Percussionist David Earle Johnson performed on albums by a number of jazz artists in the '70s before releasing a few of his own albums in the late '70s and early '80s. He appeared on numerous albums: Billy Cobham's Total Eclipse and Clive Steves' Voyage to Uranus (1974); Jan Hammer's First Seven Days (1975); Lenny White's Big City and Miroslav Vitous' Majesty Music (1977); Jaroslav Jakubovic's Checkin' In, Mark Moogy Klingman's Moogy II, the Players Association's Born to Dance, and Josh White Jr.'s self-titled album (1978); and others. Johnson's solo debut came in 1978 with Time Is Free, recorded for Vanguard. His relationship with that label proved short-lived, however, and he began recording albums for other labels in subsequent years before his recording career simmered out in the early '80s following his 1983 album, The Midweek Blues. ~ Jason Birchmeier