of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, John Van Houten and Jim Self, a jazz tubist and studio musician who worked on many sessions with Johnson. Noted tubist Roger Bobo also studied under Marsteller in the 1950s, and he and Johnson became close friends and friendly competitors, playing many concerts and recording sessions together.
Selected Soundtracks
2008 Teen Titans: Trouble in Tokyo [Original Score for the Animated Feature] Tuba
2006 Flags Of Our Fathers [Soundtrack] Clint Eastwood Tuba
2006 X2: X-Men United [Original Motion Picture Score] John Ottman Tuba
2005 The Island [Soundtrack] Steve Jablonsky Tuba
2005 Fantastic 4 [Original Motion Picture Score] John Ottman Tuba
2005 Meet the Fockers [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack] Randy Newman Principal Tuba
2004 Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events Tuba
2004 The Day After Tomorrow Harald Kloser Tuba
2004 National Treasure (Original Score) Trevor Rabin Tuba
2004 Spider-Man 2 [Original Motion Picture Score] Tuba
2003 Bulletproof Monk [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack] Eric Serra Tuba
2003 Gothika [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack] John Ottman Principal Tuba
2003 Identity [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack] Alan Silvestri Tuba
2003 Jeepers Creepers 2 [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack] Tuba
2003 Scary Movie 3 Tuba
2003 Tears of the Sun [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack] Hans Zimmer Tuba
2003 The Hunted [Music from the Motion Picture] Brian Tyler Tuba
2003 The Last Samurai [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack] Hans Zimmer Tuba
2002 Antwone Fisher Mychael Danna Tuba
2002 Tuck Everlasting William Ross Tuba
2002 Blade II Marco Beltrami Tuba
2002 Eight Legged Freaks [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack] John Ottman Tuba
2002 Far From Heaven [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack] Elmer Bernstein Tuba
2002 Panic Room [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack] Howard Shore Tuba
2002 Signs [Original Motion Picture Score] James Newton Howard Tuba
2002 Sin City: The Very Best of the Flying Burrito Brothers The Flying Burrito Brothers Tuba
2002 Star Trek: Nemesis [Music from the Original Motion Picture Soundtrack] Tuba
2001 Along Came a Spider Jerry Goldsmith Tuba
2001 Black Knight [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack] Randy Edelman Tuba
2001 Domestic Disturbance [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack] Mark Mancina Tuba
2001 The Glass House [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack] Christopher Young Tuba
1999 Tarzan [Original Soundtrack] Phil Collins Tuba
1996 101 Dalmations (Live Action) Michael Kamen Tuba
1987 Harry and the Hendersons [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack] Bruce Broughton Tuba
1985 The Color Purple [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack] Tuba
2008 Teen Titans: Trouble in Tokyo [Original Score for the Animated Feature] Tuba
2006 Flags Of Our Fathers [Soundtrack] Clint Eastwood Tuba
2006 X2: X-Men United [Original Motion Picture Score] John Ottman Tuba
2005 The Island [Soundtrack] Steve Jablonsky Tuba
2005 Fantastic 4 [Original Motion Picture Score] John Ottman Tuba
2005 Meet the Fockers [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack] Randy Newman Principal Tuba
2004 Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events Tuba
2004 The Day After Tomorrow Harald Kloser Tuba
2004 National Treasure (Original Score) Trevor Rabin Tuba
2004 Spider-Man 2 [Original Motion Picture Score] Tuba
2003 Bulletproof Monk [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack] Eric Serra Tuba
2003 Gothika [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack] John Ottman Principal Tuba
2003 Identity [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack] Alan Silvestri Tuba
2003 Jeepers Creepers 2 [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack] Tuba
2003 Scary Movie 3 Tuba
2003 Tears of the Sun [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack] Hans Zimmer Tuba
2003 The Hunted [Music from the Motion Picture] Brian Tyler Tuba
2003 The Last Samurai [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack] Hans Zimmer Tuba
2002 Antwone Fisher Mychael Danna Tuba
2002 Tuck Everlasting William Ross Tuba
2002 Blade II Marco Beltrami Tuba
2002 Eight Legged Freaks [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack] John Ottman Tuba
2002 Far From Heaven [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack] Elmer Bernstein Tuba
2002 Panic Room [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack] Howard Shore Tuba
2002 Signs [Original Motion Picture Score] James Newton Howard Tuba
2002 Sin City: The Very Best of the Flying Burrito Brothers The Flying Burrito Brothers Tuba
2002 Star Trek: Nemesis [Music from the Original Motion Picture Soundtrack] Tuba
2001 Along Came a Spider Jerry Goldsmith Tuba
2001 Black Knight [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack] Randy Edelman Tuba
2001 Domestic Disturbance [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack] Mark Mancina Tuba
2001 The Glass House [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack] Christopher Young Tuba
1999 Tarzan [Original Soundtrack] Phil Collins Tuba
1996 101 Dalmations (Live Action) Michael Kamen Tuba
1987 Harry and the Hendersons [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack] Bruce Broughton Tuba
1985 The Color Purple [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack] Tuba