MAJJ Productions' Book Store
Long before Mike Johnson became interested and involved in music, he loved to draw pictures and write stories. He also dabbled in a little poetry as this was also a required subject in grade school. In 1977 he self-published his first book, REFLECTIONS, a collection of poetry. Along with the fresh new cover designs created in 2007, the paperback editions presented here have also been reformatted with a easy-to-read 12-font type. I'm sure we aren't the only ones who have had issues with the tiny print that most book publishers use to save paper! Enjoy...
Place your Order HERE All U.S. orders postage paid.
Canada & Mexico and all other countries add $5.oo postage & handling.
MAJJ Productions, P.O. Box 100933, Arlington, Va. 22210
"First... there was "The Jungle Book"
Then... "Tarzan of the Apes"
and now...
"The Leopard's Cub"
$14.95 * Copyright 1979 * 4th Printing 2008 * 13MAJ004 * 164 pages
"A small private plane zipped across the Central African jungles towards Nairobi. When it crossed Ottawa River, fate intervened and sent it earthward never to rise again. Four-year old Kevin Edwards I plucked from the wreckage by L'Naura, a female leopard, and raised among her litters as one of her own.
And that new life was hard-earned, for even in a land of plenty, there were just as many times of drought, famine, sickness, and other ever-present dangers that threatened the life of the little adopted cub. But under the protective eyes and persistent teachings of the savage L'Naura, young Kevin grew strong and wise in his beautiful but savage home.
Then one day he met man..."
Mike Johnson will tell you that "The Leopard's Cub" was, without a doubt, influenced by Edgar Rice Burroughs' famous son of the jungle, Tarzan of the Apes. Yet this fast-paced story is completely different and just as exciting with a Mike Johnson watercolor drawing at the beginning of each of the 16 chapters. Unlike Burroughs' Tarzan who is a young adult at the end of the first book, Johnson's Kazar, as he will become known, is still a child at the end of the story. In two unpublished sequels, "What the Jungle Saw" [1979] and "Deadly Vengeange" [1985] Kazar forms a strong bond with his American cousins and becomes entangled in a bloody civil war that threatens his brother Natu and the mighty Wazi tribe.
As a youth Mike Johnson was a hard-core Edgar Rice Burroughs fan. He was an avid reader of anything that involved wild creatures, and owned the entire 25 volume Tarzan series, as well as over a dozen other Burroughs novels. Self-published in 1979, Mike sent one of the first copies to his friend, ex-movie Tarzan-1927, Big Jim Pierce [married to Burroughs' daughter, Joan] whom he had met in California while in the Navy. They struck up a pen-pal friendship and Jim wrote Mike to tell him "I enjoyed it very much!"
If you like a good old fashion, action packed, emotionally charged adventure like us baby-boomers grew up on, this is it!
Joe Arnold
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"What started out as a boring day was suddenly transformed into an experience of a lifetime when into Kyle's life hitch-hiked..." "A Real Live Country Song"
$12.95 * Copyright 1995 * 3rd Printing 2008 * MP118701 * 95 pages
"Boy!" he stared hard.
Mike stared back just as hard into his eyes.
"You sing good country, boy," he growled.
"Thanks," Mike's voice was even.
Scott moved towards the middle of the bar, closer to the stage, as a precaution.
"I can yodel too," the biker grinned.
"It's not that hard," Mike replied.
"Yeah, I know. My mother can yodel too. Can you yodel better'n my mother?"
"See this?" he nodded to his waistband and moved his vest slightly aside. Inside the belt was a derringer.
"Yep, I see it."
"If you can't yodel better'n my mother, I'll shoot ya."
"A Real Live Country Song" was written in November 1987. It was in turn inspired by a same-titled ballad that Mike wrote, which was in turn inspired by some barroom tales by Mike and some of his drinking buddies.
Clancy's General Store sits on the access road on Interstate 10, between Houston and San Antonio. Kyle, one of the delivery boys, was prepared for a rather boring day, when a hitchhiking, guitar-packing cowboy stopped by to quench his thirst. Kyle's curiosity instigates an impromptu concert of songs and stories that take him on an exciting journey beyond his wildest imagination.
The back of the book includes 14-pages of bonus material and photographs featuring some of the famous yodelers that Mike Johnson has met over the years. "A Real Live Country Song" is most definitely a country music fan's story.
Joe Arnold
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Shoot-out in the desert! Combat in Vietnam! Jaguar hunt in Bolivia!
"Memories Die Hard"
$12.95 * Copyright 1998 * 3rd Printing 2008 * MP8702 * 130 pages
"The human brain is like a file cabinet. Each experience in one's life contributes to the total makeup of the soul. How one handles those experiences is up to the individual. Mike Johnson proves that while some memories fade with time, others die hard.
As with most writers, Mike hasn't given up his day job. He's been traveling the country in a semi since 1981, adding to his file called memory, and possessing an inner visual perception that allows him to pen his memories on paper in a way that puts one in the midst of his recollections.
Down around Tucson, Mike drops in on Jim Beard, and old Vietnam War buddy and his family. Their reminiscing takes you on a secret operation behind enemy lines with such vividness that your pores began to sweat under the tropical heat, your nose gets stuffy from the stench in the rat tunnels, and your skin crawls, itching from the stinging of insects and rasping elephant grasses. When the Beards are suddenly called to Phoenix because of a death in the family, Mike departs into the desert on one of their horses to enjoy a youthful pleasure. Camping.
"Memories Die Hard" is several stories in one. You'll feel the pain, the sorrow at the loss of loved one, see the beauty of the flora and fauna, and spear hunt the jaguar with a famous South American Jaguar hunter of yore. You'll surely enjoy this if you like adventure and aren't squeamish about death, destruction, and bad situations told complete with the language of the events, which at times is a bit vulgar, but not for vulgarity's sake. Exciting drama laced with the love only an outdoor adventurer can have for everything and everyone. This is one of the best reads you'll ever have."
[Excerpt from a December 1999 article by Wild Bill Halbert, [17 August 1920 - 8 August 2003] owner and publisher of Sharing & Caring Literary Magazine, Wills Point, Texas.]
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Mike Johnson Music Books:
MIKE JOHNSON COUNTRY SONGBOOK * MG069801-Rv09 * $12.95
This popular songbook is back, featuring redesigned front & rear covers, reformatted easy-to-read sheet music notations of some popular Mike Johnson songs, and a up-to-date Mike Johnson music discography.
1.Did You Hug Your Mother Today? 2.Heaven’s Gold Shore 3.Let’s Take It Easy
4.Pigtails and Bubblegum 5.Sammy
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MIKE JOHNSON SONG FOLIO * MAJ120801 * $19.95
This new Mike Johnson songbook was completed in December 2008 and included in the Reading Arts Recording Room’s permanent music collection at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. on 17 July 2009.
This 22-song line-up contains some co-writes. Song No.21 was a poem written by his friend Leo P. Maimone that Mike re-wrote and then composed a wonderful score to. Songs No. 7 to 17 are original Mike Johnson songs that were re-composed by the late Johnny Meyer of Jupiter Records in Sheboygan, Wisconsin. Thus the "II" designation behind the titles. For a brief period in the 1990s Mike reached what he considered a stale point in his writing and in the process of experimenting with new arrangements and melodies for some of his old songs, he happened across Meyer [songwriter of "Shatzie" for Lawrence Welk] also known locally as "The Singin' Postman" [his day-job] and interested him in composing new melodies for these songs. Also included is a 3-page photo enchanced highlight on Mike's music activities and his up-to-date discography.
CONTENTS:
1. Please Don’t Squeeze the Charmin 12. Say No To Drugs II
2. Just A Nobody 13. Sorry II
3. Hooked on Rodeo 14. Take A Chance On My Lottery II
4. I Hear Her Words Ringin’ 15. You Gotta Crawl II
5. Little Boys and Doggies 16. You Think I Come From Toys-R-Us? II
6. Take Time Out don’t take it out on your kid! 17. Sweet Tender Rose II
7. After A Night of Love II 18. Did You Hug Your Mother Today?
8. Barrooms and Bedrooms II 19. Heaven’s Gold Shore
9. I Found Someone Who Loves Me II 20. Let’s Take It Easy
10. Is It Love? Or Is It Memorex? II 21. Pigtails and Bubblegum
11. Puppy Chow Song II 22. Sammy
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Audio Book * 1st. CD Edition MAJAB-0308
This first Mike Johnson audio book fittingly comes from his 1977 same-titled, first published book.
REFLECTIONS [a collection of poetry] $5.00
1. Title & Dedication 2. Song Of A Drifter
3. Fury Or Tranquility? 4. Creatures Features
5. Elephant 6. God Bless My Little Goober
7. Telegram For Jane Porter 8. Surprise
9. Feminine 10. Yesterday And Today
11. Gordon 12. A Matter Of Fact
13. What's A Lion? 14. Forever Free
15. Heed 16. If You Hear A Coyote's Howl
17. The Woodland Mafia 18. Snow
19. I'm Thankful 20. Stoney Burke
21. A Woman's Night Prayer 22. The Mountain
23. Hey Buddy 24. The Leopard
25. Hey Gordon, Are You Listening? 26.The Scoutmaster
27. John Paul 28.The Value Of Scouting
29. A Little Boy And His Colts .44s 30. Lost For Words
31. Reflections 32. The Sound Of No Hands Clapping
33. Quote from Alexander the Great 34. Title & Copyright Notice
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