You tell people like that to pick up a guitar and tell them to "show me what you want to hear and how you want me to play it". Relatives, strangers, doesn't matter. When they can't play it, tell 'em to eat it and bugger off.
I love that the first 8 and a half minutes of that song is really just for him (we love it too, but his focus is all on his instrument), then he comes in and gives the smile to the crowd.
Still something 'boyhood charm youthfulness' about him. Maybe it's how he lives, maybe the muse keeps us searching and longing, maybe because I remember Eric as a very young and inspired individual.
Eric Johnson, Master of tone, chords and feel . His sound and style is so unique, so rich, so full, so amazing. Eric may you never leave this earth :-)
@@JBlanco66 Hi, your recording is probably the best version of this intro, which is why I used it in my latest vid (non-profit channel). Hope you don't mind as I credited everything to you including the video link and a subscription on your channel. Let me know, thx.
@@losangelos I don’t mind at all, I’m glad you liked the audio quality. I will watch your video this evening. Thank you for your comments and the credits. I really appreciate it
He doesn’t have anything to prove. Just enjoy what he does. Give him a break,he’s 65 for heaven’s sake. Time & Arthritis & wear & tear will always catch up with you. He’s an Original. Period.
My 15-year-olds first concert was Eric Johnson in 2020. She was completely blown away. Never heard his music before, never seen anyone perform live. I fear I may have ruined her, she'll always be comparing performers to a true master of his craft.
EJ, only one of a kind, in a class by himself. When the sad days come and the Mt. Rushmore/Founding Fathers of rock guitar have passed, I will be consoled by listening to Eric. Folks, if you’ve never been to one of his shows, do not miss him!!
after being a long time Stevie Ray Vaughan and Jeff Healy fan, I discovered Eric Johnson, Gary Hoey, Andy Timmons, Gary Moore and many others by downloading the iHeartRadio on my phone.
I saw him open for Satch and I wished he'd been the one headlining. Much more to my taste than Satch with all that whammy screaming and wah wah crap. Eric is just so musical.
The year was 1985 and my guitar friend (I’m a drummer) told me about EJ, showed me a vid of him on Austin City Limits. We went to see him that year in a small venue for a guitar clinic in Addison , TX. At the end, we walked up to where he was seated and I shook his hand. Little did I know I was shaking the hand of one of the most influential guitarists of all time. Have seen him lots of times since then and will never forget that day. His music has left an unremovable impression on my life. Thanks, Eric.
@@mikealbert1146 I think you mean EJ can tear it up!? Saw him live in Venture,Ca around mid '90's just after Venus Isle. I went with an established local finger style player from Santa Barbara. WOW was it ever loud! EJ and his Bass player seemed almost wireless and strutting stage forward like a couple bad ass Texans. It was so Rock-n-roll. The player I was with was dubious, but I remember the shear energy of it and how EJ played so many encores. It was like a burning bush from the stage.
Many years back when I was a fledgling drummer, I attended a Carmine Appice drum clinic at Strait Music Company here in Austin. At that time Eric was a local talent (the Electromagnet days), not known that well outside the Austin area. Carmine had asked Strait to round up a good guitarist and a bass player so he could jam and demonstrate some of his technique. Well, Strait got Eric and Kyle Brock to show up -- Carmine was not familiar with either, and asked them to do something in 4/4. As soon as Eric played the opening bar I thought Appice was going to fall off his throne, he came in on the drums with a huge grin on his face, nodding his head in obvious approval. As always Kyle Brock's bass was equally amazing. Carmine Appice became an Eric Johnson fan that day.
I was at this same clinic also what year was that? Seems like Carmine was saying he just lates down drum tracks for Bark at the moo or was fixing too also seen Carmine do clinic at old Austin music light and sound think that was after straight? Use to run into SRV at Ray Hennins and Tommy’s drum shop one day I was in arrays and both SRV and EJ were both there had just opened hardly no one was there I skipped school with a buddy to hit music stores. Trivia SRV his favorite famous strat that he always played he bought at Ray Hennings Christopher Cross came in and said it was junk and traded it out. Good memories in this town ran into Yngwie at old guitar redirection man I need a time machine.
eric johnson is the master of "HARMONIC SCHREDDING"!!!!!!!!!! it is for sure we can conclude that eric johnson has a "TRADEMARK" sound !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I was in a touring band based out of Dallas tx in the early 70" s we would get home about every 2 or 3 months and I had seen Eric live with his band the electromagnets and the venue was called Sneaky Pete's ...and it held a few hundred people the funny thing is that everybody in the place we're musicians He was unbelievable back then and every genre was there to see the future of guitar .....they were awesome and Eric ...what can I say ? We witnessed greatness happening before us all👍💯
Saw and met him at the 1-2-1 Club in Austin in 2016. Wished the crowd had been more respectful. He is perhaps the best guitarist on the planet and has been for a long while. A true artist and a nice guy.
A true master. Saw Eric in Baltimore at Rams Head and I was in tears for most of the show. Because my dad Introduced me to this type of music. His chord structures are so full of feeling and emotion. I listen to this and think about my really awesome dad
Saw this performance in Maryland, he put on his best show. Amazing musician! He had a second guitarist/keyboardist playing rhythm/leads, this allowed him to really perform his music. TONE MASTER!
I ❤ every single version of this song, this one is special though! I love his little jumps, he has fun and we his loyal fans, love watching, hearing! ❤
I'm very happy to have seen him twice. Once he opened for BB King, and another at a small club where I was RIGHT IN FRONT of him.......a truly amazing guitar player.\m/
@@javierherrera8782 y en donde dice que son competencias?. La música es la expresión del alma, no hay mejores ni primeros lugares, el querer calificar es una tonteria.
I was listening a big Fan of Eric Johnson and having a few drinks and man sounded like he's going a 100mph my eyes were going back and fourth to each note he played just crazy, Amazing..🤣😂🎸🎸🎸 (A Legend) thanks Eric Johnson for taking every hungry guitar player to the next level.
I have to say that I feel overwhelmed of the response to this video! I am not a RU-vidr by any chance, this is just a hobby, I go to concerts and record one or two videos, just for fun and to have a memory for myself. Thank you so much to all of those new subscribers and all the comments, it means a lot to me! Now that pandemic is going away little by little, concerts are back, all those cats are back on the road. I just bought tickets to attend Joe Bonamassa at the Majestic Theatre in San Antonio, TX It will be on October the 15th. I’m going to do my best to get one or two videos for y’all out there. Thank you again, folks, keep on rocking and bluesing!!!
Bro!! I'm from San Antonio TX too. I've seen Eric Johnson several times back in the 90s. I've seen him at the Lila Cockrell and Sunken Gardens Theaters with Joe Satriani and Steve Vai. Guy's a guitar legend in my book!!
@@alanalanis2257 hey paisano! I try to attend any blues gig in SA, this pandemic lockdown was driving me crazy. I go often to Sam’s Burger Joint, I’ve seen a whole bunch of good blues players. I’m going to Bonamassa’s in October. There’s some guys coming to town, Albert Cummings, Davy Knowles, Black Label Society, I hope to catch you sometime at any of these events
@@JBlanco66 I'm glad things are picking up. However I'll probably never go to a live show again as much as I hate that. As much as we want things to go back to normal there's always going to be that covid risk, vaccination or no vaccination. I'm not willing to take that chance. I'll miss seeing Dream Theater live the most😭😭 I do appreciate you helping me to relive some great memories!!
Eric Johnson is amazing! I saw him do much of this in 1980 at a theater on the square in San Marcos, TX. My roommate Dave and I were really excited to see him play live and, worried that we wouldn't get in, drove down from Austin at a ridiculous hour-- like 6 in the afternoon-- only to find no one there. We got a beer and a look from the bartender still setting up the well and wandered up to the balcony, on the side overlooking the stage. Much to our surprise, Eric comes out and does his sound check. Literally the only people in the place, we had a front row seat to a mind-blowing jam as he tested out the various effects. Swept into the concert later, it only got better.
Just try to play that bridge to cliffs of dover fast like it 's supposed to be.. it's the hardest part of that song.. I think but if you play it slow it's easy!? just crazy it might be the chorus? it's not the main riff but that second part.
It was just days before covid hit, my last concert, then locked down forever, after that, my first concert was Joe Bonamassa at the Majestic, OMG! What a concert!
I've seen him four or five times. Here he was giving the audience a unique intro, finding a new way to enjoy himself by improvising. Jorge you were lucky to be there in person. I have a friend that rehearsed at ARC, Austin Rehearsal Complex, back in the early 90's. He told me that Eric would be there for hours playing the same piece. My friend finally asked a staff member about that. The staff member told him, "he's not practicing the riff, he's trying every option for the tone". He would try different cables, different brand batteries in his effects, even the placement of the cables. He is a consummate pro, tone is everything to him. You don't know it but your ears appreciate it.
I think it's a little too dark.. like when your tone knob is all the way down, But that just my opinion. I know he says it sounds like trash with too much treble.. but not enough can hurt you too! again just my opinion. and he's Eric Johnson.. still amazing it's noticeable from the rest of the band.. is my point. but that could be because it's recorded live, and not so much noticeable if I was there? the 4k, 8k, 16k eq's you really notice it when the drummer hits the cymbals. and I know too much highs do sound like crap too.. but needs to be in the middle.
Most players are evolving and oftentimes they just keep getting better, but in all honesty…65 is not that old at all. You’re still young, and hopefully having as much fun as possible without hurting anyone. Keep playing and you, too, will be able to play as well as EJ can when you’re this "OLD", (😂🤣😅😆). Whew!
Magnificent version , fortunate to have seen Eric back in '86 at a clinic at Gelb Music , after he hung out and talked equipment for a half hour. Totally sweet and humble genius. The show that night at the Keystone was epic.
Beautiful Player . So Musical . Harmonics. David Gilmour , Derrick Trucks Play with feel and Beauty. Eric Johnson is right up there with the Best. We just lost a Pillar. JEFF BECK 🙏 ♥️ I'm grateful for EJ . Guitar Voice of EJ is filled with emotion. One of my favorite players.
Saw him play a small venue years ago, and it was epic. Ziggy’s Tavern in Winston-Salem, NC. His pedals went haywire, so he had to have his tech come out to troubleshoot. While that was going on, he sat on the front of the stage, noodling around on the guitar and chatting with guests at the show. Such a cool dude and a great musician.
Heard this live after his ‘gift’ of a small disc in Guitar Mag ~ 86, iconic!! Never Forget, in the Twin Cities, never better- still the same 100# violin Strat!!
I’m glad he’s still playing this with some passion, I saw him back in the mid 2000’s opening for Satch and he really seemed like he was “going through the motions”….Thanks for posting this….
intro was magical, song itself always seemed a little struggle live especially during the solo. He loses his sense of melody (what chords are happening) and is always rushing a tad in the main melody but man.... the intro clean stuff absolutely (imo) outshined the main song. Sure, he wants to go for it and not repeat the album but this was sub par on the main song. But that intro!!!!! man... it was worth every second of my life to hear him play all those chords andleading melodies and various harmonic techniques. I will now enjoy a 2nd listen of the intro.
I agree, amazing intro but he's thrown in totally behind the band always trying to catch up. When starting the main melody riff, his signature violin tone was kind tonally dull sounding Maybe it's one of the new distortion pedals he's lately been trying? Don't mean to be critical. i'm reallly a huge fan and guitar player. Still though amazing intro but once the main song hook begns he's playing catch up behind the tempo. -Really happy to get out of the bands torrent rush and the really bottom heavy rythmn section. Still love Eric though..
I saw him live in Chicago in the late 90's, he played a jam-out intro to this song with the dark purple lighting similar to how he did here, and it was just magical. I will never forget it. I cannot believe how much guitar mojo he has in him. He could jam forever and would still sound good.
