Louder Sound recently interviewed Joe Satriani, and during their conversation, the musician unveiled how he found Eric Clapton’s muse while listening to a blues singer and guitarist. Also, he named his favorite Eric Clapton album by expressing his thoughts and feelings about him.
As you may know, Satriani discovered his life’s purpose and greatest passion when he was very young. Joe started playing guitar at the age of fourteen, but before that, he would listen to his brother while he was playing the harmonica. His brother was interested in blues music, and one of his favorite singers and guitarists was John Lee Hooker.
Satriani stated that, years later, he realized that Hooker had a great influence on some of the most famous and legendary guitarists, including Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page, and Eric Clapton, the men behind some of the greatest guitar solos and iconic hit records. The guitarist claimed that they were probably listening to Hooker’s works before starting their professional musical careers.
Moreover, Satriani said that he has always been a huge Eric Clapton fan. His favorite album was Clapton’s twelfth solo studio record entitled ‘From the Cradle,’ a blues cover album released on September 13, 1994. After that, Satriani highlighted that Clapton recorded the whole album live in the studio without any overdubs or edits.
Satriani shared his ideas, saying:
“The most profound realization of the blues early on for me came from my older brother. He was getting into playing harmonica so I’d hear him playing blues harp. I’d just started playing guitar, and I was focused on mid-to-late 60s rock and was learning Black Sabbath, Jimi Hendrix, and The Rolling Stones. All of a sudden I was hearing my brother playing John Lee Hooker and Muddy Waters. I was fascinated by that.
Once that was awakened to me, I realized I had listened to a lot of blues without realizing it. The first time I sat down and listened to John Lee Hooker, I realized this is the golden source of Hendrix, Jimmy Page, and Eric Clapton. It was what they must have been listening to.
One of my favorite records in the mid-period of blues was Eric Clapton’s ‘From The Cradle.’ I loved the way he approached that record by recording everything live. I was a fan of Clapton ever since I started playing guitar, but that record was really remarkable.”
As a result, like many other singers and songwriters, Joe Satriani followed the footsteps of many iconic musicians and bands from different genres throughout his successful career but he also created his own unique and remarkable style as a guitarist.
