“I’ve been lucky in my life with the people I’ve worked with,” says Andy Fairweather Low. “‘Blessed’ is the word I would use to best describe it.”
Prior to becoming a regular sideman for the likes of Eric Clapton and Roger Waters, and a gun-for-hire guitarist for sessions that included those for Gerry Rafferty, the Who, and David Crosby — to name but a few—the Welsh guitarist was lead vocalist with 1960s pop combo Amen Corner. During their run, he played gigs with acts of the day that included Pink Floyd and Jimi Hendrix.
Soon after their split in late 1969, he embarked on a prolific solo career. But it’s his work with Waters and Clapton — where Low featured on both recordings and tours—that etched his guitar-playing reputation into stone.
We tapped him for memories of his time with some of rock’s biggest artists, including Clapton, Waters, Hendrix, Pete Townshend and former Rolling Stones bassist Bill Wyman.
Jimi Hendrix
“In November 1967, Amen Corner were on a U.K. package tour with Jimi Hendrix, Pink Floyd, the Move, the Nice, Eire Apparent and the Outer Limits. [Northern Ireland’s Eire Apparent featured future Spooky Tooth/Wings guitarist Henry McCullough and were noted for having Hendrix produce and play on their only album].
“The shows were sometimes a bit lively and a bit out there, and the places we played were concrete town halls. In Sheffield, Jimi ended the set by smashing up the drums. Then in Newcastle, he sent his Flying V into the Marshall cab and proceeded to smash it.
“Apparently, Jimi liked our group. Kathy Etchingham, his girlfriend at the time, was asked what Jimi thought of the other acts on the bill, like Pink Floyd and the Nice. She said, ‘Well, actually Jimi didn’t really think too much about anything, but he did think that Amen Corner were all right.’
“A couple of years later, I was in New York and Jimi asked me to come down to the studio to do some backing vocals on a new version of ‘Stone Free.’ [The April 1969 sessions produced a finished track that was first released on the 1975 album Crash Landing.]
“[Engineer] Eddie Kramer was there taking care of everything, and my friend Roger Chapman was there as well. We both ended up putting backing vocals to the song. But in my humble opinion, the original ‘Stone Free’ was absolutely the best version.”
Bill Wyman
“The first time I saw Bill was with the Rolling Stones, at Sophia Gardens, Cardiff, Wales, on February 28, 1964. That was the night that changed my whole life. That’s when I knew I wanted to be a guitar player.
“But my association with Bill began during the ARMS Charity Concerts in 1983. [The star-studded shows featuring Jimmy Page, Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck and many others supported Action into Research for Multiple Sclerosis and were created by ex-Faces bassist Ronnie Lane, who had MS.]. That’s when our friendship really began. Because the tour was to raise money for Ronnie Lane, Bill then came up with the idea of putting an album together to raise even more money for the cause to help people with multiple sclerosis. So he put together the Willie & the Poor Boys album, and I got involved in that.
“While we’re making it, Bill had to go off to do some work with the Stones in Paris. He asked if I would produce a pair of songs for the album featuring Jimmy Page and Paul Rodgers while he was away. So I put a band together, with Jimmy Page on guitar, Paul on vocals and me on bass, and we did ‘Slippin’ and Slidin’’ and ‘These Arms of Mine.’ They turned out really well.
“Soon afterward, Bill and I were in a taxi on the way to do a breakfast TV show when he told me, ‘They’ve agreed to do a video for “These Arms of Mine,” but they don’t want you in it.’ The double whammy was when Bill’s manager asked to have Bill credited for my bass playing because he was known as a bassist.”
Pete Townshend
“The first time I saw Pete was with the Who in 1965, and I might add, there weren’t many people there either. But god, the energy!
“I was staying at [producer] Glyn Johns’ house while he was working on the Who’s Who Are You album and Pete said, ‘Tell Andy to come in to do some backing vocals.’ So I did and ended up singing on ‘Who Are You,’ and five other songs too.
“On that album Pete was plugging his guitar directly into the board. [Townshend had a preamp that he plugged into a compressor and straight into the mixing console, and which he says he “used a lot on Who Are You.”] Plugging into the board is generally a shit sound, but when Pete plugged in and banged an A chord… My god, the attack! You could cut metal with it. Nobody plays an A chord like Pete.”
Roger Waters
“My first encounter with Roger was on that November 1967 U.K. package tour with Jimi Hendrix. We had an issue. Our manager at the time was Ron King, who was an associate of the Krays [the famed British organized-crime kingpins Ronnie and Reggie Kray]. Roger had shouted at me — mind you I was still only a teenager — for touching a Leslie speaker. Ron heard it and told Roger, ‘If you do that again, I’ll break your fucking legs!’ Ron was connected. He meant it.
“I never understood the Floyd back then at all. I kept thinking to myself, Where’s the backbeat? Their first song in their short set on that tour was ‘Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun,’ and the song absolutely baffled me. The irony is that it became my favorite song to play when I was in Roger’s band later on.
“Here’s how that happened: Eric Clapton had been in Roger’s band for his Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking album and tour. Afterward, when Roger made his Radio K.A.O.S. album, he reached out to me: ‘Roger Waters here, we’d like you to come up and see if we get on.’
“The night before I went to his studio, I had been working with Bill Wyman and had drunk at least a liter of a red wine. I woke up at 9:00 a.m., not feeling great. I rushed to the studio and Roger asked me to play on a track. And we didn’t just ‘get on’—we really got on!
“Soon afterward I went to work for Roger — for 24 years! He likes to laugh, and I like working with people who can laugh. I know what you’re thinking about Roger, but take it from me: I was there for 24 fabulous years. I wouldn’t have stayed if it wasn’t. I had a great time learning about how to put a show on, the dynamics, lighting, visuals… you name it.
“After that I did the In the Flesh tour, the Dark Side of the Moon Live tour… And we always had the best food, the best wine, the best travel, the best company. Roger gave me so much respect, loyalty, support and encouragement. He’s a true friend to this day, and a bloody force of nature.”
Eric Clapton
“My first tour with Eric Clapton was ARMS in 1984, but my first time as a member of his band was when he and his group backed George Harrison in 1990 on a tour of Japan. On the first day of rehearsals, Eric asked me to join his band permanently. From there, I ended up on the acoustic Unplugged album, and the rest is sort of my history with him.
“I’m so proud to be on From the Cradle. It’s my favorite Eric album, as he was absolutely playing at the top of his game. I’ve also been back in the band a few times since too. In fact, in 2023 I did three weeks in America with him, and we finished up at the Crossroads Guitar Festival.
“I loved every rehearsal, every recording, every live gig I did with Eric. I got paid well, I traveled well, I ate and slept well. It was wonderful to work for him. Eric liked to laugh too, and as I mentioned earlier, I like working for people who like to laugh and I never tired of listening to his playing and singing. I loved his voice. I learned so much just by watching him playing and being in his company. All he ever wanted for me was to be the best I could be. There was no competition with him. He would just say, ‘Go for it, Andy!’
“I never really wanted to take solos, as I’m more a rhythm guitar player. He’d nod to me, but I’d go, ‘No, no,’ as I believed the audience didn’t really want to hear from me. But then we were playing Hyde Park in 1996, in front of 150,000 people. By then we’d been on tour for about three months and I’d not taken any solos. Eric wandered over to me and nodded his head as if to say, Go, take a solo! And I went, ‘All right then, I will.’ He was very encouraging like that.”
