Eric Clapton is one of the greatest guitar players in the music scene, but he’s humble enough to cite many other names as better guitarists than himself. As a musician who was heavily influenced by blues music from an early age, Clapton wished to collaborate with three blues icons: B.B. King, John Lee Hooker, and Ray Charles. His dreams came true when he worked with B.B. King on the ‘Riding with the King’ album, but sadly John Lee Hooker and Ray Charles are long gone.
Clapton was close friends with Jimi Hendrix and saw the guitar icon rise to fame from the beginning. He believed that Hendrix took electric guitar playing to another level, and nobody took it any further after his passing. In another interview, Clapton said he was not a competitive guitar player and picked Carlos Santana as the guitarist who could top him. As Steven Wilson recalled, when Clapton was asked what it felt like to be the greatest guitar player in the world, he overmodestly said that this question should be asked to Prince.
So, it seems like Eric Clapton doesn’t see other guitar players as rivals and doesn’t hesitate to show appreciation to his peers. While some of these names indeed influenced Clapton’s style, he always had his own unique guitar sound. As years passed, he made a name for himself for this distinctive guitar-playing style. However, it turns out that he got tired of being a ‘guitar hero’ at some point and decided to imitate one of his biggest guitar influences: J. J. Cale.
Although he always tried to stay away from the spotlight, J. J. Cale was a highly influential guitarist who inspired many guitar players in the scene, such as Mark Knopfler, Waylon Jennings, and Neil Young. Cale wasn’t a known name in the business as a recording artist. However, Eric Clapton recorded a cover of his ‘After Midnight’ on his debut album, and the song became a radio hit. In the following years, Eric continued to cover J. J. Cale’s songs, such as ‘I Got the Same Old Blues’ and ‘Cocaine.’
In 2004, the two got together at Eric Clapton’s Crossroads Guitar Festival, and the guitarist asked J. J. Cale to produce an album for him. Clapton and Cale then ended up recording the album together and releasing it as ‘The Road To Escondido.’ In the 2005 documentary ‘To Tulsa and Back,’ Clapton paid his respects to the musician for being his inspiration source with his minimalist guitar playing.
Eric Clapton rose to fame with his own approach to guitar, and he was already a renowned name in the scene. However, in his autobiography, he admitted he was tired of being the ‘guitar hero’ when recording his solo debut. As Clapton said, he decided to follow J. J. Cale’s example and go for a minimalist approach. In one of his previous statements, he also said that he was tired of ‘gymnastic’ guitar playing and was then impressed with the subtlety of Cale’s albums.
In his autobiography, Eric Clapton said the following:
“I was tired of the ‘guitar hero’ thing, and I was starting to follow the example of J. J. Cale.”
In another interview, Clapton also said:
“I was tired of gymnastic guitar playing, and when I listened to JJ Cale records, I was impressed by the subtlety, by what wasn’t being played.”
So, Eric Clapton was tired of being everyone’s guitar hero with his playing style. As a result, he wanted to try a different approach and imitated J. J. Cale’s guitar playing in his debut solo album. Neil Young also appreciated Cale’s style in his biography, saying the musician didn’t play his guitar loud and was sensitive.
