The Greatness of one Eric Johnson

wip5150 · 06-17-2003, 06:20 PM

Anyone else in here a fan of Eric Johnson? Outside of Mr. Van Halen, he is undoubtedly my favorite guitarist. His tone, phrasing and feel are second to none.

Growing up in Texas, I had a chance to see him quite a bit in small, shit-ass clubs he played in the late 80's. What a treat to be less than five feet away from him as he'd play "Cliffs of Dover", "Bristol Shore" or his classic cover of "Are you Experienced?". And, he's a nice guy to boot. Just thought I'd get this forum started by spreading the gospel of EJ.

By the way, I have quite a few boot's if anyone is interested. Let me know and perhaps I'll post 'em here.

ericgtr · 06-17-2003, 06:24 PM

Yeah I love Eric Johnson, back in the 80's it was all about Eddie, Satch and EJ for me. He is a very clean player and more subtle than the others in his own way. I rented an instructional tape of his before and really learned a lot from it.

wip5150 · 06-17-2003, 06:26 PM

Johnson really doesn't get the credit he should. In a time when Malmstein and hacks like him got publicity for playing as fast as they could, Johnson was killing them all by playing soulful tunes. I just wish he wasn't such a perfectionist - then we might get more than one album every seven years.

Wolfman · 06-17-2003, 07:08 PM

Oh, don't get me started, man! LOL I'm an EJ nut, dude. [img]images/smilies/icon_bowdown.gif[/img] [img]images/smilies/icon_thumb.gif[/img] Right now, I'm trying desperately to run down any old Electromagnets that I can find. Talk about a next-to-impossible search.

I got to see EJ in a club setting here in Lexington with the Derek Trucks Band opening a couple years ago and got to meet Eric after the show. Got some stuff signed and shook the man's hand - amazingly soft handshake for a guitar player, considering musicians are usually taught to "preahcer hand shake", which is where you slam your hand in to the the back of another person's hand to keep your fingers from getting smushed (something imortant for a guy that uses his fingers to make a living [img]images/smilies/icon_wink.gif[/img] ).

Stiglar · 06-17-2003, 11:01 PM

oh eric johnson is one of my favourites !

he's such a nice quiet kinda guy and it reflects in his guitar playing so much ,

i love his live versions of songs too , he doesn't leave any spaces in his playing and it sounds like more than one guitar sometimes it's great

i love in the live version of cliffs of dover and other songs when he uses that delay pedal to play one chord and then he just puts other chords and solos over the top

Rich

siN · 06-18-2003, 12:59 AM

I don't know much about EJ. I heard him on the G3 album together with Satch and Vai.

Looks like I need to dig this person up......

**Mondy** · 06-18-2003, 01:08 AM

No, I don't know that much about the guy either, but from what you guys are saying, I think I'll like him one hell of a lot !

[img]images/smilies/icon_thumb.gif[/img]

Stiglar · 06-18-2003, 05:18 AM

oh check him out he's brilliant ..

different from your average "shredder"

i never really thought that he fit in well on the g3 tour he's a different style of music than satch and vai ,

he got me started on jazz though .. even though his style isn't that jazzy i heard that song "East Wes" and heard it was about wes montgomery so i checked him out and loved it !

TNVHFAN · 06-18-2003, 10:03 AM

Yes, EJ is very talented...saw him once on a blues show with the likes of Buddy Guy, B.B. King, Eric Clapton..etc..

He blew all the old blues guys away, which aint exactly easy to do.

**CanyonCarver** · 06-18-2003, 10:12 AM

EJ is fantastic, in a subtle, gentle way.
I have the G3 DVD and love it, but you have to admit that his subtle style suffers from being staged with Vai and Satriani. These guys are insane and steal the show, simply because Vai is more flamboyant.

EJ probably doesn't get the recognition he deserves because he doesn't make that much noise about it.

wip5150 · 06-18-2003, 10:16 AM

Probably true about the original G3 lineup. I saw the show and EJ just didn't fit between Satch and Vai. Don't get me wrong, he held is own (and in my opinion, blew Satch away) but his style is so different from Satch and Vai it just kind of put a wrench in the show.

Having said that, I hate the G3 CD. I just listened to it the other day and am still pissed off by the EJ songs that are included. I love "Manhattan", but "Cliffs of Dover" would have been more appropriate when surrounded by "Summer Song" and "The Attitude Song".

Wolfman · 06-18-2003, 10:20 AM

Yeah, I never quite "got" the pairing of EJ with Satch and Vai.

On that note, when people fantasize about a G3-type show with Ed, Zakk Wylde and Dipshit Darrell, I just see that as a train wreck waiting to happen. I have no idea what Zakk was thinking when he suggested that. [img]images/smilies/headscratch.gif[/img]