Music: Eric Johnson

As he approaches his 70th trip round Sol, Eric Johnson remains an iconic force in the rock music world. In short, he still has it!

I recently saw a clip of an interview of my favorite guitar player, Paul Gilbert, and he was asked “what can’t you play”. Out of the gate, he talked about how he can’t do that shimmery picking thing that Eric Johnson does so effortlessly.

And I have tried like hell to pick up the standout tune by Johnson, the one that put him on the map, Cliffs of Dover from the Ah via Musicom album.

If you haven’t heard it, do go to whatever streaming service you favor and tuck into it.

The fact that EJ can pull that off live, is astounding. No slop, no cheater chords, no faking it. He nails it on stage.

Here is a fan video of a recent performance with an extended intro, musing and noodling in that inimitable manner that only Professor Johnson can pull off.

The audio ain’t perfect, but just listen to the master, 30 years on still delivering the goods.