The guitarist Eric Clapton thought was his rival

Eric Clapton from his very early days, in the Sixties, he established himself on the London music scene of that time as a true guitar legend, not by chance on the walls of the English capital enthusiastic hands wrote ‘Clapton is God’. In that decade, the now 79-year-old British musician played in groups such as Yardbirds, John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers And Cream.

In the so-called Swinging London of that period Eric Clapton he wasn’t the only talent performing on stage with the six strings, there were many other incredible musicians like him but, as he once said in an interview with Classic Rock magazine, Eric didn’t see – to name a few,

Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck, Mick Green and Mick Taylor – as his competitors. But there was another one he admired a lot.

In the interview with Classic Rock, Eric Clapton he revealed that the only one he considered his competitor was Albert Lee. A guitar virtuoso also known as “Mr. Telecaster.” “I didn’t see anyone as competition. In fact, the only person I was really aware of—and in a way because he was so great—was Albert Lee. Albert played with Chris Farlowe. Albert was a very interesting guy to me, because he was a follower—and still is—of the Everly Brothers, and therefore of rockabilly. Jimmy Bright and Speedy West were also heroes of his, and that’s real country virtuosity.”

‘Slowhand’ continued, “Those guys were playing with Tennessee Ernie Ford. So I found that really, really interesting and fascinating. He just had a great touch. So if there was anyone I was really excited about, it was him. I didn’t even know about… Jeff Beck, when I left the Yardbirds, I went to see him play in a club with the Tridents and it was great. There’s no doubt about it, he was a pioneer. But it didn’t move me deeply. I didn’t like the way the Yardbirds played, they were doing this weird kind of pop. It was a different direction from where I wanted to go, that’s for sure.”

Albert Lee
was part of the solo band of
Eric Clapton
both on tour and in the recording studio. He has played on Eric’s solo albums
“Another Ticket”
of 1981 and
“Money and Cigarettes”
of 1983. Interestingly, as Lee once said in a radio interview, Clapton fired the entire band twice during that time, but he remained in the group. “I worked with him from ’79 to ’84. He fired the entire band twice. I survived a couple of times. It taught me a lesson. I thought, ‘Well, this might not last forever.’ Sure enough, I got the message that he wanted to make some changes again. He was in a bad way at the time. I don’t think he did much for a while. But fortunately he’s got it together and he’s doing great now.”