Johnson’s ‘Cowboys’ Proves 7-Year Wait Was Worth It

It took seven years for local singer-songwriter Deborah Liv Johnson to issue a follow-up to her debut album, “Mahogany Whispers,” but the brand-new CD/cassette offering, “The Cowboys of Baja Have Stolen My Heart,” rewards the patient. Released on Johnson’s own Mojave Sun Records label, “Cowboys” is further evidence that artists worthy of a national audience toil in the shadows of this burg’s moribund music scene.

For those familiar with “Mahogany Whispers”--a soft laminate of acoustic, coffeehouse folk odes that sustained a contemplative tone--the presence of electric instrumentation on “Cowboys” might suggest a radical departure. Instead, the album’s stylistic breadth reflects an artistic flowering nurtured by the same impulses that drove Johnson’s 1985 opus.

The album opens with a dollop of “sweet-baby-Deb” country-folk-pop (“Daddy Can I Be a Cowboy”) that shoehorns into the mesquite-smoked two-step, “She Didn’t Want Much.” Elsewhere is homespun blooze, the Norteno-flavored title cancion (inspired by Johnson’s real-life adventures south of the border), bruised-heart folk laments, and a streamlined remake of her 1988 single, “Eight O’Clock Journey,” a ballad about a sofa-ridden AIDS sufferer.

Even when Johnson reverts to more-familiar form, her approach is more literate, less literal than on “Mahogany Whispers.” With the acoustic-guitar ballads “I Can Only Hold You With My Eyes” and “Home,” Johnson proves that there is a rich middle ground between the block-letter prosaism of most love songs and the ambiguity of odes whose messages get buried under a landfill of opaque pseudo-poetry. Spartan arrangements of Johnson’s deceptively simple songs conceal subtexts that engage the listener’s imagination.

It is not surprising that Johnson’s luxuriant alto is the album’s most affecting instrument--she’s a marvelous singer. But here, too, are signs of a maturing craft. Her tone is stronger and fuller, her phrasing more expressive, and her colorative skills more adaptable than ever before. Take Johnson’s tackling of the standard, “Georgia on My Mind.”

Those who believe that all worthy interpretations of the Hoagy Carmichael chestnut have been exhausted will be delighted to hear Johnson’s version. The tune was recorded “live” in the studio--just Johnson and pianist Wade Preston--and the result is a presence, a spatiality, a soulful, elegant simplicity that is unique among the hundreds of renditions extant.

In the secondary role of producer, Johnson chose judiciously in hiring guitarist Bill Thompson, bassist Kevin Hennessy and drummer Paul Kimbarow of the Mighty Penguins, as well as guitarist Wayne Johnson (Wayne Johnson Trio), mouth-harpist Paco Shipp, percussionist Bongo Bob Goldsand, and fellow singer-songwriter Peggy Watson (background vocals). Even those with high expectations of Thompson will arch an eyebrow at the facility with which he adds pedal-steelish country licks here and tasty-crusty blues riffs there.

“The Cowboys of Baja Have Stolen My Heart” is further distinguished by beautiful graphics that attest to Johnson’s attention to detail. If you are bored by much of the effluence coming out of the major music centers these days and could use a refuge from the overwrought vocalizing of the Mariah Careys and Michael Boltons, treat yourself to Johnson’s new album. It is available in CD and cassette format at the Paradigm Book Store on Adams Avenue, and in cassette format at the three area Adventure-16 stores. Johnson hopes to have “Cowboys” in local record stores in the next week or so.

Pickers and singers, mark your calendars: The next installment of Leo’s Little Bit O’ Country’s semiannual country-music talent contest takes place at Leo’s in March. The KSON-sponsored competition played to a packed house Dec. 22, and prizes included vacation trips, cash and tickets to Jerry Reed’s upcoming concert at the San Marcos club. The La Mesa duo, Kennard and Miller, took the grand prize, followed, in order, by San Diegans Tim Hardman, Bobby Roberts and Carlsbad’s J.D. Michaels.

GRACE NOTES: (Tickets for the following concerts will be sold at all TicketMaster outlets unless otherwise specified.)

“The Australian Drug Offensive Rock Challenge Tour of America” (whew!), which features 200 Aussie teen-agers performing elaborately staged theatrical productions that drive home the message of a drug-free lifestyle, will land at Symphony Hall for a show Friday. . . .

World Beat Productions is calling it “the largest reggae dance ever held in San Diego,” and, at least in spatial terms, it should qualify. For “The 11th Annual Bob Marley Day Celebration” on Feb. 17, the entire floor of the Sports Arena will be left open for dancing to such artists as Steel Pulse, Pato Banton, Charlie Chaplin, Sister Carol, Brigadier Jerry and Inner Circle. The event, which begins at 3 p.m., also will offer Jamaican arts, crafts and clothing. All tickets are general admission (on sale Saturday at 10 a.m.). . . .

The 1992 outdoor concert season officially opens March 14 with an appearance by Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch at SDSU’s Open Air Theatre (on sale now).

CRITIC’S CHOICE: TONIC FOR THE SOUL

Those of you, upon hearing “El Condor Pasa (If I Could)” on Simon and Garfunkel’s “Bridge Over Troubled Water” album, who thought, “Gee, I’d like to hear more of that sound,” will have an opportunity Thursday night.

That’s when the Andean-music group Inkuyo performs at UC San Diego’s Mandeville Auditorium. The quartet plays the tuneful traditional music of the Inca and Colla Indians on a variety of air and string instruments indigenous to the ancients who inhabited the region that now encompasses Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Northern Chile, Northern Argentina and Southern Colombia.

The group’s album, “Land of the Incas,” is a carbonated tonic for the jaded urban spirit, and there is reason to believe that the 8 p.m. concert will be, as well. For ticket information, call the UCSD box office at 534-4559 or TicketMaster at 278-TIXS.