Eric Clapton and I had the same guitar teacher. His name was Bert Weedon and he came from East Ham in London. Bert was a fine guitarist and the first person to get a guitar instrumental into the UK charts. With his success came the opportunity to put out a book on how to play the guitar. It was a flimsy paperback effort that had the grand title of “Play In A Day”. Under todays laws of false representation it might have struggled. I am not sure how long it took Eric to master the art of tuning and chord fingering but I’m pretty sure it was more than a day!!

Many thanks to Rhonin for giving us this little treasure and as Eric Morecombe the comedian said to the composer Andre Previn,

” I am playing all the right notes but not necessarily in the correct order!!😁”


It was a sad day when I broke my guitar tuner it got broken as I waited for my encore
I was satisfied I’d hit enough correct notes and lyrics
But I was still in search of the elusive lost chord
I had practised with the masses at the altar of my idol
The man who taught me everything the king of old East Ham
He had promised me that I would play in a day if not sooner
So I payed my shilling and my music career began

So with Bert to guide me onwards I began to play my guitar
Occasionally I would be in tune but often I was not
And my sore fingers felt that they would never sound like Weedons
The bastard he had lied to me for the first day was now gone

But I had a firm conviction that my destiny was calling
It was showing me a Gibson 335 in natural tones
So I kept on persevering till my fingers they were hardened
And one day they played in perfect time and brought the music home