Eric Clapton: Life in 12 Bars

It's a very remarkable movie if you don't know Clapton well, or are even a big fan of his. Great documentary on his early work and how he somehow became the king of the guitar while growing up in the UK. It focuses on his early career mostly as that's where the story gets really interesting. Though uneven and moody at times, this gives the viewer the story on how Clapton became so respected that people would graffiti buildings with "Clapton is God".

So sad that trolls now control the ratings for such a good documentary like this. It seems they are out to get this movie by pretending to be female voters. But as has been noted on the internet many times, any movie praising black or feminine culture will be attacked on this site sadly. Hopefully this will not stop people from going to see this well done documentary as it deserves the praise it's been getting.

In the words of the former England football team manager, Sven-Goran Eriksson. 'First half good, second half, not so good.'

I liked the insight to Clapton's early life. Finding out that his mother was actually his grandmother and the woman who he thought was his sister was his mother who had abandoned him and gone to Canada.

The young Clapton was good at art, loved blues music and had an inferiority complex at school. There is film footage of his family and various still of Clapton's artwork.

When Clapton decides to enter the music industry, he has skill as a guitarist, horned after listening to all those blues records and copying their style. Clapton though was not a good bandmate, leaving The Yardbirds at short notice because they were heading in a commercial direction.

The second half was more problematic. It zig zags the chronology, going back to the issues of mistrust with his real mother and grandparents.

The film is hazy as to when Clapton became clean or did he just relapse too often? I recollect that Clapton said he had cleaned up in the mid to late 1980s from drugs and booze. Here it seems he was was still on the booze in the early 1990s and certainly admits to recording albums where he remembers being drunk as we see the later 80s albums in this montage. Did he lie back then? If he lied then, he might be lying now.

Clapton deals with his notorious racist outburst in 1976 in a concert in Birmingham. Up to this point of the documentary, Clapton cited his influences of the blues and friendship with black US musicians. He was a supporter of the civil rights movement. Clapton also admired music and literature from the east. He was a fan of the musician Bismillah Khan. A Persian poem inspired the song Layla. Ahmet Ertegun, the Turkish born head of Atlantic Records was a big champion of Clapton.

Yet under the influence of booze and drugs, this racial outburst shocked his fans. In retrospect Clapton is rightly embarrassed with his outburst. He states that he comes across as a semi-racist. Only semi? I think it was a full on racist rant.

Maybe the booze lowered his inhibitions and made him say things that were swirling around his mind at the time. Birmingham in the mid 1970s would look very different to an English lad born in Ripley in Surrey. Racism is complex, Clapton admits to having black girlfriends but he knows that he will never be able to live down his words.

I was also horrified with his casual attitude to sex in an era of Aids. He had flings with several women and they became pregnant, Clapton does not seem to believe in using a condom. His interest in engaging with married women did not stop with Pattie Boyd.

I found the latter half of the documentary to be self serving. Yet at times it does have flashes of brilliance as well. It helps that Clapton was cooperative with this film, he allowed access to his private documents.

Looking at the reviews, it is clear that the documentary has skimped other people who should have had a part in this story such as Pete Townshend who helped Clapton become clean.

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.

Excellent. Incredible insight into Eric as a man. And as a musician. Intertwining the man and his music. His passion playing through his guitar. It's that passion that drives the emotional response so many people have to his guitar and his music. Welll beyond just virtuosity. That's why he's Eric Clapton. That's why you need to see this. Whether you're a fan or not, an extremely well done, sensitive, interesting documentary on Eric. Thank you for making this movie.

I didn't learn anything new from this documentary. It also seemed longer than it actually was, which is not a good thing.

Delaney & Bonnie & Friends aren't even mentioned. This is criminal since Eric is supposedly telling his own story. The legendary Derek & the Dominos were all members of that band and that's how they met. Delaney Bramlett produced Clapton's first solo album which begat the Dominos and the All Things Must Pass sessions.

Delaney & Bonnie opened for Blind Faith on their summer 1969 US Tour. Clapton liked what he saw. He was disgusted with the direction of both Cream and Blind Faith. He hopped on the more rootsy Delaney & Bonnie & Friends bandwagon for tours of Europe and the US in 1969-1970. Delaney & Bonnie were the frickin' catalyst to his new direction. Clapton and the film makers didn't even take the time to mention them once. That is an insult.

I don't recall J.J. Cale mentioned in the documentary either. Weird since Clapton copped Cale's whole vibe in the 1970's.