There hasn’t been much ground in the rock and roll world that Eric Clapton hasn’t touched. Anyone can spend their time making waves in one band and honing their skills, but ‘Slowhand’ was the consummate journeyman who always wanted to see what other adventures were on the horizon beyond the blues. But even with all those years of classics under his belt, Clapton could admit when some guitarists reached heights he hadn’t covered yet.
Then again, Clapton praising other guitarists wasn’t out of the blue. Stevie Ray Vaughan had always been one of his favourite blues players for the short time he was in the spotlight, and even in the modern age, the guitar legend felt that contemporary players like John Mayer had the same kind of fire in them that he wished he had when he was that age. But in Clapton’s prime, it was anyone’s guess where the guitar would be going.
The British music scene was still inundated with blues bands, but there were also guitarists emerging who sounded like they came from a different planet entirely. Jimi Hendrix had shown everyone colours that they didn’t know were possible, and while George Harrison got by making some of the most beautiful melodies anyone had thought of for the guitar, Clapton could normally get the job done with pure muscle, even if he was playing off of legends like Duane Allman in Derek and the Dominos.
But there would always be a friendly rivalry between him and the other former guitarists for The Yardbirds. The band was a firm breeding ground for guitar players, but since Clapton, Jimmy Page, and Jeff Beck all left in rapid succession, it was anyone’s guess as to which one would hold the top spot. Clapton had his fair share of iconic licks under his belt, but of his musical brethren, he knew that Beck was operating on a different playing field.
Beck was never looking to serve anyone but his muse, and the guitarist remembered Clapton being a bit jealous of him when he worked with Stevie Wonder, saying, “I found out later from Pattie, his wife, that there definitely was [rivalry] – especially with the Stevie Wonder stuff. He was not too amused about me doing something successful with Stevie. I think that maybe got under his skin a bit.”
Then again, it’s hard to think of what a duet with Wonder and Clapton would have sounded like at the time. ‘Slowhand’ had proved himself able to work with virtually anyone, but hearing him play a tune like ‘Cause We’ve Ended As Lovers’ would have sounded more aggressive than what Beck did with it, especially the version on Blow By Blow, which sounds like a guitar crying out in pain.
But if there’s one thing Clapton could appreciate, it was that someone else was out there marching to the beat of his own drum. Both of them were determined to make the music they wanted to, and since Clapton eventually worked on his musical transitions on 461 Ocean Boulevard or his Unplugged record, he was as interested in seeing where the blues would take him as he was when he was a little kid.
The blues were always a great starting point for Beck, but it was far from the only string to his bow. Clapton may have spent his entire career honing his craft, but Beck was among the few guitarists who could claim to be a jack of all trades and a master of every single one that he touched.
