The famous “Clapton is God” graffiti in London in the late 1960s was a sign of the “Guitar God” Eric Clapton was about to become. He is one of the most influential and successful artists of all time and played an extremely important role in the evolution of Blues and Rock.
Consistently ranked among the greatest guitarists of all time, Clapton was always at the top of his game, with very few artists able to match him. Throughout his career, he spoke about many guitarists he admired and once said which were the two guitar players he considered to be his true peers in the 80s.
The 2 guitarists Eric Clapton considered his true peers in the 80s
Mark Knopfler (Dire Straits)
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The first one mentioned by Eric Clapton was the Dire Straits songwriter, singer and guitarist Mark Knopfler. “Well, they’re the people whom I do see as being my true peers, and I’m very comfortable with that. I mean, it’s a very secure feeling. They are great players of taste, and I think that’s what you’re talking about, taste, really,” Clapton told Musician magazine in 1986. He has always been a fan of Dire Straits and has had the chance to perform with Mark Knopfler multiple times, once calling him a “great craftsman.”
“Well, Mark Knopfler, I think, is totally unique. He’s a great craftsman, which brings it back to that. I mean, with Dire Straits, if you listen to any of their albums the first time, it sort of goes by you a bit. Then gradually it just gets better and better, and it stands the test of time. They’re fantastic craftsmen,” he told Rolling Stone in 1991. He first went to see the band perform in the early 1980s, when they were promoting “Love Over Gold” (1982). He later went backstage to meet them, as bassist John Illsley recalled in his book “My Life in Dire Straits“.
“We hit the road with a warm-up gig at Guildford Civic Hall, a sketchy performance memorable only for the after-show appearance backstage of Eric Clapton, a guitarist much admired by anyone who has ever picked up the instrument. It was flattering that he came to see us or, more probably, to see Mark in action,” he said.
Mark Knopfler toured with Clapton as part of his band
Curiously, one of the few times over the decades that Eric Clapton played in a band mainly as a rhythm guitarist was during his shows with Dire Straits. Illsley even joked once that the legendary guitarist is actually quite good at playing rhythm guitar.
The first time they played together was in 1985, when Eric joined them at the Hammersmith Odeon in London. That night they performed “Two Young Lovers,” Clapton’s version of J.J. Cale’s “Cocaine,” and “Farther Up the Road,” a song by Bobby “Blue” Bland that Eric had previously recorded.
They played together again in 1986 at the Prince’s Trust 10th Birthday Concert and the following year, when Clapton began his Royal Albert Hall residency, with Knopfler as his second guitarist. In 1988, they reunited once more for another Prince’s Trust concert and the Nelson Mandela tribute show. Their partnership continued when Clapton embarked on an American tour to celebrate 25 years of his career, with Knopfler as part of his band. The final shows, held in Japan, also featured Elton John and Sting as special guests.
Jimmie Vaughan
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The second guitarist mentioned by Clapton is Jimmie Vaughan, older brother of the late Stevie Ray Vaughan. “Jimmie is one of my closest friends and is, in my opinion, in the same league as Buddy (Guy). Totally unique in style and free as a bird. We have been pals and collaborators since the sixties and as much as anything musical, I owe him a debt of gratitude for turning me on to the hot rod culture,” Eric Clapton said in his autobiography.
Curiously, he never thought the brothers had a similar style. “When I first heard them play away from one another, I couldn’t see the connection. Because for me, Stevie was Albert King, seemed like he was a protege of Albert. He played that way and I thought: ‘These two very, very different styles’. (There was definitely) sibling rivalry going on, I don’t know if Jimmie would agree, but he probably would. (…) So I think in a way, (this reinforced) Jimmie’s style of playing too, keeping it tight and fundamental while Stevie was going off into that atmosphere (he was),” Eric Clapton said in the documentary “Brothers in Blues” (2023 – Transcribed by Rock and Roll Garage).
Jimmie and Eric are great friends and have toured and played together countless times throughout their careers. Clapton took him on the road several times as his opening act and Jimmie was also present at nearly every edition of the Crossroads Festival, founded by the British musician to support the Crossroads Centre, a substance abuse rehabilitation facility located near St. Philip’s, Antigua.
Jimmie said that Eric helped him cope with Stevie’s death
Jimmie credits Clapton as one of the most important people who helped him cope with Stevie’s tragic death. “Eric was very nice and wonderful and supportive through the whole thing. Then he called me up. He said, ‘Why don’t you come play with me over here in England and get away from over there? Just come play guitar. Just leave that behind you. Come play.’ I was like, ‘Okay, I can do that.’ So he really helped me come back out. It’s been 31 years. Can you believe that?” Jimmie Vaughan said in an interview with Goldmine magazine in 2021.
In 2000, when Eric and B.B. King recorded the album “Riding With the King,” Jimmie joined them on the song “Help the Poor”. Clapton later wrote in his autobiography that he wished he had invited him to play on every track. “On one track Jimmie Vaughan joined us, and his contribution worked so well. I kind of wished I’d asked him to play on each song,” he said.
