Clapton_ The Autobiography - Eric Clapton [35]
Ginger appeared to be physically very strong although extremely lean, with red hair and a constant expression of disbelief mixed with suspicion. He gave the impression that he was fearless and would take anybody on. Sometimes he’d arch one eyebrow as if to say, “Who the hell do you think you are?” His very dry sense of humor, which I didn’t really see until I got to know him, was also a surprising experience in itself, because in truth he is a very shy and gentle man, thoughtful and full of compassion.
That night, after the gig, he offered me a lift back to London. He had a new Rover 3000, which he drove like a maniac, and on the trip he told me he was thinking about forming a band and asked if I’d be interested in joining. I said I’d think about it, but that I’d only be interested if Jack Bruce was involved. He almost crashed the car. I knew that the two of them had played together with Graham Bond and had heard that there wasn’t much love lost between them, but at the time I didn’t know, and even now I don’t really know, what this was all about or if it was a particularly serious issue. I had actually seen them play together in Alexis Korner’s band, and they seemed perfect together, like a well-oiled machine, but that was the music, and sometimes the music alone isn’t enough.
Ginger was initially very reluctant to work with Jack again, and I could see that it was a huge obstacle for him, but when he realized it was the only way I would do it, he agreed to go away and think about it. He eventually came back and said that on reflection he would give it a go, but I could tell it was going to be a rough road. In fact, the very first time the three of us got together, in March 1966, in the front room of Ginger’s house in Neasden, they started arguing right away. It seemed like they just naturally rubbed one another the wrong way, both being very headstrong and natural leaders.
But when we started to play, it all just turned into magic. Maybe I was the necessary catalyst for them to get along. Temporarily it seemed that way. We played through some songs acoustically, including some of Jack’s new material, and it had a driving sound to it that felt really good. We all looked at each other and grinned.
The first time we rehearsed fully electric, however, I got mixed feelings, because I suddenly missed the keyboards that I had got used to in the Bluesbreakers. Having had in my mind the ideal of Buddy Guy, who had managed to make the sound of a trio seem so full, I realized that that was because of him and that, lacking his virtuosity and confidence, I wasn’t going to be able to carry off what he did. This would mean that the balance of power would rest much more with Jack and Ginger than it did with me. In truth, the band sounded a bit empty to me, as if we needed another player.
I had someone in mind from day one, Steve Winwood, whom I had seen play at the Twisted Wheel and other clubs, and who had really impressed me with his singing and playing. Most of all, he seemed to know his way around the genre. I think he was only fifteen at the time, but when he sang “Georgia,” if you closed your eyes, you would swear it was Ray Charles. Musically, he was like an old man in a boy’s skin. Touching on the subject with Jack and Ginger, they made it quite clear that they didn’t want anyone else in the band. They liked the setup as it was, although whenever we went into the studio to make records, we usually tracked and overdubbed, creating another player, with either Jack playing keyboards, or me playing first rhythm and then lead. We very rarely recorded just as a trio.
Over the next few months we continued to rehearse secretly, wherever and whenever we could, and we had an unspoken agreement that that was the way things should remain till we were ready to go public. After all, we were all contracted to other bands. Then Ginger let the cat out of the bag by giving an interview to Chris Welch of Melody Maker, and all hell