Eric Clapton documentary, Life in 12 Bars

[roller]

For anyone looking to be entertained for a couple of hours, I recommend the Eric Clapton documentary currently airing on Showtime. Tastefully done, it covers everything most folks want to hear about.

And if that doesn't quench your Clapton thirst, there's another that hones in on his post-Cream life in the 1970s called 'Eric Clapton: The 1970s Review.' Great sound in that one, especially from Bobby Whitlock.

 

[slobake]

For anyone looking to be entertained for a couple of hours, I recommend the Eric Clapton documentary currently airing on Showtime. Tastefully done, it covers everything most folks want to hear about.

And if that doesn't quench your Clapton thirst, there's another that hones in on his post-Cream life in the 1970s called 'Eric Clapton: The 1970s Review.' Great sound in that one, especially from Bobby Whitlock.

I will check it out, thanks. My name here was partly inspired by Clapton

 

[slobake]

This song still gives me goose bumps when I hear Clapton's tone at 1:22 in the song. I had never heard anything like this back in 1966. That is John McVie sitting next to him in the photo.

 

[Michedelic]

I learned quite a bit, even at this late date, especially about the depths of his addictions and redemption, but as I mentioned in an earlier thread about the doc, there are gaping holes in the story, so much gets glossed over and ignored or unexplained, so it’s certainly not a definitive profile.

 

[jerry]

This song still gives me goose bumps when I hear Clapton's tone at 1:22 in the song. I had never heard anything like this back in 1966. That is John McVie sitting next to him in the photo.

 

[BurnOut]

I'm with Slo on the John Mayall Bluesbreakers, killer album.
I read Pattie Boyd's book, I read Eric's book, which was kinda meh.
I love his early stuff, Mayall & Cream, the stuff after that kinda bores me.

 

[Bob_Ross]

Having just recently read Clapton's autobiography -- which fwiw I found horribly trite, shallow, and pathetic, with far too little talk of actual music and way too much talk about how much he looooovved George Harrison's wife -- I found Life In 12 Bars to be mostly a duplication of that book's details, tone, and dramatic arc. It was like listening to an audio book of his autobiography while watching a slide show.

But both the book and the movie have convinced me that Eric Clapton is an incredibly tragic figure with a buttload of baggage & damage from his personal demons, and so it is an absolute miracle that he's not only maintained a successful career for so many years but also simply survived this long. He has my genuine respect for that.

 

[jerry]

I thought the documentary overlooked the influence of Delaney Bramlett on Clapton. He was very influential on getting Clapton to sing.

 

[Michedelic]

I thought the documentary overlooked the influence of Delaney Bramlett on Clapton. He was very influential on getting Clapton to sing.

Exactly, that was a pivotal point in his career, as he was getting fed up with the kind of music Cream and Blind Faith was making, he wanted to get into something more ‘funky’(his words, I believe). His stint with the D&B band gave him a chance to just be the guitar player in the back(not that management was ever going to let that happen for long)yet Delaney’s production of the first solo album(the “After Midnight” LP)set his career on its way. What did Eric do in return? Poach the D&B rhythm section. Weird, but maybe they were ready to bail anyway. Nothing was mentioned of Eric’s appearance at Harrison’s Bangladesh concert, as well as Pete Townshend’s effort to get Eric back on stage at the Rainbow concert. Granted, he was in the depths of his junk problem at the time, but it shows he was trying to make some sort of effort(the record companies certainly milked it for all it was worth). Nothing was explained of the resolution of the George/Patti/Eric triangle, they just left it hanging. The George tour in Japan with Eric in tow years later wasn’t even touched on.