On my thirteenth birthday and I was given my first acoustic guitar, with strings so heavy you could tow trucks with them. But by the time I was fourteen I was appearing alongside my Dad in pubs and clubs around the South East of England.
My first guitar hero was Derek Smythe the lead guitar player in a popular East London band “Sounds Different”. I’d sit in the Cauliflower Pub, transfixed, trying to learn his licks. Then on a BBC Old Grey Whistle Test Special, I saw Eric Clapton and I knew what I wanted to do.
