"The first real thing I heard was Three O'Clock Blues by B.B. King. That's where it all began for me."

"I've always been the first to admit that Jimi was a very big influence on my early stuff."

"I go through about two Fender mediums a night because I don't pick straight down; it's sort of sideways, and it shaves them off."

"I don't tend to have a favorite album; I tend to have favorite tracks. There are flaws in every album that spoil it for me."

"I feel that my playing on the first album was probably some of my best."

"I got a guitar when I was about 14, for a Christmas present, and went from there."

"I feel I've been blessed with a gift of creativity and composition. That's why I've been able to keep going."

"The ability to make music is a gift that you're born with; it's not something you can learn."

"I can't say I feel influenced by today's guitar players."

"A wah-wah is important as well. I love it; it makes the guitar scream."

"A certain death of an artist is overconfidence."

"Music has nothing to do with your technical ability."

"It all comes down to the density of the wood. Every guitar's different."

"I go for as much feeling as I can rather than show what I can do up and down the neck. I don't play to show people ability."

"The States still has the best audiences by far."

"My songs are more arrangements than they are songs."

"I didn't want to get attached to one guitar; I didn't want to have an instrument that was irreplaceable."

"While I was with Procol Harum, the only time I'd see my guitar was either when I walked onstage or in the studio."

"I was very keen on people like Elvis, Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Gene Vincent."

"It's impossible to play a run with as much feeling as a single note. I've never been so much into runs as making single notes cry."

"Radio is commercial, isn't it. Its a business."

"It was an experience being on a Beatles tour. They weren't very good. The singing was great, but the playing was a bit weak."

"I think it's a sensible thing not to read your fan mail - not to take it too seriously."

"I wouldn't count myself as being a true blues guitarist because I feel you have to live it."