A biography for Eric Claptonhasn’t been written yet.
“I never met Johnny Rotten, and I didn't want to meet Johnny Rotten.”
“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.”
“This moment in time, on this tour, you know, I'm discovering a lot of new things. And to be 45 and doing that, it's a mixture of pleasure and pain, I can assure you.”
“But I did go to music really early on, even when I was 4 or 5, I was responding to music probably in ways other kids were not.”
“I just like the company of beautiful women. I have a weakness in that department.”
“There's a desire in me to express something - to match what I hear in my head.”
“It is painful to relive things that have caused emotional crises or whatever and find ways to express that musically.”
“To sing in a lower key is harder work. You have to use your diaphragm more.”
“Oh yeah, I mean, it wasn't a very good guitar, most good guitars have got thrust rods in the necks that you can adjust or that'll keep them in shape, you know keep them straight. This one just, well it turned into a bow and arrow after a couple of months.”
“A British pressing with a compilation of the best stuff really, I mean actually not only that but, these were all kind of semi hits for the people on it in America.”
“I don't have half the nerves there that I have anywhere else.”
“The point of being at home is to be with my family as much as possible.”
“I just like the company of beautiful women. I have a weakness in that department. And I suppose because I am fairly well off and a famous musician, I'm up for grabs. And that makes me an eligible bachelor in the press.”
“When you're onstage with an electric band going through a massive P.A. system, it's very artificial. You can't really hear your own voice as it comes out of your mouth.”
“I sought my father in the world of the black musician, because it contained wisdom, experience, sadness and loneliness. I was not ever interested in the music of boys. From my youngest years, I was interested in the music of men.”
“I found my God in music and the arts, with writers like Hermann Hesse, and musicians like Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, and Little Walter. In some way, in some form, my God was always there, but now I have learned to talk to him.”
“I used to do crazy things that people would bail me out of, and I'm just grateful that I survived. But the music got very lost; I didn't know where I was going, and I didn't really care. I was more into just having a good time, and I think it showed.”
“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.”
“The blues are what I've turned to, what has given me inspiration and relief in all the trials of my life.”
“Well, I think part of my gift, or if I have one, is that I love listening.”