(2) Very few musical artists achieve a true signature style -- one that makes comparisons to other musicians impossible. But Texas guitarist Eric Johnson arguably comes as close to this echelon as any musician from the past quarter-century. Like fellow Lone Star State guitarists Johnny Winter, Billy Gibbons, and Stevie Ray Vaughan, Johnson blends the rock style of Jimi Hendrix and the blues power of Albert King. Yet Johnson's wide array of additional influences (from the Beatles and Jeff Beck to jazz and Chet Atkins) makes for a guitar sound as unique as his fingerprints.
"When I first heard Eric," Winter recalled, "he was only 16, and I remember wishing that I could have played like that at that age." Former Doobie Brothers guitarist Jeff "Skunk" Baxter said, "If Jimi Hendrix had gone on to study with Howard Roberts for about eight years, you'd have what this kid strikes me as." The Austin prodigy appeared on the cover of Guitar Player magazine while working with Texas jazz/fusion band the Electromagnets and as a session player (Cat Stevens, Carole King, Christopher Cross), and a 1984 performance on the TV show Austin City Limits set his recording career in motion.
Johnson's 1986 debut album, Tones, certainly proved that the hype was warranted. Playing with the ace rhythm section of bassist Roscoe Beck and drummer Tommy Taylor, Johnson mixed blazing instrumentals ("Zap," "Victory") with Beatles-influenced vocal tunes like "Emerald Eyes" and "Bristol Shore." Johnson used the same half-and-half format on the 1990 follow-up, Ah Via Musicom, but a trio of the album's tunes surprisingly made him the first artist to have three instrumentals from the same album to chart in the Top Ten in any format (with "Cliffs of Dover" earning Johnson a Grammy for Best Rock Instrumental).
But, if Johnson had a perceived weakness, it was the perfectionism that caused four years to pass between recordings. Even in concert, he would painstakingly tune his guitar between songs, by ear, for minutes on end. With the success of Ah Via Musicom, the guitarist admitted to feeling pressure to raise the bar again. But Johnson's studio nitpicking delayed Venus Isle until 1996, and the disappointing CD contained fewer instrumentals and sounded forced.
A stint on the 1997 G3 tour with fellow headlining guitarists Joe Satriani and Steve Vai, and its resulting live release, breathed new life into Johnson and sparked the idea of a live album. Overhauling his band for the 2000 CD Live and Beyond, Johnson brought in bassist Chris Maresh and drummer Bill Maddox, and concentrated on more of a blues feel. The guitarist still blended instrumentals with his vocal tunes ("Shape I'm In," "Last House on the Block"), but perhaps realized that his thin voice was too one-dimensional for guttural blues or R&B. Guest vocalist Malford Milligan ignites "Don't Cha Know" and "Once a Part of Me," helping Johnson's blazing debut on Vai's Favored Nations label and reestablishing the versatile virtuoso's status for the 21st century. As Vai himself testified, "Eric has more colorful tone in his fingers than Van Gogh had on his palette."
Souvenir, an album available only through Johnson's website, appeared in 2002, followed by CD and DVD versions of New West's Live from Austin, TX and Bloom, the second album for Vai's Favored Nations imprint, in 2005. Johnson returned in 2010 with Up Close, a studio album that slightly emphasized the guitarist's Texas roots. A collaboration with jazz guitarist Mike Stern, Eclectic, appeared in 2014. ~ Bill Meredith
A Change has come to Me
Eric Johnson Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Visions of eternity
Surpass the integral inside
Of various disguise
What comes to pass in this new stance
Can be the often circumstance
Of always holding ever tight
All the possibilities
Reigning in my eyes
And the certainty of certain power
Comes quickly to my side
But it's plain to see a change has come to me
What I lived was make believe
I stood beside a fruitless tree
Thinking of my life without
The meaning that begins
In surprise stance the magic came
And lit a light that still remains
It's grown intro the gallantry
Of something more than me
Fighting by the futile line
No reason to hang on
Till you see there really isn't such
A setting of sun gone
It's not hard to do, a change can come to you
Sister trouble's gona change
I swim glide rims of beauty
Canyon sings hymns of man and woman
Spectral praise is in the view
All the simple truths of love
Were sadly left aside
When I bought the bigger lesson false
Of learning how to hide
But it's plain to see a change has ome to me
Sister trouble gonna change
In Eric Johnson's song, "A Change has come to Me," the lyrics describe the journey of the singer towards self-discovery and the discovery of the world around him. The song talks about finding one's purpose and meaning and how, in this new awareness and elevated state of consciousness, the possibilities are endless. The opening verse speaks about the singer's realization that everything he has experienced was just a disguise, a veil that hid the true meaning of things. He goes on to say that in this state of heightened consciousness, he has found visions of eternity, and he has surpassed the integral inside of various disguises.
The chorus of the song talks about the singer's newfound power and how it has come to his aid quickly, showing him that a change has come to him. He talks about the futility of holding on to what one knows and how opening up to new possibilities and circumstances can lead to change. The second verse describes the singer's past life as make-believe, where he stood beside a fruitless tree, thinking of his life without meaning. The magic of an epiphany came to him, lighting a flame that still remains today. The singer acknowledges that he has grown beyond himself and has achieved something more significant.
In the final verse, the singer speaks about swimming and gliding on the rims of beauty, listening to the canyon singing hymns of man and woman. He is awestruck by the view around him, and he realizes that he has left aside all the simple truths of love in his pursuit of a false and grand lesson. However, now he sees that a change has come to him, and it has given him the power to surmount his troubles.
Line by Line Meaning
Finding all that's meant to be
Discovering all that is meant to happen or be in your life
Visions of eternity
Seeing and understanding things beyond the physical world
Surpass the integral inside
Going beyond the core or essential part of yourself
Of various disguise
Despite the many ways you may hide or mask your true self
What comes to pass in this new stance
What happens as you embody this new way of thinking and being
Can be the often circumstance
May be the common or expected outcome
Of always holding ever tight
Of always holding onto tightly
To only what you know
To only what you are familiar with or have experienced before
All the possibilities
All the opportunities and options available
Reigning in my eyes
Clear and dominant in my view or perception
And the certainty of certain power
And the confidence in the power that comes with this change
Comes quickly to my side
Arrives swiftly and is readily available
But it's plain to see a change has come to me
It is obvious that a profound shift has occurred in my life
What I lived was make believe
What I thought was real was actually false or imagined
I stood beside a fruitless tree
I was beside something that was not providing any fruit or value
Thinking of my life without
Contemplating a life void of
The meaning that begins
The purpose or significance that starts or commences
In surprise stance the magic came
In a state of astonishment, something remarkable occurred
And lit a light that still remains
And illuminated something that still persists
It's grown intro the gallantry
It has developed into something courageous or noble
Of something more than me
Of something greater or beyond myself
Fighting by the futile line
Struggling for something that is ultimately useless or ineffective
No reason to hang on
No reason to hold onto something
Till you see there really isn't such
Until you realize that there is actually no such thing
A setting of sun gone
A permanent end to something, like a sunset
It's not hard to do, a change can come to you
It is not difficult to experience a significant transformation in your life
Sister trouble's gona change
Challenges or hardships can lead to change
I swim glide rims of beauty
I move effortlessly around the edges of beautiful things
Canyon sings hymns of man and woman
A deep gorge or valley makes beautiful sounds in honor of humanity
Spectral praise is in the view
The view is full of otherworldly appreciation and admiration
All the simple truths of love
All the basic and fundamental aspects of love
Were sadly left aside
Were unfortunately disregarded or neglected
When I bought the bigger lesson false
When I accepted a larger or more complex lesson that was not truly accurate
Of learning how to hide
Of learning how to conceal or keep hidden
But it's plain to see a change has ome to me
But it is obvious that a significant shift has occurred in me
Sister trouble gonna change
Adversity and difficulty can lead to transformation
Contributed by Lauren N. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Eric
on Camel's Night Out
What is it about? A person?