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

JasO

In 1985 Eric Johnson, then a relatively unknown player in Austin, Texas, signed a deal with Reprise Records. Over the next few months he recorded his debut release Tones, which is among the era’s most beautifully played guitar-intensive albums. Several weeks before its release, Reprise sent me an advance cassette of the record and an invitation to interview Eric for his first Guitar Player cover story. I was delighted to accept, and on February 1, 1986, Eric and I met in Austin for an in-depth interview.

Upon my return to California, Guitar Player editor Tom Wheeler and I discussed an issue that had come up. Until then, the magazine had always featured well-known players on the cover, but this was not the case with Eric, who at the time was virtually unknown outside of Texas. We were taking a chance, and Tom came up with the brilliant idea to run this cover type: “Who is Eric Johnson & why is he on our cover?” Good call, because it became one of our best-selling issues.

With Eric’s permission, I have turned the master tape of our Tones interview into a Talking Guitar podcast. In this sample, Eric talks about what he looks for in a Strat.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9QNl6VMfTE&t=44s

We’ve made the complete 90-minute podcast available for free. If you’d like to listen in, here’s the link:

https://jasobrecht.substack.com/p/eric-johnson-the-complete-1986-tones#details

 

jdgm

I remember that one!