# Eric Clapton

Eric Patrick Clapton, CBE (born 30 March 1945), is an English rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is the only three-time inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: once as a solo artist and separately as a member of the Yardbirds and of Cream. He was also part of the bands Blind Faith and Derek and the Dominos.

## Quotes

* Did you plan your leads, or, for that matter, do you plan them now?
    No. The only planning I do is about a minute before I play. I desperately try to think of something that will be effective, but I never sit down and work it out note for note.
   * Fred Stuckey, "Eric Clapton Interview," Guitar Player 4 (June 1970) p. 47. guitarplayer.com
* Tell me why, must I fall in love with you?
** Fall Like Rain (from the album Pilgrim - 1998)
* Layla, you got me on my knees. Layla, I'm begging, darling please. Layla, darling won't you ease my worried mind.
** Layla (by Derek and the Dominos - 1970)
* Would you know my name if I saw you in heaven? Would it be the same If I saw you in heaven?
** Tears in Heaven (from the album Unplugged - 1992)
* And I say, "Yes, you look wonderful tonight."
** Wonderful Tonight (from the album Slowhand - 1977)
* Stop Britain from becoming a black colony. [...] Get the foreigners out. Get the wogs out. Get the coons out. Keep Britain white. I used to be into dope, now I'm into racism. It's much heavier, man. Fucking wogs, man. Fucking Saudis taking over London. Bastard wogs. Britain is becoming overcrowded, and Enoch [Powell] will stop it and send them all back. The black wogs and coons and Arabs and fucking Jamaicans and fucking ... don't belong here, we don't want them here. This is England, this is a white country, we don't want any black wogs and coons living here. We need to make clear to them they are not welcome. England is for white people, man. We are a white country. I don’t want fucking wogs living next to me with their standards. This is Great Britain, a white country. What is happening to us, for fuck's sake?
** "When Eric Clapton's Bigoted 1976 Rant Sparked Rock Against Racism" (at the Birmingham Odeon, 5 August 1976)
*** See more at Snopes. Accounts of the precise words Clapton used vary, although he has not disputed their accuracy or authenticity.
* All I am certain of right now is that I don't want to go anywhere, and that's not bad for someone who always used to run.
** Clapton: The Autobiography
* Music will always find its way to us, with or without business, politics, religion, or any other bullshit attached. Music survives everything, and like God, it is always present. It needs no help, and suffers no hindrance.
** Clapton: The Autobiography
* In my lowest moments, the only reason I didn't commit suicide was that I knew I wouldn't be able to drink anymore if I was dead.
** Clapton: The Autobiography, about his alcoholism in the 1980s
* [Unplugged] was also the cheapest to produce and required the least amount of preparation and work. But if you want to know what it actually cost me, go to Ripley and visit the grave of my son.
** Clapton: The Autobiography
* You never told me he was that fucking good.
** After first hearing Jimi Hendrix perform, as quoted in "Jimi Hendrix: 'You never told me he was that good'" by Ed Vulliamy in The Guardian (8 August 2010)

## Quotes about Eric Clapton

* He is a great person, as well as a great musician. And this guy sings like he was born down below Mississippi!
** B.B. King
* During the mid Sixties, [Clapton's] legendary performances with John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers and Cream established him as a pioneer of the modern electric blues and rock guitar. [...] Regardless of the musical format, Eric Clapton has always kept his brilliant blues-inspired guitar playing in the forefront, influencing the likes of Eddie Van Halen, Steve Lukather, Joe Satriani, Jonny Lang and countless others.
** Dale Turner and Dave Rubin of Guitar Player (April 14, 2020)
* An electric warrior reinvented as the modern icon of acoustic blues, Slowhand has the whole package: tone, technique, reverence for the source material, everything. Obviously, when one of the greatest guitarists of all time sits down to play you know you’re in for something special, but there’s something about the way Clapton affects the listener that sets him apart. His journey from young guitar god to elder blues statesman has been epic, and it’s inarguably his acoustic side that has propped up the second half of his career. Clapton is God? Maybe not, but he’s certainly all class.
** Rob Power of MusicRadar (June 16, 2017)
* I think Clapton is brilliant. He's the only one who moved me. The only one who made me want to play the guitar.
** Eddie Van Halen
* His fingers are directly wired to his soul.
** Brian May
* I had a Les Paul before Eric but I didn't have a Marshall. And when Eric got all of that together he was a delight to listen to. He really understood the blues.
** Jimmy Page, quoted in Du Noyer, Paul (2003). The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Music (1st ed.). Fulham, London: Flame Tree Publishing. pp. 175. ISBN 1-904041-96-5.