On the early days:

“When I first started playing guitar, you didn’t play gigs so much as just went out and tested your gear. I used to play with broken-down amps held together with sticking plaster. Just for the kicks of it; just to see who could get the weirdest noises out of the guitar.”

On the Yardbirds:

“Eric (Clapton) was having a bad time, apparently, And they didn’t want him, and he didn’t want any part of what they were just about to step into. He was deep into being an authentic blues cat, and the Yardbirds were just about to make the big commercial move. It was really the best thing that could’ve happened to me, though how can I say that ‘cause who knows what I might have done if the Yardbirds thing hadn’t presented itself. But I don’t regret having joined, by any means.

“It was a comparatively new thing to be in a group like that. You felt pretty special, doing things that nobody else was quite into. Even if you weren’t that good a player.