Eric Johnson: The Complete 1986 'Tones' Interview (HD Audio)

In 1985 Eric Johnson, who was virtually unknown outside of Texas, signed a deal with Reprise Records and recorded "Tones," one of the most auspicious and beautifully played guitar-intensive albums in rock history. Several weeks before its release, Reprise Records sent me an advance cassette of "Tones" and an invitation to interview Eric for a Guitar Player magazine cover story. On February 1, 1986, Eric and I met in Austin for an in-depth interview. As you’ll hear, during part of it I played back guitar snippets from the advance cassette and Eric described how he created those specific guitar sounds. Our cover type, "Who is Eric Johnson & why is he on our cover" caught readers' attention, and we sold tons of issues. "Tones" went on have strong sales, and the track “Zap” was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance. Here, with Eric's permission, is the "Talking Guitar" podcast of the complete interview.

#ericjohnson #tones #jasobrecht

This podcast is copyright 2023 by Jas Obrecht. All rights reserved.

[migueldospachangas]

Humility and quiet resilience was the zen of Eric in those days, as it is to this day. I was a devotee from the moment I experienced Eric. He came to Rockefellers in Houston quite a bit early on, a small 2 story old bank. It has chunks knocked out of the facade, parting shots by Clyde as he was taking Bonnie out and wanted to impress. The second story had seats virtually on top of Eric, and afforded every angle. We'd sit at different spots so you could study his technique, often it was a blur. If you were front row, in front of his amps- your head would ring for a couple of days. 8-17-83 was the day Hurricane Alicia hit town, was also Erics birthday; I taped the show on a $10- recorder. Came out alright, eventually put the cassetes on cd's. Can't believe it survived, considering the 10, 000 listens. It'll make it onto YouTube one of these days. I used to feel lucky seeing Eric, before Tones and with Rob and Steve. Some songs, as yet unreleased are 'I'm tryin', 'Special Love', 'All I Need' & 'China'- they're the grail. 'I'm tryin' is menacing, Eric at his best; 'Special..' is a flowing pop song, 'All...' is a special gem, the best of songs that would make it high in charts. I suspect they are Rob's, otherwise would be recorded. 'China' is wild, a unique scaled instrumental.

[RickyLandi]

Thank you from an EJ addicted fan, this interview is pure Gold for me and others.

[williamure]

Guitar Player magazine was the best!!!! When I was 15. I waited for every issue

[ididavila]

I lived in Austin Texas in 1983, saw Eric Johnson live with Angela Strehli, Lou Ann Barton and Stevie Ray one night, Eric was fantastic, I used to live next to the Guitar Store where I hear I just missed seeing him there or at Danny's Guitar shop.
As a kid I'd hang around Ray Hennings Heart of Texas Music, just to see if I'd get a chance meeting of Eric or Stevie, but I did get to meet Al di meola and Steve Morse there.
Great memories, love Eric's playing.

[jeffreyp]

Eric is definitely one of my top five favorite musicians. His music is inspirational, and his guitar playing is surreal. A modern legend. 🤘

[RobertJSedky]

Not only a great player but equally a great human being. 🙌🏼🎸♥️

[reidwhitton]

I still have the GP magazine. We just saw Eric in concert this past week. What a great show with a very diverse program of music.

[thepracticingguitarist]

Still have this issue in my library. This interview is gold.

[swede]

I borrowed this issue in 87 from a friend that was a subscriber.Hearing that soundpage was just mindblowing.Great interview!

[walterevans]

Eric is indeed an AMAZING player. I first remember hearing about him in 1983 when Allan Holdsworth sung his praises in an magazine interview….Eric in his soloing has an extraordinary MELODIC sensibility. Just beautiful…Rhythmically his groove is just mesmerising and his TONE is simply extraordinary 😮Like peaches and cream. Violin was a great influence on him with this….The one thing that really freaks me out about his playing is his mind boggling precision and clarity when achieving picked HARMONICS with his right hand above the pickups 😮His harmonics are SO pristine and with such clarity and singing that it’s mind boggling…And they open up the high range of the guitar to a phenomenal surprising extent.I love SVR, , , and Cliffs of Dover and Zap❤

[petermitchell]

Thanks so much Jas for sharing this! For younger EJ mega fans its so great so have stuff like this preserved (hopefully) for the future. Very much looking forwards to any further legacy EJ interviews being shared in the future.

[TheLexluthier]

I still have that issue. Great to hear the audio all these years later. I already knew who EJ was at that time, as I videotaped his first ACL show on PBS. After that aired, I hunted down a bootleg of his then unreleased 7 Worlds record, horrible sounding bootleg quality, but it was better than nothing! Tones was so awesome when it came out. 🙂

[williamure]

I talked to you at an EJ show in SF. I grew up in Cupertino. Thank you. Great interview!!!!

[BrianKlobyGuitar]

Most awesome and interesting... thank you :)

[jcsolomon]

Well you Know, not That Great of a Vocalists😮!Eric you ARE The BEST!😊