"He was my mentor and a surrogate father": Eric Clapton shares moving eulogy for John Mayall By Rob Laing published 24 July 24 "I want to say thank you for rescuing me from oblivion," he says in a candid video in tribute to his blues mentor, who has passed away at the age of 90
His musical career has taken him from blues to pop, reggae, country and back again as we hone in 4 key chords from the career of old Slowhand himself to help you mine some inspiration for yourself By Leigh Fuge published 7 July 24 D major triad of your love
"As a little girl I’d had dreams like that and there I was on stage at the Royal Albert Hall. I’ve played there many times, but not with Eric Clapton next to me!": Susan Tedeschi on honouring Jeff Beck and why the Telecaster chose her By Amit Sharma published 26 June 24 Susan's signature Fender takes Telecaster versatility to a new level – and it mirrors her incredible career so far
“More than just a favourite instrument of one of rock's greatest living guitarists”: Eric Clapton’s ‘Wonderful Tonight’ 000-28 Martin acoustic is heading to auction (again) By Jonathan Horsley published 14 May 24 Clapton shed tears when the stalwart acoustic left his collection in 1999, and now it is up for sale once more, complete with Don Williams tribute sticker and cigarette burns
Eric Clapton and the song he said he'd never play live again: “I got at least 150 letters a day directly from people who were dealing with their own grief... and not really having the tools to deal with it" By Michael Leonard published 5 May 24 "I was suddenly aware of the fact that there was a way to turn this dreadful tragedy into something positive"
“In the flesh, he was earth-shattering. His style on every level was fantastic… playing with his teeth, his feet, and behind his head": When Buddy Guy rewrote the blues rulebook with a Strat and blew the collective minds of Clapton, Beck and Page By Neil Crossley published 12 April 24 The inspirational playing of the last living American blues legend: "I was bringing it up to Eric and Jimmy – ‘Have you heard this stuff!?'"
“Cool with a capital C”: Eric Clapton’s Marshall JCM800 that rocked 1.5 billion people at Live Aid is up for sale By Jonathan Horsley published 12 April 24 So you need an amp to play guitar in a stadium for a watching TV audience of over a billion people? Well, something has just come in... All you need is a cobbled together Strat
'The first thing you often hear on any blues record is a taster of what's to come': Here are 40 turnarounds to fire up your blues guitar playing By Richard Barrett published 9 April 24 Never be short of blues turnaround ideas again with this huge tutorial guide, including tab and audio
"He showed me some things that Charlie Patton and Robert Johnson had taught him – he knew those people": Hubert Sumlin, Howlin' Wolf and their legendary blues legacy By Julian Piper published 7 April 24 "Mick Jagger walked up to Wolf and said; 'I hope you didn't mind that we cut Little Red Rooster?' Wolf just smiled and said: 'No, man… you guys have put me on the map!'"
“That was just the way it was at that point because Ahmet Ertegun was more or less in love with Eric. He thought Eric should be the frontman”: Cream and the trouble with Strange Brew By Matt Frost published 6 April 24 The classic opener to Disraeli Gears was never a favourite of Cream's members, and this is why