Clapton has been playing that same Little Wing cover for 40 years - Derek and the Dominos beeyotch. Duane Allman was another god cut down in his prime, but he doesn't have quite the popular following of some of these other jerks. Clapton just doesn't get my dick hard these days though - somebody give that guy some drugs so he can stop playing fucking suburban whiteboy blues.
My love of the electric guitar really began with David Gilmour and Warren Haynes, and like you, Alawen, I play a strat too! Check out these recordings I made a few years ago when I'd been playing for like two years, lol:
http://www.myspace.com/theicecrewboys
My all-time favorite guitarist at this point (and for the last two years, almost) has been Shawn Lane. Youtube can't really do him justice - check out his albums, in particular Abstract Logic, Two Doors (he only played the first half of the album), Temporal Analogues of Paradise, and Time is the Enemy. I invite you to download my favorite, TAOP, at this link:
http://www.msu.edu/~oconne53/TempAnalogues.zip. The guitar solo a couple minutes into the second movement is my favorite solo of all time. For someone who usually likes chunky distortion and fast playing, this selection is a departure from my usual. It is without a doubt the most heartfelt and touching piece of music I have ever heard in my life - give it a chance. Shawn Lane is probably the sickest shredder of all time, yet he gives us music with such amazing depth, not to mention he could play Hendrix covers spot-on as a teenager.