The guitarist that Eric Clapton called a “true genius”
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Credit: Hernandez
The first guitarist Eric Clapton fell in love with
Ever since discovering the blues, Eric Clapton knew his calling in life, and as a youngster, he was dedicated to the cause. His weekends were spent perusing local record stores, during which Clapton accrued a strong collection of blues records, and this formative period is to thank for his musical education.
Before Clapton began to play the instrument, he already had built up an encyclopedic knowledge of the art form. He held these legends in the highest esteem, but it all started with Chuck Berry. Discussing his musical heritage during an appearance on the BBC’s Desert Island Discs, the guitarist explained:
“I was into the blues from a very early age,” he said. “I went on a pilgrimage to record shops and bought every R&B record I could buy and I would study them at home and learn as much as I could by ear.”
“In fact,” Clapton continues, “That’s been my method all my life. I decided that I was gonna be a blues player. It had the most profound effect on me the most dramatic effect of all the music I listened to. I felt in a way it was something I could pick up.”
As Chuck Berry was the headline name from the scene, he was Clapton’s first introduction, and the budding guitarist soon got a taste for more. Following his affection for Berry, the teenager’s taste developed as he made his way onto artists who were a substantially more challenging listen.
He once explained: “Chuck Berry did that. ‘Schooldays’ and then ‘Johnny B. Goode’, I got into that. I was around 16 or 17, heavily when I was 17, by myself, I learned from records, I guess, everybody who’s played a string instrument has had an influence on me.”
Meanwhile, in another interview with Uncut, Clapton talked about how Berry enabled his tastes to develop and mature. The axeman revealed: “You started out with someone like Chuck Berry and you worked your way further back, deeper and deeper until you got to Robert Johnson. I was confused and a bit intimidated when I initially heard him. It was so powerful it was almost unlistenable at first. But eventually I was ready.”
Furthermore, Clapton also appeared in a 1989 documentary about Berry and used the opportunity to speak in superlatives about his first guitar hero. In the film, he suggests any aspiring guitarist should take a leaf out of his book and study the pioneer of the six-string.
He told viewers, “If you wanna play rock ‘n’ roll or any upbeat number and you want to take a guitar ride, you would end up playing like Chuck Berry. Because there is very little actually other choice. There is not a lot of other ways to play rock ‘n’ roll other than like Chuck plays it.”
Watch the footage below of Clapton jamming with his childhood hero and fellow Berry connoisseur, The Rolling Stones’ Keith Richards.
