Eric Clapton Admitted He Didn’t Consider George Harrison a Friend at First
Eric Clapton and George Harrison had a friendship that weathered some seemingly insurmountable challenges. They admired one another’s talent as guitarists and worked together on music. When Harrison began spending time with Clapton, though, the latter didn’t think of the Beatle as a friend.
Eric Clapton said he didn’t initially consider George Harrison his friend
When Clapton was living in London, Harrison frequently dropped by his home.
“Life soon settled into the old routine, with people dropping in for tea and musical soirées,” he wrote in the book Clapton: The Autobiography. “A regular visitor was George Harrison, whom I had known since I was in the Yardbirds.”
Though Harrison was a frequent guest, Clapton didn’t think of him as a friend. This had little to do with Harrison.
“Not being the kind of guy, in those days, to instigate a friendship, I had just considered him a fellow musician,” he wrote. “He used to drop by on his way home from his office in Savile Row to his bungalow in Esher, often bringing with him acetates of records the Beatles were working on.”
Eric Clapton shared how he grew closer to George Harrison
Eventually, a friendship between Clapton and Harrison began to form. Music and drugs helped develop it.
“Sometimes I would go down to George’s house in Esher and we’d play our guitars and take acid, and bit by bit a friendship began to form,” he wrote.
They even reached a point where Harrison invited Clapton to play a guitar solo on “While My Guitar Gently Weeps.”
“One day, early in September, George drove me over to Abbey Road Studios, where he was recording,” Clapton wrote. “When we arrived, he told me we were going to record one of his songs and asked me to play a guitar on it.
The Beatle shared how impressive he found his friend
While their friendship endured its ups and downs, Clapton and Harrison were always able to connect through music.
“Yeah, I love Eric. I love the touch he has on his guitar,” Harrison told Guitar Player. “When he comes over to play on my songs, he doesn’t bring an amplifier or a guitar; he says, ‘Oh, you’ve got a good Stratocaster.’ He knows I’ve got one because he gave it to me. [Laughs] He plugs in, and just his vibrato and everything… he makes that guitar sound like Eric.”
Clapton also admired Harrison, which the Beatle said meant a great deal to him.
“There’s things that Eric can do where it would take me all night to get it right – he can knock it off in one take. Because he plays all the time,” he said. “But then again, when we’re listening to some of my slide bits, he’ll look at me, and I know he likes it. And that, for me, if Eric gives me the thumbs up on a slide solo, it means more than half the population.”
