Eric Clapton talks about his passion for Chicago and its guitarists
Greg Kot / Chicago Tribune interviewed Eric Clapton about how Chicago's guitarists influenced him and other experiences throughout his career.
When he was just a directionless teenager at Kingston Art School in England during the early '60s, Eric Clapton began a passionate, long-distance love affair with Chicago. Upon hearing the blues of Muddy Waters, Buddy Guy, Otis Rush and Hubert Sumlin on vinyl records, Clapton saw his future as a guitarist. Since then, he's gone on to sell millions of albums, and become one of the touchstones of rock guitar. But he never forgot his Chicago connection, and remains one of the greatest champions the city's blues scene has ever had.
A few minutes after ending a rehearsal with his band at a South Side arena Tuesday, Clapton, 62, sat down for an interview with the Chicago Tribune. Dressed down in a white T-shirt and fraying jeans, the bespectacled guitarist was in a garrulous mood, clearly thrilled at the prospect of sharing the stage this weekend with some of his boyhood heroes...
