Queen's guitarist and other confusions

This is from a news blog in the Guardian. It's followed by bits from wikipedia on the Yardbirds and Eric Clapton.

Not so wonderful tonight

Photograph: Kirsty Wigglesworth/AFP/Getty

The Queen meets legendary guitarists Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page and Brian May (l to r) during a reception at Buckingham Palace

"Philip and I are interested in music and we've had this terrible press," the Queen recently told Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, the master of the Queen's music. "We are not philistines." She may have regretted her boast when today's Daily Telegraph plopped onto the breakfast table alongside the Tupperware storage jars.

Yesterday, on the very day she announced a new award for musicians, the Queen invited a gaggle of ageing rockers into her lovely home and made it quite clear she had no idea who they were. The Telegraph kindly put the story on its front page with a big photograph, and it's well worth a read.

"Have you been playing long?" was her question to Eric Clapton, followed by, "Are you a guitarist too?" to Jimmy Page. Presumably they don't have internet search engines at the palace, which makes you wonder what on earth she said to Bill Gates while she was knighting him today.
Posted by Sheila Pulham at March 2, 2005 03:14 PM

See also Clapton's reaction in the Telegraph.

Some of the comments left on this post are good. Here are a couple of them.

Comments

She was probably asking them how to deal with a tight g-string. How do the Who lyrics go? "Hope I die before I get old...."
Comments posted by: Montevani at March 2, 2005 08:26 PM

"One has all of your 78's....."
Comments posted by: Montevani at March 2, 2005 09:11 PM

Go, go, go, Little Queenie, go!
Comments posted by: Supernova at March 3, 2005 01:23 AM

Well, just LOOK at 'em all! Would YOU have recognized that lot from the Yardbirds, either??!!
Comments posted by: Lee at March 3, 2005 07:43 PM

When QEII asked Eric Clapton "Who are you?", he answered: "Ask Pete (Townshend)!"
Comments posted by: Christian at March 3, 2005 08:12 PM

Someone told QEII that Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck and Brian May play the guitar. So, QEII said "Aaaah, yiou all are guitarist, quite well". And then she saw Jimmy Page. QEII asked him: "You, too?". Jimmy answered: "No, I was Led Zeppelin guitarist!"
Comments posted by: Christian at March 3, 2005 08:16 PM

I wonder if the name name tags were for her benefit, or theirs?
Comments posted by: Montevani at March 3, 2005 08:21 PM

QEII saw Brain May and aked to him: Did you play the guitar, too?". "Yes, I was Queen´s guitarist" answered Brian. "Oh, this is the first time I know that I have a personal guitarist. So, I will go for a dinner in Prague tomorrow. You have to play there at 8 PM".
Comments posted by: Christian at March 4, 2005 10:05 PM

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From the Wikipedia entry on The Yardbirds
The Yardbirds were an early British rock band, noted for spawning the careers of several of rock music's most famous guitarists, including Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, and Jimmy Page.

THE YARDBIRDS: Keith Relf (vocals); Jim McCarty (drums); Chris Dreja (guitar, bass) and... Anthony "Top" Topham (guitar -- 62-63?); Eric Clapton (guitar 63?-65); Jeff Beck (Guitar 65-68); Jimmy Page (bass, guitar 66-68)

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From the Wikipedia entry on Eric Clapton

Eric Clapton CBE (born Eric Patrick Clapp on March 30, 1945 in The Green, Ripley, Surrey), is a British guitarist and composer, nicknamed slowhand. He is generally considered the world's premier living guitarist.

Born as an illegitimate son of the 16 year old Patricia Molly Clapp and Edward Walter Fryer, a 24 year old Canadian soldier stationed in the UK, Clapton's father returned to his wife in Canada before he was born. Eric grew up with his grandparents believing they were his parents, and that his mother was his older sister. Years later his mother married another Canadian soldier, moved to Canada and left Eric with his grandparents. When Eric was 9 years old he found out, and the experience became a defining moment in his life.