I just managed to convince my grandmother that it was a worth while that was something to do, you know, and when I did finally get the guitar, it didn’t seem that difficult to me, to be able to make a good noise out of it.
ERIC CLAPTONIt’s been very important throughout my career that I’ve met all the guys I’ve copied, because at each stage they’ve said, ‘Don’t play like me, play like you.’
More Eric Clapton Quotes
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I remember hearing Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee, Big Bill Broonzy, Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley and not really knowing anything about the geography or the culture of the music. But for some reason it did something to me – it resonated.
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I don’t have half the nerves there that I have anywhere else.
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Loose ladies on the road will drive you crazy, every no, becomes a maybe.
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The first band I identified with from Chicago was the Muddy Waters band.
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I remember when I thought of singing as the bit that went between the guitar playing – something I couldn’t wait to get out of the way. Singing was originally like a chore that I didn’t really enjoy.
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To sing in a lower key is harder work. You have to use your diaphragm more.
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It’s very dependent on your state of mind. And your emotional state as well. And a lot of it comes pouring out, you don’t really have that much control with it.
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My original interests and intentions in guitar playing were primarily created on quality of tone, for instance, the way the instrument could be made to echo or simulate the human voice.
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And if I don’t be there by morning, she’ll know that I must’ve spent the night in jail.
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Risk is trying to control something you are powerless over.
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Up until I became a father, it was all about self-obsession. But then I learned exactly what it’s all about: the delight of being a servant.
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I mean, the sound of an amplified guitar in a room full of people was so hypnotic and addictive to me, that I could cross any kind of border to get on there.
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I know there will be no more tears in heaven.
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When I look for what I’m going to listen to I go backwards. I’m always going the other way you see. Most people are trying to figure out ‘how do I get in the fast lane going that way?’. I’m going in the other direction. I wanna find the oldest thing to do.
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I thought, ‘My God, this is like Buddy Guy on acid.’
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Leave bands, go back to obscurity if I choose to, without a great sense of loss of security because it’s all been based on the fact that I did it on my own or was doing, enjoying doing it on my own in the first place.
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I’ve always wanted the sound of Muddy Waters’ early records – only louder
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I couldn’t believe how good Jimi Hendrix was It was a really difficult thing for me to deal with, but I just had to surrender and say, ‘This is fantastic.’
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Music became a healer for me.
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The blues are what I’ve turned to, what has given me inspiration and relief in all the trials of my life.
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My Father’s Eyes’ is very personal. I realized that the closest I ever came to looking in my father’s eyes was when I looked into my son’s eyes.
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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.
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Having lovers and friends is all good and fine But I don’t like yours and you don’t like mine.
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I often enjoy singing in an acoustic setting more than an amplified one.
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For me there is something primitively soothing about this music, and it went straight to my nervous system, making me feel ten feet tall.
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I think everybody has their own way of looking at their lives as some kind of pilgrimage. Some people will see their role as a pilgrim in terms of setting up a fine family, or establishing a business inheritance. Everyone’s got their own definition.
ERIC CLAPTON