Cliffs of Dover (song)
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| "Cliffs of Dover" | ||
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| Song by Eric Johnson | ||
| from the album Ah Via Musicom | ||
| Released | February 1990 | |
| Recorded | March 1988 to June 1989 | |
| Genre | Instrumental Rock | |
| Length | 4:09 | |
| Label | Capital Records | |
| Writer(s) | Eric Johnson | |
| Producer(s) | Eric Johnson | |
Cliffs of Dover is a song by Eric Johnson. It was released on the Ah Via Musicom album in 1990. It is credited as a major step up in his successful career. Cliffs Of Dover won a 1991 Grammy award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance, beating out the Allman Brothers Band (for "Kind Of Bird"), Danny Gatton (for "88 Elmira Street"), Rush (for "Where's My Thing?"), and Yes (for "Masquerade").
The song Cliffs Of Dover is a virtuoso instrumental in G major, featuring electric guitar. Structurally, it begins with an ad lib electric guitar solo in varying time signatures (6/4, 5/4, 6/4, 7/4, 3/4) including string skipping, then settles into a 4/4 rhythmic shuffle verse (as drums are added) consisting of both staccatto and legato ringing string play, as an arpeggio progression of G-G6-Gmaj7 that is repeated several times later in the song with variations. Next it launches into a very accessible set of melodies in G, mostly played as single guitar-solo style notes (as opposed to chords) with variations on the prime melodies including octavations. The outro or coda recalls the mood and style of the ad lib intro.
The song was recorded on a Gibson ES-335, but is almost always played live on a Fender Stratocaster.
The song contains elements of rock music, prog rock, and jazz.
