Eric Clapton is a highly influential figure in the music scene for his talented songwriting and exceptional guitar-playing skills. Throughout the years, he has influenced many guitarists in the scene and become their role model. On the other hand, Clapton also popularised particular models of electric guitars. During his tenure with the Yardbirds, he used a Fender Telecaster and a 1964 Cherry-Red Gibson. The musician mainly played Gibson guitars in the following years, most notably his sunburst Les Paul.
When he started playing with Cream, Eric Clapton’s iconic Les Paul Standard was stolen. He continued playing Les Paul guitars with the band until 1967, when he got his hands on his famous 1964 Gibson SG, ‘The Fool.’ Back in those days, young Alex Lifeson was listening to Cream and admiring Eric Clapton’s guitar solos, which he believed were easier to play. With his future Rush bandmate John Rutsey, Lifeson later decided to form a band and embark on a music career.
In 1968, Alex, John, and Jeff Jones formed Rush. Soon after, Geddy Lee joined them as a replacement for Jones. Lee is Lifeson’s high school friend, so the two spent much time together, even before Rush. They had similar music tastes and were both fans of Eric Clapton and his work with Cream. As it turns out, Alex Lifeson was so inspired by Clapton that he tried to make his own ‘The Fool’ along with Geddy Lee.
Alex Lifeson’s first guitar was a Christmas gift from his father. After this guitar, he started playing a Japanese Canora. Influenced by Cream and Eric Clapton, Lifeson later decided to make his Canora look like Clapton’s guitar, ‘The Fool.’
The Fool was a 1964 Gibson SG guitar painted by the Dutch design collective the Fool. The guitar’s vibrant colors and design reflected the psychedelic era that was prominent from the mid-to-late 1960s. Following Clapton, this trend gained widespread recognition.
According to what Geddy Lee told World Cafe in 2019, he also had a Japanese Canora at that time. As two teenagers at 17, the two came up with a brilliant idea: to paint their guitars like Cream’s psychedelic Gibsons. So, Lee and Lifeson sat down and tried to imitate Eric Clapton and Jack Bruce’s guitars, thinking they looked really cool.
Here is what Geddy Lee recalled:
“It was a Canora bass, a Japanese-made bass, which I guess is sort of a knock-off of the early Fenders. And my friend Alex Lifeson, who ended up spending his whole life with me, also had a Canora bass.
And in a fit of madness, we tried to imitate the instruments owned by Jack Bruce of Cream and Eric Clapton; they had their instruments painted by these famous pop artists, and they were really cool and very psychedelic. So we tried imitating those two instruments; we painted them ourselves, actually.”
So, Alex Lifeson and Geddy Lee tried to imitate Cream’s guitar designs to create their own psychedelic guitars, also influenced by the spirit of the period. Apparently, Lifeson was so impressed by Eric Clapton’s guitar that he tried to make his own ‘The Fool.’
