二、音乐引路人
克莱普顿和许多艺术家合作过。他提到弗雷德·金、B.B.金、艾伯特·金、巴迪·盖伊等人对他的吉他演奏影响很大,尤其是罗伯特·约翰逊。在纪念专辑「我和约翰逊先生」(Me and Mr. Johnson)的衬页写道:
「值得注意的是,我的音乐生涯中有一个人对我启蒙和影响很大…我一直认为这是我音乐基础的关键…我说的是罗伯特·约翰逊。」
It is a remarkable thing to have been driven and influenced all of my life by the work of one man... I accept that it has always been the keystone of my musical foundation…I am talking of course about Robert Johnson。
在埃里克·克莱普顿写的《走近罗伯特·约翰逊》(Discovering Robert Johnson)一文中,他再度提到:
「我认为罗伯特·约翰逊是最伟大的布鲁斯音乐家。他毫无疑问是过去30年来将我带入音乐殿堂的人,我从未发现比罗伯特·约翰逊更充满激情的人。他的音乐里有最具力量的呼喊…」
Robert Johnson to me is the most important blues musician who ever lived. He was true, absolutely, to his own vision, and as deep as I have gotten into the music over the last 30 years, I have never found anything more deeply soulful than Robert Johnson. His music remains the most powerful cry than I think you can find in the human voice, really …
