Clapton noted that George’s solo didn’t sound “Beatle-y” enough, so he sat down and delivered. George was struggling with the writing of “Gently Weeps” so he invited Clapton to come to the recording session. He played it for a while, but because he “already had a Les Paul” he gave it to George Harrison. Derringer did not like the feel of the repainted guitar, so he sold it to a New York music shop, where Eric Clapton found it and bought it. The finish became very worn, so Derringer’s father took it back to the Gibson shop where it was repainted red. One of the most famous Les Pauls in rock history, then, has to be Lucy, the red 1957 Les Paul Goldtop upon which Clapton played the beautiful solo on George Harrison’s “While My Guitar Gently Weeps.”Īccording to Wikipedia, the guitar was first owned by John Sebastian of the Lovin’ Spoonful, who then gave it to Rick Derringer in a trade for an amp. Back in the days of Cream and the Yardbirds, Eric played Les Pauls and Firebirds. Clapton is known as one of the pre-eminent and most famous users of the Fender Stratocaster, definitely a guitar that suits his clean and melodic style.

Of course the man needs no introduction, so I would rather talk about Lucy. Today (March 30) is Eric Clapton’s birthday.

Eric clapton george harrison