Jan. 22, 2003
by Kristy Rupon

Influenced by the likes of Kris Kristofferson, Todd Snider and Laidback Larry Shirah, singer-songwriter Frank Lee Johnson has produced his first CD.
For an independently made product, "Keep Your Shirt On" is a well done first effort.
From open mic nights in front of a handful of people to large-group gigs, Johnson has what it takes to entertain an audience armed with a guitar, a harmonica and an abundance of quirky lyrics.
Lyrics are the most important thing in Frank's music. "If I'm not playing 90 percent original songs, there's no reason for me to be up there," he has said.
The 10-song CD ranges from sad to funny, and many songs incorporate and intriguing mixture of both.
"Shadi's Revenge," one of Frank's perennial performance favorites, tells the story of a woman spurned and the shocking revenge she exacts. Like many of Johnson's songs, if the story were true, it would be a great tragedy. But as fiction, it has a magic that makes you laugh despite the horrendous conditions.
"Where Have You Gone?" is a nostalgic tribute to growing up in a time when Johnny Carson was king of late night TV and when "john-john might one day run for office from a city where twin towers stood tall." We can all relate to the song's longing for the good old days.
Frank's characters are some of the saddest and most misguided participants in the human race. You can see parts of yourself in some of them and are thankful that you can't in others. You empathize with them and have fun getting to know them.
Johnson reveals their flaws but reminds us that we are not so different from them, like Bobby and Sammy in "Candace Kane" -- one lonely man who is trying to talk another lonely man out of his depression over a woman and both of whom "were human like so many of us are."
Another great example is "Not Tonight," about a guy who is going to stop doing all the things he thinks he shouldn't be doing, "but not tonight." You're not human if you can't identify with that sentiment.
I would be remiss not to mention "Zimmy and the Tree," a song about a prophet who envies what appears to be the easy life of a tree, rooted in one place. "You ain't got no mortgages and you ain't got no doubts," Zimmy tells the tree before he finds out that the tree's life is no picnic, either. The tree would "much prefer to get around." Shirah, who co-wrote the song with Johnson, provides vocals and acoustic guitar on the Zimmy track.
While some of the lyrics in Frank's songs are straightforward, many are complex and open for interpretation. The best example is "Elvis Left the Building," an intricate group of lyrics that make you work for their meaning.
But the interpretations will be left up to the individual listeners. Don't ask Johnson to explain his reasoning behind a set of lyrics, the placement of a song or anything else about the CD. His pat response, often delivered with a devlish grin:
"That's up to you, my friend."

Kristy Rupon is news editor for the Chronicle-Independent, Camden, S.C., Jan. 22, 2003.