Neal Schon recently celebrated Eric Clapton’s birthday with a tweet and disclosed what really went down when he jammed with Derek and the Dominos and Clapton’s offer to him.
Eric’s birthday was recent, and many flooded social platforms wishing the 78-year-old rocker a happy birthday. Neal was among those who honored Clapton’s life by recalling some good old memories as the Journey guitarist discussed meeting with Derek and the Dominos and jamming with them in the Berkeley Community Theater.
Schon’s tweet stated:
“Happy Birthday Eric! I’ll never forget when we met and I jammed with you at Berkeley community theater with Derek and the Dominoes.”
So, when a fan tweet asked Neal whether it was true that the British rocker had wished to recruit him to the act, Schon smoothly confirmed that the rumor was valid, and he had been hanging out with the band for a few months. However, he didn’t take on Eric’s offer since he was too young and not ready to move to England, instead choosing to join another icon, Carlos Santana.
Journey rocker on whether Clapton’s offered him to play with Derek and the Dominos:
“Yes, only because I had been hanging out with the band for months also; I was very young and not quite ready to move to England. I absolutely loved Clapton, and he had a huge influence on my playing.”
It seemed that Schon was a young aspiring rocker who sparked the interest of other guitar heroes. Clapton was one of the six-stringed icons who wanted to work with Neal, but the rocker was too young and felt he wasn’t ready to move to another continent. So, he chose to play with Santana and proved his worth there.
Happy Birthday Eric ! I’ll never forget when we met and I jammed with you at Berkeley community theater with Derek and the Dominoes 🔥♾️🔥@EricClapton @NealSchonMusic pic.twitter.com/gRGt0wceQ0
— NEAL SCHON MUSIC (@NealSchonMusic) March 30, 2023
Yes only because I had been hanging out with the band for months also I was very young and not quite ready to move to England. I absolutely loved Clapton and he had a huge influence on my playing.
— NEAL SCHON MUSIC (@NealSchonMusic) March 30, 2023
