Eric Clapton

Eric Clapton
Eric Clapton was born in Ripley,Surrey on 30th March 1945 and was raised by his grandparents.
During his early school years he was given a guitar but was unenthusiastic about playing it or
showing any interest in it at all at the time.
After a pretty uneventful early education he went on to attend Kingston College of Art, but because
of his total lack of interest he was considered a subversive influence on the other students , and was
eventually asked to leave.
After hearing blues tunes played on the radio, he developed an interest in the music. He went
Looking for records by American musicians including Muddy Waters and Big Bill Broonzy and could
not get enough , and was soon playing along with the records on his previously discarded guitar.
Like others of his day he also includes Chuck Berry and Buddy Holly as major influences along with
other ethnic blues players of the day.
When asked if B B King was a strong influence on him when he began playing, Eric replied;
“Always was in those days, yeh. Not as much as Freddie King. I don’t think, because Freddie always
had a funkier style of playing. B.B. was always clean- Freddie always had that distorted style even
right at the beginning.”