Eric Clapton

"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."

"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."

"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."

"I think Clapton is brilliant. He's the only one who moved me. The only one who made me want to play the guitar."

"His fingers are directly wired to his soul."

"Did you plan your leads, or, for that matter, do you plan them now?"

"Tell me why, must I fall in love with you?"

"Layla, you got me on my knees. Layla, I'm begging, darling please. Layla, darling won't you ease my worried mind."

"Would you know my name if I saw you in heaven? Would it be the same If I saw you in heaven?"

"And I say, "Yes, you look wonderful tonight.""

"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?"

"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."

"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."

"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."

"[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."

"You never told me he was that fucking good."

"He is a great person, as well as a great musician. And this guy sings like he was born down below Mississippi!"

"Seinesgleichen hat er nur noch unter den Toten."

"Ich habe nie einen seelenvolleren Blues-Sänger gehört."

"Am liebsten kommuniziert er über seine Musik."

"Von der Produktion her war es das billigste und dasjenige, was am wenigsten Vorbereitung und Arbeit erforderte. Aber wenn Sie wissen wollen, was es mich wirklich gekostet hat, gehen Sie nach Ripley und besuchen Sie das Grab meines Sohnes."