Eric Clapton was influenced by blues musicians in his youth growing up in postwar England. He was first exposed to blues music from a children's show and was drawn to the purity and seriousness of the sound. The guitarists who influenced him most were Muddy Waters and Big Bill Broonzy, being particularly impressed by Broonzy's foot tapping on "Hey Hey" and Waters' guitar emulating a bell chime on "Honey Bee".

1. Anthony
Freddura
Eric
Clapton’s
Formative
Blues
Influences

2.  Based in Massachusetts, Anthony Freddura leverages his
background in advertising and marketing to serve as product
owner and lead business systems analyst with Epsilon. With a
passion for music, Anthony Freddura is particularly interested in
rhythm guitar styles and techniques.
Interviewed by NPR a decade ago, rock legend Eric Clapton
spoke about his musical influences growing up in postwar
England in the 1950s. Clapton obtained his first guitar, an
inexpensive steel-string Hoyer, at age 13, and gained initial
exposure to the blues from a children’s show that usually
featured novelty tunes, but occasionally offered up a bit of
authentic blues.

3.  From there, Clapton moved on to the traditional country blues
tunes of guitarist Brownie McGhee and harmonica player Sonny
Terry. As he described it, the “purity” of the sound was what got
to him, with the seriousness of the blues comparing favorably to
opera.
The two guitarists that influenced Clapton the most were Muddy
Waters and Big Bill Broonzy, and he was particularly impressed
by the latter guitarist’s foot tapping syncopation on his song Hey
Hey. As for Waters, his sound in the song Honey Bee, with his
guitar emulating the chime of a bell, drew Clapton’s attention.