Eric Clapton

[on B.B. King] He is without a doubt the most important artist the blues has ever produced, and the most humble and genuine man you would ever wish to meet. In terms of scale or stature, I believe that if Robert Johnson was reincarnated, he is probably B.B. King.

And as long as people have problems, the blues can never die.

To play without passion is inexcusable.

You have to sound sad first, then maybe later you can sound good.

Jazz improvisation is the art of drawing without an eraser.

Jazz stands for freedom.

My life is music, and in some vague, mysterious and subconscious way, I have always been driven by a taut inner spring which has propelled me to almost compulsively reach for perfection in music, often -in fact, mostly -at the expense of everything else in my life.

You must surrender whatever preconceptions you have about music if you’re really interested in it.

Some twenty years ago, during the course of a memorable evening at the Stravinskys’ home in Los Angeles, the venerable maestro turned to me and said in no uncertain terms: ‘My dear, you should conduct your own music. All composers should conduct their own music!

What are you going to do when you love music? You can’t stop.

I look for a deep, gutty feelin’ in a guitar tone. I don’t use picks. People ask, “How you get that?” It’s just there. There’s a lot of people try to play real fast chords-da da da da da-that ain’t the hard, solid blues. It’s synthetic. It has not feeling to it. You sit down and play some funky, funky guitar. Take your time! Don’t rush it. Just let it come flowing through you. I can play guitar so funky, it’ll bring teardrops to your eyes.

The Jazz Age became less and less an affair of youth. The sequel was like a children’s party taken over by the elders.

Critics don’t buy records. They get ’em free.

If you don’t live it, it won’t come out of your horn.

Practice as if you are the worst, play as if you are the best!

You can be beyond yourself, better than your technique, better than most of your usual ideas.