For me there is something primitively soothing about this music, and it went straight to my nervous system, making me feel ten feet tall.

I thought, 'My God, this is like Buddy Guy on acid.'

It's been up to me to inspire me.

Whatever your standing in life, the most important thing is behaving in ways that help other people. It's the same with music. I am a servant of the music ... and if I get caught up in ego, I'll lose everything .. it'll burn and that's a guarantee.

So there I was in Hollywood, thinking I was doing good.

But the guitar, when you think about it, is the most versatile, really. I mean you can pick it up and take it with you wherever you go.

My selective memory of what drinking was like told me that standing at the bar in a pub, on a summer's evening with a long, tall glass of lager and lime was heaven, and I chose not to remember the nights on which I had sat with a bottle of vodka, a gram of coke and a shotgun, contemplating suicide.