I started off playing the clarinet, after I was inspired by listening to my dad's Benny Goodman records.

I started off playing the clarinet, after I was inspired by listening to my dad's Benny Goodman records.

I just couldn't take school seriously: I had this guitar neck with four frets which I kept hidden under the desk. It had strings on it so I would practice my chord shapes under the desk and that's about all I did at school.

I think a lot of modern day guitarists start off playing like Eddie van Halen, and they don't take the time to learn the basics.

I just play to the people I can see. So it's almost like you are playing to the first few rows of the crowd. You can see the faces of the first hundred people, but then it becomes a blur as the crowds disappear over the hill.

It was by listening to Goodman's band, that I began to notice the guitarist Charlie Christian, who was one of the first musicians to play solos in a big band set-up.

I went to see John Mayall at the Marquee, with Peter Green on guitar, and that was a particularly good gig.