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Topic: Eric Johnson's new DVD - all grown up! |
David Mason
From:
Cambridge, MD, USA
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Posted 18 Nov 2008 7:39 am |
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I just bought Eric Johnson's new (2006) live DVD - gee, he's playing better now!  I was living in Austin when he was coming up and even met him a few times, so of course I've kept track. He's always had the ability to play Pass/Roberts/Kessel type jazz, and killer country chicken picken' too. However, it's always seemed disjointed to me - he'd play his "Wes Montgomery section", then a rock section, then a country tune. He's finally got it all mixed together and intertwined in a cohesive style, and of course that goddam tone - guitarists have died trying to find that grail. I'd guess that he's finally playing the way he wants, and it's a terrifying thing.... This DVD and the Steve Morse Band's "Live in Baden-Baden Germany" may just be the desert island tone twins. |
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Pete Conklin
From:
Austin, TX
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Posted 7 Dec 2008 5:13 pm
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Yup. It doesn't get much better than those two guys. For technique, tone, quality, and knowledge it's tuff to think of anybody...no, Larry Carlton definately belongs in this group. Larry may be at the top of the three for that matter, but for me, they are the 3 wise men.
I saw the Dixie Dreigs play in a small bar in Richmond, VA in late 70's. And they were huge at the time, I think it was a favor to the bar owner. Anyway, I stood 4 feet for SM all night. And the nicest, down to earth guy. I've been listening to his High Tension Wires lately. Love it!  |
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Carl Morris
From:
Boulder, Colorado, USA
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Posted 8 Dec 2008 7:59 am
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Speaking of the Dixie Dregs, Rod Morganstein(?) is still playing amazing stuff with Winger (which I know probably won't score any points with anyone here  ). I saw them live fairly recently and Rod blew me away.
Is it just me, or is Eric Johnson starting to look like Mr. Burns from "The Simpsons" as he ages?
_________________
Carl Morris
http://cdmorris.com/music/ |
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Pete Conklin
From:
Austin, TX
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Posted 8 Dec 2008 8:35 am
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Yeah, Carl, Rod was also so much fun to watch that night I saw them. He looks like he's having so much fun playing. You don't see that in many players. He'd get that look on his face of "here it comes, here it comes" and then let loose on some wicked stuff, smiling the whole time.
Montgomery Johnson???  |
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Guy Cundell
From:
More idle ramblings from South Australia
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Posted 8 Dec 2008 1:15 pm
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I just got a copy of the DVD yesterday. It's awesome. I agree with you guys about Eric, Morse and Carton. For me these three really rank. "The Introduction" is an all time favorite.
It isn't the flashiness of Eric's playing that gets me. The sound that he pulls from the pentatonic scale is beautiful and unique. It really depends on his amazing technical chops but it would seem to me the notes that he leaves out of the scale runs are critical to his sound. I remember being overawed by a live version of Cliffs of Dover in the plastic giveaway disc in Guitar Player many years ago. It really is a distinctive tonality that he pulls. |
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Jeff Garden
From:
Center Sandwich, New Hampshire, USA
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Posted 8 Dec 2008 1:55 pm
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| Over the years, Steve Morse and Eric Johnson have been my two favorite guitarists. Steve's High Tension Wires is one of my all time favorite CD's. I've had the pleasure of seeing Steve live with the Steve Morse Band and the Dixie Dregs on a number of occasions. Something to be said for such a humble and modest individual with his phenomenal musical talents - he can shift effortlessly from rock n roll to country, bluegrass, Celtic, fusion, baroque, and metal and always has a super-tight rhythm section that never seems phased by some truly demanding numbers. He has several CD's dedicated to the guitarists who influenced him over the years - rather than cover tunes, he wrote tunes "in the style of" honoring each player. He's a man of few words in front of a microphone but consistently takes the time to thank his audiences for giving him the opportunity to play for them, shows up on time and plays for hours, and makes himself available for a "meet and greet" after his shows. Whatever the lineup in the band Steve is touring with, they all seem to be having a great time playing together. What a class act. |
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Ron Whitfield
From:
Kaaawa, Hawaii, USA
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Posted 8 Dec 2008 4:10 pm
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| Saw Morse open for DiMeola/McLaughlin/DeLucia years ago, then be allowed a 5 minute encore after the three amigos did their thing, and completely/easily blow their 2 hour set away. |
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Pete Conklin
From:
Austin, TX
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Posted 8 Dec 2008 5:53 pm
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| Sorry David, didn't mean to hijack your thread. Yes! EJ's Tone is unmistakable. You know it's him instantly and nobody else sounds like him. |
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David Mason
From:
Cambridge, MD, USA
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Posted 9 Dec 2008 4:34 am
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Johnson and Morse are light years ahead of the pack compositionally, and it's the music that really counts - ask the Beatles, Zeppelin.... there's a bunch of guitarists with killer tones and derivative styles, but Morse had a run in the early 90's of perfect, totally original CD's that's unmatched by anybody I know except maybe recently OHM and Oz Noy. Johnson's "listenability" to me is somewhat crippled by his obsession with writing fluffy pop songs (and then singing them like a ten-year-old girl) but he's always got enough zingers to count... this DVD reprises his best singing song, Bob Dylan's "My Back Pages" and includes his take on a... MONKEES tune? Oh well, I saw him cover "Stop, In the Name of Love" years ago...  |
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