If John bothered to run it by Clapton, he probably would have gotten a “no” in reply. By early ’69, George and Clapton had already solidified what would become a lifelong friendship. Clapton said he was ‘too much a mate of George’s’ for it to work.
You only need to look at 1968’s White Album to get an idea how close George and Clapton were becoming. That September, George felt comfortable enough asking his friend to come into the studio and play the guitar solo on “While My Guitar Gently Weeps.”
Later in the year, George introduced another White Album song that he had written for Clapton. That was “Savoy Truffle,” which had George teasing Clapton for his sweet tooth (and the dental work it had forced Clapton to get).
Looking back at the time when John had suggested bringing him into the group, Clapton said his relationship with George would have prevented it. “The problem with that was I had bonded or was developing a relationship with George, exclusive of them,”
“I think it fitted a need of his … that he could elevate himself by having this guy that could be like a gunslinger to them,” he said. “Lennon would use my name every now and then for clout.”
But in the end what he had with George outweighed the rest. “I don’t think I could have been brought into the whole thing because I was too much a mate of George’s,”
Rock legend and millionaire Eric Clapton says that he have to carry on working until he dies because he needs the money to pay for his extravagant lifestyle. despite an estimated fortune of around $216 million, he and wife spend so much their bank account will run dry if he ever stops singing.
With a guitar slowhand has no fear. But it's another thing entirely when has to sing. Clapton recently told: "It all sounds like I'm 16 years old from Surbiton. I do my best to try and feel it.
You know, when I watch Ray Charles sing, I think, That's it, that's how it's done.' He remembers thousands of songs and he sings them all as if they're the most important song he knows. He does it from the bottom of his heart, every time, every song. And that's, that's the inspiration. That's my influence. But I'm imbued with so much self-doubt about my singing, that it's very difficult for me to get to that freedom that those kinds of singers have."
"That's almost like I'm not having to try to sing. I can sing very quietly and it's going to be O.K.," he said. "I learned that from J.J. Cale. See, you can have Ray Charles at one end of the spectrum, who can do all kinds of things with the voice, and go up and down in octaves and registers. And, you've got J.J. Cale at the other, who creates exactly the same amount of emotional capacity in a very minimal way. Differente when I play guitar".
Recently Eric Clapton was was asked by Ed Sheeran about career. And he's still just as riveting to listen to. So there are different ways to do it." "I don't think you say anything [to younger artists reaching stardom], to be honest.
"He has asked my advice. And what I've said to him is, 'Slow down. Don't burn it all up too fast.' But he seems to be committed to go as far as he can. He wants to conquer the globe."
"But what do you do then? Where do you go from there? It can't always be up - for anybody."
Remembering his own road to stardom back in the '60s and '70s, Mr. Slowhand noted:
"We didn't consider what we were doing as business.
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"I always use Cream as an example. We were just told where to go. We didn't have time to think about how much money we were making, what was the right strategy, which town you should go to.
"Now you have guys like Ed who direct and produce their own shows. The music is part of that. But we couldn't have done it that way then. It would have been a distraction."
Eric Clapton says he will carry on working until he dies to pay for his extravagant lifestyle.
