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49-421: Seven Worlds is a 1998 solo album by Eric Johnson . It contains songs recorded between 1976 and 1978 – after disbanding with his previous band The Electromagnets – that were intended to be Johnson's first solo album. Due to various disputes, general release was held up until Johnson gave permission to Ark 21 to finally release the master recordings, more than twenty years after the album was recorded. The rights to

98-721: A Jimi Hendrix set, a tribute to the year 1967, often called "The Summer of Love ". In late 2006, he participated in a second G3 tour in South America with Joe Satriani and John Petrucci . Johnson appeared as part of Guitar Player magazine's Ultimate Musician's Fantasy Camp in Las Vegas in February 2014, with guitarists Joe Perry , Steve Vai , Elliot Easton , Michael Anthony , and others. He appeared with Zakk Wylde , Buddy Guy , Jonny Lang , Kenny Wayne Shepherd , Dweezil Zappa , and Doyle Bramhall II as part of

147-473: A 1991 Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance. Ah Via Musicom was a crossover hit and was certified platinum . Johnson is an admitted perfectionist, and those traits seemed to work against the Ah Via Musicom follow-up release. Unhappy with his recordings, Johnson mastered, then later scrapped several completed tracks for the new album and delayed its release for three years, on top of

196-490: A Dumble amplifier, as he had to replace a faulty component in his favorite Dumble, the Steel String Singer. It never sounded the same afterwards, and he sold the amplifier to Carlos Santana. Johnson has had several models built to his specifications for sale in the mass market. In 2003, C. F. Martin & Company released a limited-edition Eric Johnson Signature MC-40 guitar built for him. Johnson donated 5% of

245-536: A Fulton-Webb amplifier. Jim Dunlop also has released an Eric Johnson signature Jazz III plectrum and an Eric Johnson signature Fuzz Face. The Eminence Eric Johnson signature 12" alnico guitar speaker was introduced in 2012. In early 2015, Roland Corporation announced the Eric Johnson Tone Capsule, an accessory to Roland Blues Cube amplifiers. In March 2018, Fender released an Eric Johnson Signature Thinline Fender Stratocaster built to exactly

294-434: A Manchester studio in early 1978. He was hired soon after by Terry Melcher for a job at Ringo Starr 's Ring O' Records label, and appointed the in-house engineer for the label's newly-acquired recording facility, Startling Studios, at Tittenhurst Park , John Lennon 's former house and studio near Ascot, Berkshire . Tickle helped convert the studio from 16- to 24-track and lived on-site, later telling one interviewer "It

343-474: A different situation to True Colours . The previous album was recorded by a band and producer both poised to crack their respective, mid-level reputations wide open and that is exactly what happened. And while Split Enz, then in their late twenties and quite ready for huge success, had absorbed the attention and heady acclaim in an orderly fashion. According to the radio documentary Enzology , Tickle particularly clashed heads with Tim Finn . In an interview for

392-457: A less frenetic, more layered and ordered musicality on the band; people who were new to the band or who had been unable to assimilate them previously found the space and economy much easier to digest. The hooks were now prominent, almost naked, and the sparser rhythm tracks allowed lyrics to be heard. By mid-1980, Tickle was back in Melbourne to record a follow-up to True Colours . This was

441-475: A local fusion group called Electromagnets. The group toured and recorded regionally, but did not attract attention from major record labels and disbanded in 1977. The strength of Johnson's playing, however, attracted a small cult following to the group's early recordings, and decades later, their two albums were given wide release on compact disc. Following the Electromagnets' demise, Johnson formed

490-551: A more experienced producer, and American Mallory Earl was drafted in. The band always regretted the decision, sensing Earl's work had failed to reach the levels of intensity and creativity their earlier sessions with Tickle had achieved. In 1978, Tickle responded to an advertisement offering work for "the best engineer in England, money no object". The ad had been placed by noted producer Mike Chapman , whose run of hits in Britain

539-520: A session musician, Johnson continued to perform locally in Austin. Johnson's career rebounded in 1984 when he was signed to Warner Bros. Records . Christopher Cross and producer David Tickle recommended Johnson to the label. His breakthrough appearance at Austin City Limits on July 31, 1984, was recorded and later released on CD/DVD in 2010. The performance of "Cliffs of Dover" from the concert

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588-399: A side project called Alien Love Child and played shows sporadically while recording Venus Isle . The positive fan feedback from the shows made Alien Love Child a permanent gig. A live performance recording, Live and Beyond , was released in 2000 on Steve Vai 's Favored Nations label. Alien Love Child featured the vocal prowess of Malford Milligan , an Austin-area musician who fronted

637-428: A studio’ - maybe after a show one night, or we may have a couple of days off. We'd start with the drum machine and I wouldn't leave the studio until it was mixed. Right from the first bass drum being printed. That could be 24, 48 hours, and on a couple of occasions we got into about 72, 76 hours. Without going to sleep. That was his thing. You go in, you start it, and you don't leave until it's done. And that moment in time

686-584: A touring trio, the Eric Johnson Group, with drummer Bill Maddox and bassist Kyle Brock. They played to audiences around Austin. From 1976–1978, Johnson recorded Seven Worlds , his debut album, at Odyssey Studios in Austin. Contract disputes followed, and Seven Worlds was not released until 1998 on Ark21 Records . Unable to secure a new management contract, Johnson began working as a session guitarist for some well-known acts, including Cat Stevens , Carole King , and Christopher Cross . While

735-594: A whole, the album did not sell well, and Warner Bros. let Johnson's contract expire. He signed on with indie label Cinema Records, distributed by Capitol Records . By the time Johnson released his 1990 Capitol Records debut album, Ah Via Musicom , he was regularly winning awards for his musicianship in the guitar press. During this period, Johnson also drew recognition for the rich, violin -like lead sound he coaxed from his beloved 1954 Fender Stratocaster , which he named Virginia. The album's second track, " Cliffs of Dover ", exemplified his unique sound and won Johnson

784-408: Is credited with producing the 4 Non Blondes 1993 debut album , including the hit song " What's Up? ", but Linda Perry has since spoken about rejecting Tickle's work on the track and re-recording it, taking over production on it herself. Tickle engineered all the studio tracks of the best-selling U2 album Rattle and Hum (1988), and mixed The Police 's archival 1995 album Live! . David

833-562: Is encapsulated.” “Some of it is raggedy,” says Tickle. “It doesn’t sound like it was done super high end in a studio, particularly at that time, when a lot of stuff was very pristinely recorded. That’s why everything is so unique. We’d go in, do a song and once it was done, we’d leave it.” “They had more input,” agrees David Tickle. “Prince would put down a drum machine, do some kind of guide vocal, because he may not have figured out all of his vocal moves yet, then say to Wendy and Lisa, ‘Hey, you go and put background vocals on this’ and we'd build

882-521: Is married to well-known model, actress, and bassist Kate Elizabeth Tickle and they have two sons Jaxon and Daniel. They reside in England and Los Angeles. In 2000, Tickle built the 120-track Avalon Studios at Kauai, Hawaii , where he mixed many 5.1 surround DTS records notably The Police 's Greatest Hits album, Sting 's ...Nothing Like the Sun and Ten Summoner's Tales , Sheryl Crow 's album The Globe Sessions , and John Hiatt 's album Bring

931-478: The Seven Worlds recordings are owned by a previous manager. Johnson subsequently re-recorded the tracks "Zap" and "Emerald Eyes" for his first general release album, 1986's Tones . All songs written by Eric Johnson , except where noted. Eric Johnson (guitarist, born 1954) Eric Johnson (born August 17, 1954) is an American guitarist , vocalist and composer . His 1990 album Ah Via Musicom

980-564: The Internet, received nearly 65,000 plays in the first seven weeks after it was made available on mp3.com. Johnson promoted Souvenir with an electric tour in 2003 and an acoustic tour in 2004. Johnson's album Bloom was released in June 2005, on Vai's Favored Nations label. The album was divided into three sections with different musical styles, intended to showcase Johnson's versatility. His December 1988 Austin City Limits performance

1029-604: The Southwest. In 2016, he released EJ: Explorations on Guitar and Piano , which was his first entirely acoustic album. He toured the album in early 2017. In 2017, Johnson released Collage , which also coincided with the announcement of a tour revisiting his hit album Ah Via Musicom . In the fall of 2018, he was invited to promote the Fender and Nissan collaboration for car stereo systems designed by Fender Audio. In January 2020, Johnson released EJ: Volume II , which

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1078-504: The age of 15, he joined his first professional band, Mariani, a psychedelic rock group. In 1970, Johnson and the group recorded a demonstration, which had an extremely limited release. The recording became a prized collector's item years later. After graduating from high school, Johnson briefly attended the University of Texas at Austin and traveled with his family to Africa . He eventually returned to Austin, and in 1974, joined

1127-506: The album, but Tickle himself was not one of them. He did not engineer any of the finished album, and his name does not appear in the album credits or the extensive "thanks to" section. Tickle continued to work as a producer during the late 1980s and 1990s, with credits on albums by Joan Armatrading , Belinda Carlisle , Toni Childs , and Joe Cocker among others. He was producer of the Divinyls ' hit 1991 single " I Touch Myself ". Tickle

1176-441: The bridge pickups in some of his Stratocasters for DiMarzio HS-2 pickups, because they do not hum as much as standard single-coil pickups. Johnson has also played other guitar brands such as Robin , Rickenbacker , Jackson , Maton , and Charvel , one of which appears on the cover of the Ah Via Musicom album. In 2001, Johnson added a Gibson Custom Shop '59 Les Paul Reissue to his collection of guitars. Of note, he no longer uses

1225-538: The community kitchen and he and the producer would be extolling the virtues of The Dark Side of the Moon and we'd be talking about Kraftwerk and The Sex Pistols . He really didn't get it. But that said, it could have come out a lot worse. We just kept the overdubs to a minimum. Later in the 1980s, Tickle produced hit singles and albums for several Canadian acts. Production credits during this era include Canadian and US chart hits by Red Rider (including " Human Race "),

1274-679: The eighth edition of the Experience Hendrix Tour highlighting the music of Jimi Hendrix, in March 2014. Johnson returned to the Experience Hendrix Tour in September and October 2014. Johnson and fellow guitarist Mike Stern kicked off their Eclectic Guitar Tour on November 6, 2014, and released an album supporting it on October 27, 2014. In August 2015, he participated in the "Vai Academy" along with guitarists Steve Vai and Sonny Landreth , and also kicked off an acoustic tour of

1323-562: The first album by Platinum Blonde , which featured the Canadian hit singles "Doesn't Really Matter" and " Not In Love ", and two albums by Gowan , which featured his Canadian top-10 hits " A Criminal Mind " and " Moonlight Desires " and "Strange Animal". During that same era, Tickle began a long-running working relationship with Prince , for whom he would work as engineer and mixing engineer, co-producing portions of six albums, and as live sound engineer on Prince's "Purple Rain" tour. Tickle

1372-678: The guitar's sales profit to his father's college, Jefferson Medical College (now called the Thomas Jefferson University). Johnson has also been known to use the Martin D-45 before his signature Martin guitar was released. In 2005, Fender released an Eric Johnson Signature Fender Stratocaster also built to his specifications. This was followed up by the Eric Johnson Signature Stratocaster Rosewood model in 2009. It featured

1421-465: The local band Storyville , made up of members of Stevie Ray Vaughan 's Double Trouble . In 1998, Johnson was among the judges in Musician magazine's "Best Unsigned Bands" competition, along with Ani DiFranco , Moby , Art Alexakis of Everclear , Keb' Mo' , and Joe Perry of Aerosmith . In 2003, he contributed a guitar solo on Mike Tramp 's solo album, More to Life than This . The solo

1470-628: The major Australian/New Zealand hit single " Counting The Beat ". In 1981, Tickle was hired by the Stiff label to remix the single " Is Vic There? " by London new wave cult band Department S . He produced a fatter, slicker pop sound. David Tickle really didn't understand where we were coming from. He'd lived in America during the London punk explosion. I tried to do everything in one take, with as few over dubs as possible. We'd be sitting eating lunch in

1519-513: The most respected guitarists on the planet" in 2006. Born into a musically inclined family, Eric Johnson and his three sisters studied piano, while his father was a whistling enthusiast. Johnson started learning the guitar at age 11 and rapidly progressed while listening to the musicians who would heavily influence his future style, including Mike Bloomfield , Chet Atkins , Eric Clapton , Jimi Hendrix , Ric Bailey, Wes Montgomery , Jerry Reed , Bob Dylan , and Django Reinhardt , among others. At

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1568-472: The program, Tickle said that in the wake of "I Got You"'s success, Finn sought greater involvement in the engineering process. Tickle never worked with Split Enz again, though he did produce the Practical Jokers album for The Swingers , the band formed by Split Enz co-founder Phil Judd . (Judd, however, was not a member of Split Enz while Tickle was their producer.) The Swingers' album included

1617-539: The same specifications as his first signature Strat, the sole exception being that the guitar is a semihollow design, which is a rarity for Fender. The guitar is available in Vintage White and two-color Sunburst, with quarter-sawn maple necks exclusively. In early 2020, Fender announced the Eric Johnson "Virginia" Custom Shop Stratocaster, modeled after a 1954 Stratocaster he owned. The original "Virginia"

1666-766: The same specifications as the Eric Johnson Maple Neck guitar, but with the addition of an unusual three-ply, eight-hole white pick guard, hotter treble pickup, and a bound rosewood laminated fingerboard with pearloid dot position markers . In January 2006, a man named Brian Sparks was arrested for posing as Johnson, and in the process, defrauding businesses out of about US$ 18,000 worth of guitars and equipment. Also in 2006, some of Johnson's guitars that had been stolen 24 years earlier were recovered. Johnson has also released other signature gear such as GHS Eric Johnson Nickel Rockers Electric Guitar Strings, DiMarzio DP211 Eric Johnson Signature Custom Pickups, and

1715-424: The single " I Got You ". In the wake of their unsatisfying Frenzy album, the band was adamant their next record would be a Tickle production. As recording progressed and Tickle's strategy became clearer – creating more space in their sound over resolute drum tracks – the band became convinced the album would be a turning point. In his history of the band, Mike Chunn says: Tickle's production had fostered

1764-579: The success of its predecessor. As a result, Johnson was dropped from Capitol Records. He rebounded with a successful tour from October to November 1996 with fellow guitarists Joe Satriani and Steve Vai . Named the "G3" tour , it resulted in a platinum-selling compact disc and DVD titled G3: Live in Concert . Johnson eventually returned to the recording studio, releasing Souvenir in January 2003 on his own Vortexan Records label. The album, released on

1813-421: The thing up for him.” Despite the problems with Split Enz, Neil Finn made tentative plans to use Tickle again, this time as an engineer, on the first Crowded House album, which began recording in 1985. Ultimately, the album was produced by Mitchell Froom at a studio selected by Tickle, with Tickle receiving a higher payment than Froom in recognition of his experience. No fewer than five engineers were used on

1862-433: The three years he had spent touring in support of Ah Via Musicom . He also had setbacks involving musical growth and personal issues while recording his next album Venus Isle . Venus Isle was released on September 3, 1996. It was an album with world influences that demonstrated Johnson's growth as a guitarist, songwriter, producer, musical arranger, and vocalist, but the album received mixed reviews and did not match

1911-488: Was a follow-up to his first acoustic album. On September 12, 2023, Johnson was announced as a part of the G3 2024 Tour along with Steve Vai and Joe Satriani . Johnson is best known for playing the lightly modified Fender Stratocasters and Gibson ES-335 electric guitars through either a Fender or Marshall amplifier , depending on whether he is targeting a clean rhythm, dirty rhythm, or lead tone. He tends to swap out

1960-508: Was a great mansion, an 82-acre house, I was the only one to live there full time. I lived like a lord. Cooks, maids, the whole thing". At Startling Studios, Tickle produced a further session with Split Enz, recording " I See Red ", a punk-influenced single that became a hit in Australia and New Zealand. Although the band was keen to have Tickle produce their third album, Frenzy , they were overruled by their Australian management, who wanted

2009-716: Was almost over and who was by now working in New York with Blondie on their breakthrough Parallel Lines album. Tickle was hired as a trainee producer and contributed mixing and engineering duties to Chapman's first US hits: Blondie 's " Heart of Glass ", The Knack 's " My Sharona " and Exile 's " Kiss You All Over ". The experience provided Tickle with even more skills as a pop/rock producer. In October 1979, Tickle reconvened with Split Enz , this time in Melbourne , Australia , to record what would become their breakthrough, multi-platinum album, True Colours , which included

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2058-460: Was also involved in the recording of the new material. He worked front-of-house sound for the Purple Rain tour and mixed some of the singles taken from the soundtrack. As with Susan Rogers, that was the first time he had been involved in a Prince album from its inception. “There was no clear objective with what the next album was going to be,” says Tickle. “It wasn’t like it started out and it

2107-569: Was born on 6 September 1959 in Guildford , Surrey , the only son of a university professor father and an artistic mother. By his own account, he was mixing Red Buddha concerts at the age of 16, and mixed three singles for pop-rock quartet Liverpool Express , which achieved modest success on the UK Singles Chart in 1976 and 1977. Through a friend he was introduced to New Zealand band Split Enz and laid down some tracks with them in

2156-612: Was certified platinum by the RIAA , and the single " Cliffs of Dover " won the Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance . Best known for his electric guitar skills, Johnson is also a highly proficient player of acoustic , lap steel , and resonator guitar, as well as an accomplished bassist , pianist, and vocalist. He plays many musical genres, including rock, blues , jazz fusion , soul , folk , new-age , classical , and country . Keyboard Magazine called him "one of

2205-487: Was distributed in a flexi-disc soundpage in the May 1986 issue of Guitar Player magazine. In May 1986, Guitar Player magazine ran a cover story about Johnson. The article helped promote the release of Tones and brought Johnson critical praise, as well as elevating his profile in the guitar and music community. The album's track "Zap" was nominated for the 1987 Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance , but as

2254-593: Was featured on the track "The Good, the Sad and the Ugly". In September 2006, Johnson took part in a theatrical production titled Primal Twang: The Legacy of the Guitar – the first definitive theatrical journey through the guitar's colorful and controversial 3,500-year history. In September 2007, Johnson participated in a second theatrical production by the same company titled Love In: A Musical Celebration in which he performed

2303-401: Was gonna be this specific focus. Prince would literally write a song a day and every three days or so we would go and do a full production on something. If you listen to the album, there’s actually quite a difference in the context of the songs themselves, and even in production and sonic value. That’s because when you worked with Prince what happened was he would say, ‘David. I’ve got a song. Get

2352-1176: Was made out of sassafras and was featured extensively on Ah Via Musicom and Venus Isle . Johnson generally does not collect guitars, as he is not interested in owning superfluous items. His collection is limited to the best-playing examples of the guitar he finds: Johnson uses effect pedals such as the Dallas-Arbiter Fuzz Face , BK Butler Tube Driver, MXR KD IV Stereo Chorus, Vox CryBaby wah-wah, ToadWorks Barracuda flanger, Prescription Electronics Experience octave fuzz, Xotic AC Booster, MXR Flanger/Doubler, Electro-Harmonix Deluxe Memory Man delay, Boss Corporation DD-2 Digital Delay, MXR 1500 Digital Delay, Line 6 Echo Pro Studio Modeler, and up to two Maestro Echoplex tape delays. All of these are connected to multiple A/B boxes to create sounds and tones that are both clean and distorted. Dunlop has also begun selling Johnson's signature Fuzz Face pedal. In late 2006, Johnson switched from recording in analog to digital format. Johnson has been nominated for eight Grammy Awards , winning once in 1991. David Tickle Tickle

2401-612: Was released on both DVD and compact disc on New West Records in November 2005. His instructional guitar DVD, The Art of Guitar ( Hal Leonard Corporation ), was also released at the end of 2005. On June 24, 2014, Provogue Records released Europe Live , a retrospective of Johnson's work that features two new compositions. One of the new compositions is entitled "Evinrude Fever" and draws inspiration from water skiing and boating. In 1991, Johnson contributed guitar for two tracks on Stuart Hamm 's album, The Urge . In 1994, he formed

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