Eric Clapton: Leben mit dem Blues

I don't know how it got such a low rated score here (I assume it was trolls). But 'Eric Clapton: A Life in 12 Bars' was spectacular, it delved into the personal life of Clapton: his struggles through drug and alcohol abuse, his girlfriends, his family life and career. It was very revealing. It showed another side of him, a more vulnerable and real side. It shows his early music influences in Blues and also includes other musicians that Eric was associated with in that era. Many people close to him are featured in the documentary. It was very well done. Brilliant.

Eric Clapton: Life in 12 Bars (2017)

**** (out of 4)

This documentary, clocking in over two hours, features Eric Clapton discussing his life and career as we get clips from various concerts and television specials. Throughout the running time we learn about how his career took shape, his friendship with George Harrison and the love affair that shaped some of his greatest songs.

If you're a fan of Clapton then I'm sure you're going to already know a lot of the stories told here but the documentary is extremely well-made and there's no question that you can get some added joy out of hearing Clapton discuss these events. This includes the various high points of his life but also the low ones including the death of Jimi Hendrix as well as his son, which also led to one of his most loved songs.

There's no doubt that getting the interview footage with Clapton was a major plus but the greatest aspect of this documentary is that it has a lot of really great video footage. This includes a lot of early concert footage from Clapton's time with Cream as well as some earlier projects that Clapton worked on. There's no doubt that the brilliance of Clapton as a guitarist gets to shine here and if you're not a fan then you will be after watching this.

ERIC CLAPTON: LIFE IN 12 BARS takes a look at a brilliant but troubled man and I thought it was extremely fair handled and entertaining.

There are many ways one can look at this documentary. I'll give credit for it being an excellent overview of one of the most gifted musicians of our generation. Eric Clapton is a music legend, and in all fairness, he doesn't try to hide his shortcomings as a human being. But therein lies the problem. Some things are better left unsaid.

There are things I found surprising here, for example- no mention of his work with Delaney and Bonnie Bramlett. They greatly influenced his musical direction, connected him to Duane Allman, Leon Russell, and an impressive supporting cast of musicians- who encouraged him to write and sing more- while providing an escape from a psychological and professional rut he desperately needed to escape from.

The problem I have with this documentary is that it tries to make us feel sympathy for Clapton, and I have to question why.

Clapton was brought up by his Grandparents in a very loving home. He barely knew his mother, and only saw her twice as a child, Somehow, this documentary is presented in a way that it uses it as an excuse for all the poor choices and irresponsible behavior Clapton made in his life. Truth is, he has never taken full responsibility for his actions except by way of past reflection.

This documentary was filled with too many- "I really should have apologized" or "I really wished I hadn't done that" -- for my liking. It showed us how fame, fortune, and self-centered behavior can bring out the monster in some people and yet still leave them looking for sympathy. Being called "God" may have been the worst thing that ever happened to him.

Clapton left his original band- the Yardbirds- without notice. He later abandoned the band "Blind Faith" much like the Yardbirds- without notice, even to Steve Winwood. He influenced Delaney and Bonnie's band members to leave them for more money to form the "Dominos", and eventually tried to convince a married women to run away with him - wife of his best friend (George Harrison) only to abuse her later (resulting from his battles with Alcohol). His 5-year-old son died- having fallen out of a window - evidently unsupervised by his girlfriend who was unstable at the time.

Although he has had periods later in life of showing good will towards others with benefit concerts (something almost every artist does during their careers), even his diehard fans were not spared. I was at that concert in Pittsburgh in 1986, and the movie depicts just a glimpse of what happened. It was ugly. Racist rants. Drunken behavior- Destroyed relationships seems to be a habit with him and In some cases, one has to wonder if there was ever a relationship at all. Patty Boyd recently wrote in her book that there was an ugly incident which led to her leaving Clapton leading to their divorce. She had enough

Clapton also received undeserved credit in this documentary. They pointed out that he "opened the door" for Blues musicians, making it easier for them to get exposure to the general public- but was this a wonderful gesture on his part- or simply the byproduct of playing their music? Big difference. One can actually say without THEIR inspiration- he never would have picked up a guitar in the first place.

What really bothered me though was his failure to give credit to those who loved him and even saved him from further self-destruction. Pete Townsend dragged him out of bed during his drug addiction and got him back onstage, saving both his life and his career. Procol Harum's Gary Brooker did the same by helping him kick his alcoholism by sharing his passion for fishing. Patty Boyd? Many people helped him thru his down times but were NEVER mentioned or given credit for any of their support along the way. For a documentary of such length, there was surely enough time- and again, going public with all this baggage just to boast he was a survivor- his words in the interview

And why the rush at the end- it goes from his son's tragedy to being happily married to another woman now with 3 kids and a 17-year-old daughter? A huge period of time that i guess just flew by.

Believe it or not, I was a big fan of Clapton, but he never was a God in my eyes- just an ordinary man with one extraordinary talent. There's a big difference between living the blues and playing it. Clapton's Blues were the results of his own selfish actions- unlike the Blues masters, who were TRULY dealt a bad hand in life and had to express their hardships thru their music. Many today still live in poverty- not multimillion dollar mansions.

Some of this documentary was good; the Blind Faith, Cream, and the Derek and the Dominos areas were quite good. However, Can someone please tell me how George Harrison was his only 'best' musician friend during the late '60's and early '70's? It is a glaring omission that Pete Townshend was not interviewed, or even shown in this film.Eric's comeback occurred at the Rainbow Concert, in January of 1973, after two years of inactivity, and was organized by, yes, you guessed it, Pete Townshend. Oh, and also, Pete was with Eric the first time that he saw Jimi Hendrix perform on stage. It's completely ridiculous that the producers of this film left Pete out of it, especially since he's alive, and could have easily have been interviewed.

A look at his early life, the sins of his Mother, and the pain it caused leading to his obsession with the blues and subsequent drug and alcohol addictions.

Very beautifully and interestingly done.

The filmmakers were obviously granted access to so much of his life in his effort to provide a testimony to his substance abuse and recovery in an effort to help others suffering the same problems.