Danny Filipski

MUSE 250
4/25/16
Brass Artist Report

Tommy Johnson was born January 7th 1935 and died October 16th 2006. He
was born in Los Angeles, California and had musical influence from his father who
sung as a baritone soloist at the Angelus Temple in Echo Park. Johnson went to the
University of Southern California Thornton School of Music, where he studied tuba
under Robert Marsteller. A couple years after graduating in 56 he played in his first
film score for the movie, Al Capone. After that he became Hollywoods first call for a
tuba player and played in more than 2,000 film soundtracks. He played in many of
soundtracks for John Williams, and Johnson also played in tracks with Elvis Presley,
Frank Sinatra, and even Weird Al Yankovic.
Johnson was most notable for playing in many of Television soundtracks also.
He played in television commercials, and television series such as The Flintstones.
Other film tracks that Johnson played for, but Williams didnt write, include The

Godfather series, Star Trek series, The Lion King, Titanic, The Matrix, Cats and Dogs,
Forrest Gump, Air Force One, Back to the Future series, A Bugs Life, and Lethal
Weapon.
Everyone will forever be able to list to Johnsons tuba solo in the Jaws Theme
for the movie soundtrack. The music was written in the higher register for the tuba,
but Williams wanted a more threatening sound so he scored for the tuba solo. After
Johnson passed, Williams stated that Johnson was one the greatest instrumentalist
of his generation.
As part of playing in film scores, Johnson also played as a tuba soloist in the
Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, the Pasadena Symphony, the San Fernando
Valley Symphony, 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.
In addition to being a tuba performer, he was also a tuba educator. He taught
junior high school music in the Los Angeles Unified School District for nearly 20
years. Johnson also taught advanced tuba players at USC and UCLA. Many of his
tuba students are in the top orchestras in the world including New York
Philharmonic, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and the Detroit Symphony
Orchestra.
Instead of doing a traditional funeral for Johnson, his family and friends
hosted a musical tribute for him at the University of Southern California. For this
tribute the family made and extended program which includes a detailed biography
and shared memories with photos. This program can be found by going to the
tribute website, tommyjohnsontuba.com.

Discography:
Themes to;

The Addams Family

Air Force One

Al Capone

Alien

Armageddon

Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me

The Babe

Back to the Future Part I, Part II and Part III

Batman Forever

Batman Returns

Beethoven

Beethoven's 2nd

Beetlejuice

The Bodyguard

A Bug's Life

Constantine

Cars

Cats & Dogs

Chain Reaction

Close Encounters of the Third Kind

Con Air

Contact

Crimson Tide

Death Becomes Her

Deep Rising

Die Hard

Die Hard 2

Dracula

The Edge

Enemy of the State

Evolution

Executive Decision

Extreme Measures

Father of the Bride Part II

A Few Good Men

First Wives Club

The Flintstones

Flubber

Forrest Gump

Frequency

The Frighteners

The General's Daughter

The Godfather Part I, Part II and Part III

Godzilla

Grumpier Old Men

The Haunting

Honey

Honeymoon in Vegas

The Incredibles

Independence Day

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

Instinct

Jaws

Jaws 2

Jaws 3-D

Jaws: The Revenge

The Karate Kid

The Karate Kid, Part II

The Karate Kid, Part III

The Last of the Mohicans

A League of Their Own

Lethal Weapon

Lethal Weapon 2

Lethal Weapon 3

Lethal Weapon 4

The Lion King

The Matrix

Maverick

Men in Black

Monsters, Inc.

MouseHunt

Mr. Magoo

Mulan

Mystery, Alaska

The Natural

The Nutty Professor

The Odd Couple II

The Parent Trap

Planet of the Apes

Pleasantville

Police Academy

Police Academy 2: Their First Assignment

Police Academy 3: Back in Training

Police Academy 4: Citizens on Patrol

Police Academy 5: Assignment Miami Beach

The Quick and the Dead

Raiders of the Lost Ark

The Rainmaker

Reindeer Games

Richie Rich

Robin Hood

Scream 2

Scream 3

Seven

Silverado

Small Soldiers

Snow Day

Starship Troopers

Star Trek: The Motion Picture

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan

Star Trek III: The Search for Spock

Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home

Star Trek V: The Final Frontier

Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country

Star Trek: First Contact

Star Trek: Insurrection

Star Trek: Nemesis

Tarzan

The Thin Red Line

The Thomas Crown Affair

The Tigger Movie

Tin Cup

Titanic

Toy Story

Toy Story 2

True Lies

Twister

U-571

Under Siege

Under Siege 2: Dark Territory

Unforgiven

US Marshals

Waiting to Exhale

The Waterboy

Wild Wild West

Wyatt Earp

Resources
Biography:
http://articles.latimes.com/2006/oct/25/local/me-johnson25
http://www.lastudiomusicians.info/tommyjohnson.htm
Picture:
http://musicians.allaboutjazz.com/tommyjohnson
Discography:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tommy_Johnson_(tubist)