It was in the 70's, in Austin, Texas, that a young Eric Johnson was revealed. He was the guitar player in a band called Mariani and his unusual, ardent talent immediately caught the attention of other musicians. "When I heard Eric," Johnny Winter recalls, "he was only 16, and I remember wishing that I could have played like that at that age." At 21, he was a member of the legendary Electromagnets. Their intense instrumental jams and live shows earned them a rabid cult following and set Johnson's place in the constellation of great guitarists. "Eric Johnson is amazing," recounted Jeff "Skunk" Baxter, "this might sound silly, but if Jimi Hendrix had gone on to study with Howard Roberts for about eight years, you'd

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Eric Johnson £16.99

have what this kid strikes me as." All the while Johnson's underground reputation as one of the most intuitive and technically brilliant guitarists in the world continued to grow. Austin City Limits showcased his performance in 1985, the first of four appearances. Guitar stores were known to have "EJ" shrines. But being a fan was still like membership in a mystic society, his name a special password among the select few. His peers, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Steve Morse, and Pat Metheny (who, along with Johnson, were all born within the same four-month period), were already realizing world wide exposure through recording contracts. But Johnson remained a darling of the underground, expanding his eclectic style and perfecting that violin tone in tightly packed clubs. His first Guitar Player cover story came out just before his debut album was released. It was appropriately titled "Who Is Eric Johnson And Why Is He On Our Cover?"

When Johnson's first album, the Grammy-nominated Tones, came out in 1986, serious recognition arrived. Then success kicked the door down in 1990, when the certified gold, Grammy-winning Ah Via Musicom was released. "Ah Via Musicom is an artistic triumph," enthused Guitar Player, "as powerful a statement for Eric Johnson as Electric Ladyland was for Jimi Hendrix." This record gave Johnson the unique honor of becoming the first artist to have three instrumentals from the same album chart in the Top 10 in any format. "Cliffs of Dover", Grammy winner for Best Rock Instrumental, also became the first instrumental to break into the Top Five on Radio & Records "AOR Tracks" and Billboard's "Rock Tracks" since those charts were created. courtesy of EricJohnson.com

G3 - Live in Concert - DVD
£16.14 - £12.99 click here to buy

Yes, it's a plank-spanker's dream. In October 1996, three legendary guitarists--Joe Satriani, Eric Johnson and Steve Vai--toured as G3, a kind of super-roadshow featuring their own bands and, as in the last section of this recording, finally coming together onstage for a few numbers. One of the reasons why the whole package works so well is that Satriani's dirtyish techno-blues style, Johnson's limpid near-jazziness and Vai's pyrotechnics manage to seem poles apart yet entirely compatible at the same time, both as individual elements and as a frontline trio (although Johnson inevitably gets sidelined occasionally during the latter set). There are plenty of good tunes, although Johnson's "Manhattan", in which he switches from plectrum lead to gentle thumb-strums seemingly in mid-bar is outstanding, as is the trio's tour-de-force rendering of Frank Zappa's "My Guitar Wants to Kill Your Mama", Vai of course being a Zappa band veteran.

On the DVD: Extra features are thin on the ground. There's a set of scrolling biographies (which don't understand the remote's "scan" command, so they go--by--very--slowly) but nothing else to speak of. In the end the playing is the thing on any outing like this, so just enjoy it.

Synopsis
Guitarists Joe Satriani, Eric Johnson and Steve Vai join forces as G3. Filmed live in concert in November 1996 at the Northrop Auditorium in Minneapolis. The tracklist includes 'Cool No. 9', 'Flying In A Blue Dream', 'Summer Song' and 'Answers'.

Eric Johnson Guitar Tablature Book - Venus Isle
£16.95 - click here to buy now

Matching folio containing 11 songs including 'Camel's Night Out', 'Pavilion' and 'SRV'.