European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - December 12, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse / rocked out guitar a Little bit of elegance by Suzanne Gamboa ,. Associated press. Minutes after mesmerizing an audience with his electric guitar wizardry Rocker Eric Johnson is shyly greeting fans and signing autographs. He talks with such humility and kindness that it s a tossup which is More enchanting the music he makes on stage or his Boyish friendliness backstage. Underneath the Good humor lies a in a musician on a quest fora Brand new a sound from his�?T54 fender strato Caster. Quot the older i get the More i listen to the. Guitar and go of god. I need a new. A. Turn on. It s got to do something More. Is this All a Quot Johnson said in an interview in. Al faso Texas. Quot you can get a screechy nervous jittery sound out of the electric guitar and it s like gah its got to. Go a farther now. A a a Quot i m trying to figure out a Way. I want it Tobe real rocked out and Buzz guitar but 1 want it to have a Little elegance to it. And in its real neanderthal palaeolithic Way i want it to have a Tuxedo elegance Isnit a word often tied to the electric guitar but Johnson was schooled in classical piano and he a found ways to bring the two together. \ Quot i. Try to listen to More classical music because of the chord changes and the a breadth of the music. To me classical in a Way is the most unassuming music a a. Johnson said. Johnson 35, first hit the Austin music. Scene in the 1970s at age 15, mystifying musicians with his electric guitar Mastery that evoked images of Rock revolutionary Jimi Hendrix the late guitarist Stevie Ray a Vaughan once said that by the time a. Johnson reached his late teens he Wasso advanced it was difficult to find musicians to keep up with him. Johnson a Solo debut album tones earned him a 1986 grammy nomination for a Best instrumental of the year 1 for the track Zap. However the album had Little commercial Success. Nearly four years later Johnson released a via mus comon Capitol. Records the album and its Rich. A a it instrumental hit Cliffs Al Dover have received favourable response and substantial play on album Only Rock radio stations. ,. A a the album is the embodiment of what makes Johnson great his and insatiable search for a different sound. Quot a a. �?�1 spent two months solid working on tones i spent 15 months on this last record hot solid but close to if i just did. It Over and Over and Over trying to figure out a Way to get the guitar tone like i wanted it a he said. According to Capitol records Johnson recorded a via Musicof three times with two Bass players Kyle Brock and Roscoe Beck three drummer. Percussionists Tommy Taylor James. Ferner and Paul Bissell and several arrangements. Brock has played with Johnson 20 years and Taylor was formerly a drummer for Christopher Cross. What Johnson eternally seeks from his guitar and amplifiers and electronic gizmos is what musician s Call "tone.&Quot. ? a. Quot tone is the colors you put together to. Create a certain Hue of sound of a particular instrument a the Way you play the instrument the emotion you put behind it the technique phrasing All the things that Are elements of your Art or your music that create a sound Quot he said. Johnson chooses to search for tone with More conventional amplifiers and foot. Pedals from the �?~60s and 70s that Lack the computer chips found in today s his live performances he spreads a Buffet of pedals before his feet. While his. Fingers dance frets of his guitar his feet skip Between the pedals producing an energetic intellectual sound. Quot there a kind of this Side of me that treats it the music like a Laboratory where i work in the studio or i work in my practice House and fiddle with All sorts of electronics and stuff trying to make the guitar sound better Quot a a a Johnson said. A a. A my done to mean a negative. Y. Connotation but you play for 20 years and a its the same old guitar sound. At this Point i m not reinventing the a guitar i done to have a whole new / sound or anything but i m trying to figure out a Way to hone and perfect the electrical guitar y we at record a review Eric Johnson the Man behind the hit Quot Cliffs of Simpsons a the Simpsons sing the blues As a cartoon series. He just about perfect. Between great gag imaginative plot twists and a sure Eye for toiling details it never see ins As two dimensional As most animated entertainment. Aas cartoon characters the Simpsons Are equally impressive though their look is straight out of the funny pages their sense of identity is credibly Complex. The. Show often seems More lifelike than any. Slosh and blood. Sitcom. A a but As cartoon pop smgers the Simpsons Are a bust. A Quot. Sure the Simpsons my the blues is fun at Fust what with Hornier a a simpering bom under a. Bad sign Usa s Gutsy moaning Lisa blues and Bart a at Roady climbing the charts do the Bartman it s a a a hard to imagine the sign sons Ian who be charmed at least momentarily. A but is the Simpsons sing the blues realty True to Tho a spirit of the show frankly no. For the nost part what this album actually sounds Liko is the voices behind the. Simpsons sing the blues. Granted Dan Gasloli Onetho Merancy Cartwright Bart and Yeardly Smith Lisa sing with an unexpected Confidence and agility hitting ail the notes and even getting Down at Points in fact the Only Simpson who a tune a apart from Maggie who can t talk a Quot is Marge Julie Raynor. But even that gets glossed Overby the album production. A. A a a. Still slaying in tune is no subs Ruito for staying in character. Thus though Lisa Well want to try a jazz classic like god Biess the child Here s no Way Smith s Gutsy interpretation could have come Iron an 8-year-old. Nor does Marge seem particularly believable remaking King cows Memphis soul of Civ into Springfield soul see Vav. / quote. A a a. A As for the Bartman its easy enough to imagine him a a Dapping his Way through the Perky do the Bartman and the Jokey deep deep trouble. But dropping him into Chuck Berry s school Days makes til tie sense a can you see Bart singing about Romance a while his duet with Lisa of sibling rivalry seems both overblown and out of character a. Quot a a a a a Quot. Ironically the Only Nur tiber on the album that works on both Levels is look Taitt those idiots featuring tycoon a Montgomery Burns and his Loyal Toady Smithers both. Played by Harry Shearer. It s tuneful funny and utterly believable but who in their right mind would buy a Simpsons a album to listen to or. Burns. Quot a. A. A a a a. \. J d. Cons i Dine Baltimore Sun airman Home a a Soldier a a. V a Adiv a you in keeping you informed. For the troops assigned to operation desert shield and the families and loved ones remaining at Home the stars is dedicated to daily coverage of news and events affecting you and your lives. We report your stories your living conditions your prob Ems your needs. As in Many or n past when the Tough get going stripes is close behind. Link to Home and a we. I Familia december 12, 1990 the stars and stripes a Page 17
