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New member
The first time I ever heard of Eric Johnson was in 1980, when Jeff Baxter told me in an interview, “Eric Johnson is just amazing! When I heard a tape of him, I went ape. This might sound silly, but if Jimi Hendrix had gone on to study with Howard Roberts for about eight years, you’d have what this kid strikes me as.” A couple of years later, Steve Morse of the Dixie Dregs brought up his name again, claiming, “Eric Johnson is one of the best electric guitarists anywhere. He’s so good it’s ridiculous. I’m not kidding – he’s better than Jeff Beck. Eric destroys people when he plays. We’ve played gigs with him, and it put a lot of pressure on me when it came our turn to play. All I can say is that if he had an album out, he’d be the first one on my list of required listening.”
Despite the praise from these and other famous players, Eric had done very little recording by 1982 – an out-of-print Electromagnets album, some guest appearances on albums with Carole King, Christopher Cross, Cat Stevens, and the Alessi Brothers, and an unreleased cassette LP called Seven Worlds. Still, I convinced my editor at Guitar Player magazine to let me interview Eric. Portions of his answers were used for a December 1982 feature article, but the complete Q/A had never been published.
With Eric’s permission, I have just transcribed the whole interview and posted it on my website. At 7000 words, it offers many amazing insights. Eric covers his upbringing, influences, first playing experiences, and his earliest bands, including Mariani and the Electromagnets. He talks about the backwards guitars and other wild effects on the 1975 Electromagnets album, and carefully describes the “koto” technique he’d later use on Tones and other albums. His gear insights are great, such as how to create a machine-gun effect by placing pickups near a Hi-Watt amp transformer. He also offers intriguing insights into Jimi Hendrix, John McLaughlin, Danny Gatton, and other guitarists.
My favorite parts are when he talks about how guitarists can improve their playing, such as when he explains, “I always have to sit down and try to connect myself with what I’m feeling inside and hearing inside. I think that’s the best way to try to achieve your own feel for the guitar. It’s like intuition, you know. Intuition is like the tuition from inside. And if you get with that, your own self will show you how to play guitar.” Asked how he prepares himself to play his best, EJ responded, “I try to be real concentrated. I always try to remind myself that I’m free to feel great instead of feeling reserved or insecure. That if I want, I can just attach myself to a very enlightening feeling. And the more I try to do that, the more it promotes feeling like that. I just try to get in tune with what I really want to do if I have my choice of doing my best – which really we all do.” Eric also goes way deep into how to positively deal with the frustrations musicians feel when they’re unable to break through to a larger audience.
There are lots of other wonderful insights in this one. If you’d like to see the whole interview, it’s posted here: http://jasobrecht.com/eric-johnson-complete-1982-interview/
Despite the praise from these and other famous players, Eric had done very little recording by 1982 – an out-of-print Electromagnets album, some guest appearances on albums with Carole King, Christopher Cross, Cat Stevens, and the Alessi Brothers, and an unreleased cassette LP called Seven Worlds. Still, I convinced my editor at Guitar Player magazine to let me interview Eric. Portions of his answers were used for a December 1982 feature article, but the complete Q/A had never been published.
With Eric’s permission, I have just transcribed the whole interview and posted it on my website. At 7000 words, it offers many amazing insights. Eric covers his upbringing, influences, first playing experiences, and his earliest bands, including Mariani and the Electromagnets. He talks about the backwards guitars and other wild effects on the 1975 Electromagnets album, and carefully describes the “koto” technique he’d later use on Tones and other albums. His gear insights are great, such as how to create a machine-gun effect by placing pickups near a Hi-Watt amp transformer. He also offers intriguing insights into Jimi Hendrix, John McLaughlin, Danny Gatton, and other guitarists.
My favorite parts are when he talks about how guitarists can improve their playing, such as when he explains, “I always have to sit down and try to connect myself with what I’m feeling inside and hearing inside. I think that’s the best way to try to achieve your own feel for the guitar. It’s like intuition, you know. Intuition is like the tuition from inside. And if you get with that, your own self will show you how to play guitar.” Asked how he prepares himself to play his best, EJ responded, “I try to be real concentrated. I always try to remind myself that I’m free to feel great instead of feeling reserved or insecure. That if I want, I can just attach myself to a very enlightening feeling. And the more I try to do that, the more it promotes feeling like that. I just try to get in tune with what I really want to do if I have my choice of doing my best – which really we all do.” Eric also goes way deep into how to positively deal with the frustrations musicians feel when they’re unable to break through to a larger audience.
There are lots of other wonderful insights in this one. If you’d like to see the whole interview, it’s posted here: http://jasobrecht.com/eric-johnson-complete-1982-interview/
