Jim McCarty recently joined Rock Music History and discussed his friendship with former bandmate Eric Clapton, his first impression upon meeting the guitarist, and how Clapton excelled at leaving his bands behind.
McCarty got to be in the legendary Yardbirds, ultimately working with three guitar gods: Clapton, Jeff Beck, and Jimmy Page. However, when asked who he thought to be the cockiest of the three, Jim picked Clapton, recalling how he didn’t particularly like the guitarist when he first met him.
He recollected how although Eric seemed to be a good player at the time, he hadn’t mastered the six-stringed instrument yet. Clapton also seemed too full of himself, but luckily, upon getting closer to Clapton, McCarty’s feelings changed. The pair quickly became friends, even having inside jokes, and it is evident that the rocker wasn’t too cocky.
Jim, on meeting Eric, his first impression of the rocker, and becoming friends:
“I didn’t particularly like him, to be honest. I thought, ‘This guy is a little bit over-cocky; he’s a bit too full of himself.’ He can sort of play, he can play quite well, but he hadn’t mastered his instrument, really. But I thought, ‘He’s got a funny sort of attitude,’ but that sort of went away when we got matey, and we got a big sense of humor between us. We had a lot of inside jokes; you know how it is when you’re kids.”
The host then asked McCarty if he had been in touch with Clapton, to which the rocker answered no. The Yardbirds icon discussed that it had been a few years since the pair had contacted one another but disclosed how that was normal for Eric. He said Clapton would ‘change dimensions’ while departing bands, ruthlessly leaving them behind and moving on to his next project.
McCarty on Clapton’s ‘ruthless attitude’ while changing bands:
“He’s particularly like that [ruthless while departing bands and moving on]. He would shift dimensions and leave all his mates behind.”
It’s not an exact secret that Eric has a sort of a reputation for being a lone ranger, often joining bands for brief runs and then departing them to move on to the next great project. It felt to McCarty that the guitarist would change ‘dimensions’ when he’d leave his acts, mostly cutting all the contact with his mates.
