The guitar move Jimmy Page said Eric Clapton did before anyone else
There is much to learn from history’s most prominent guitar heroes, like Eric Clapton.
Technical proficiency and precision are two that almost always set others apart. Intuition and feeling are also key, as is being studious where it counts. But what Clapton taught others, especially in those seminal moments, was the sheer power of being open-minded.
Clapton is regarded now as the ultimate blues rock legend, rightly so. He’s one of the most divisive figures, of course, and someone whose questionable reputation almost always taints an otherwise astounding musical streak. But back in the 1960s, Clapton turned from wide-eyed protégé to someone who other heroes like Jimi Hendrix and Jeff Beck paid close attention to. And it was all because he somehow managed the art of reviving blues standards with modern flair.
Where others, like Hendrix, had weapons in the form of technical mastery, Clapton had extensive intellect and know-how up his sleeve, from paying close attention to everything he listened to before he was a big name himself. As he once said, “I learned from records. Everybody who’s played a string instrument has had an influence on me.”
Chuck Berry was also a huge influence on Clapton, as were several defining figures outside of string instruments. If Clapton listened to someone’s work and felt he could translate it to the guitar, he did. Which is also why he became so impressive himself, because he cherry-picked all his favourites and brought them all together, adding his own distinctive flavour that made it all feel like it was simultaneously a time capsule and something new entirely.
This ability is what made his crossing paths with Jimmy Page seem inevitable. Although things got tough for them for several reasons, the respect was always there. Page even once included Clapton in a list of his favourite musicians, calling attention to how much they paved the way in the ‘60s. “Beck, Clapton and I were sort of the Richmond/Croydon type clan,” he said.
Page saw Clapton the same way many did – a true hero who had a keen eye for detail and an inexplicable way of making magic. He also felt that Clapton was ahead of the curve in many ways, and his way of absorbing countless influences from all kinds of genres set him apart from many other players in the same arena.
When he was once asked what specifically impressed him about Clapton, he said his understanding was unmatched and that his simplicity set the bar high for anybody else. “His solo in [the Yardbirds’] ‘I Ain’t Got You’ is something else,” he told Rolling Stone. “And he got the feeling of tremolo before anyone else over here. He had such an understanding of the blues. It was paramount — he was a purist. But he did it so well — beautiful, lyrical.”
Clapton later said blues was the only education he needed. “I was in [music] to save the world,” he once said. And his laser focus – on blues and excellence in general – is what made people give him labels like ‘Clapton is God’. And those who looked close enough, like Page, saw that what he was doing wasn’t just revolutionary, but a complete game-changer that established tropes before people even knew it.
