Life in 12 bars - Again, apologies.

designerseye88

Watched it yesterday and thought it was compelling. Im in my late 20's and a fan of Clapton mainly because of my Dad's influence but it was great to learn more about him. i knew he had a lot of issues but it was good to see him talking pretty openly about these and i felt it gave a pretty good overview of him and his life. 
I agree it didn't focus too much on the music but then theirs a load of documentaries about that. What was good about this was it made him human and it showed he suffers the same axienty's and insecurities as the rest of us. In age where mental health is gaining more awareness I think it's very noble of Clapton to be so open about his demons.

Dontgiveupyourdayjob

designerseye88 said:

Watched it yesterday and thought it was compelling. Im in my late 20's and a fan of Clapton mainly because of my Dad's influence but it was great to learn more about him. i knew he had a lot of issues but it was good to see him talking pretty openly about these and i felt it gave a pretty good overview of him and his life. 
I agree it didn't focus too much on the music but then theirs a load of documentaries about that. What was good about this was it made him human and it showed he suffers the same axienty's and insecurities as the rest of us. In age where mental health is gaining more awareness I think it's very noble of Clapton to be so open about his demons.

That neatly sums up my reaction to the film too. (Everything except the being "in late 20's" bit  )

VimFuego

yup, was good. I knew about the addictions and so on, but to hear it from him was really powerful. 

jonnyburgo

It was very good, his mother had a fucking lot to answer for.

fretfinder

I’ve copied below a Facebook comment on the documentary from a mate of mine who’s a massive Clapton fan and general music obsessive. Quite interesting I thought. 

“It was good but.....I don’t know, no Delaney and Bonnie which was what launched him into his first solo album, a brushing over of his MUSICAL association with George H, no concert for Bangladesh Desh, no mention of the Pete Townsend organised Rainbow concert to help EC out of his snack induced hibernation, nothing about his rejuvenation and recommercialisation from ‘August’ (the month Connor was born) onwards, no interview with Phil Collins (one good thing I suppose!).

It was good at filling in (some of) the more personal stuff. It’s a shame they missed out the story about when he was holed up at Nutwood (sic) and Townsend and Ron Wood (I think!) had gone round to try to persuade him to do the Rainbow gig, and found that all the tradespeople, milkman, postman etc had been invited in and were staying there taking drugs, drinking and keeping Alice and Eric company.

Also no mention of when he was a ‘gun for hire’ and that infamous time he went on tour in Roger Waters band for the Pros and Cons of Hitchhiking. Alright I know, I know. What about his annual New Year’s Eve gig at Ripley Village Hall?

Having said all that, the rare footage was fantastic, and the restored stuff was so pristine it didn’t look like it was really from the era it was taken.”

DulcetJones

I will see this soon somehow.  Cream was just breaking with "Sunshine of Your Love" when I was first grappling with a guitar.  Clapton has been part of my life since even though I don't like everything he's released, and I have read about some of his "less than stellar" moments.   

SNAKEBITE

fretfinder said:

I’ve copied below a Facebook comment on the documentary from a mate of mine who’s a massive Clapton fan and general music obsessive. Quite interesting I thought. 

“It was good but.....I don’t know, no Delaney and Bonnie which was what launched him into his first solo album, a brushing over of his MUSICAL association with George H, no concert for Bangladesh Desh, no mention of the Pete Townsend organised Rainbow concert to help EC out of his snack induced hibernation, nothing about his rejuvenation and recommercialisation from ‘August’ (the month Connor was born) onwards, no interview with Phil Collins (one good thing I suppose!).

It was good at filling in (some of) the more personal stuff. It’s a shame they missed out the story about when he was holed up at Nutwood (sic) and Townsend and Ron Wood (I think!) had gone round to try to persuade him to do the Rainbow gig, and found that all the tradespeople, milkman, postman etc had been invited in and were staying there taking drugs, drinking and keeping Alice and Eric company.

Also no mention of when he was a ‘gun for hire’ and that infamous time he went on tour in Roger Waters band for the Pros and Cons of Hitchhiking. Alright I know, I know. What about his annual New Year’s Eve gig at Ripley Village Hall?

Having said all that, the rare footage was fantastic, and the restored stuff was so pristine it didn’t look like it was really from the era it was taken.”

I have absolutely no knowledge of any of those incidents, but they do seem to be fairly big events, but then again how on earth can you cover 73 years (fuck me he doesn't look that bad for 73 does he?) in 2 hours, something has to give.

richardhomer

SNAKEBITE said:
I have absolutely no knowledge of any of those incidents, but they do seem to be fairly big events, but then again how on earth can you cover 73 years (fuck me he doesn't look that bad for 73 does he?) in 2 hours, something has to give.

I think that’s the issue - 2 hours isn’t a long time at all. The film concentrated on the key events in his personal life - rather than professional associations.

JJ Cale, the death of SRV, Dylan, The Band and The Plastic Ono band are all missing too - really it’s a story that deserves a Beatles Anthology type series.

I’m at Hyde Park on Sunday and really looking forward to seeing him again for what could be the last time.

lovestrat74

SNAKEBITE said:

fretfinder said:

I’ve copied below a Facebook comment on the documentary from a mate of mine who’s a massive Clapton fan and general music obsessive. Quite interesting I thought. 

“It was good but.....I don’t know, no Delaney and Bonnie which was what launched him into his first solo album, a brushing over of his MUSICAL association with George H, no concert for Bangladesh Desh, no mention of the Pete Townsend organised Rainbow concert to help EC out of his snack induced hibernation, nothing about his rejuvenation and recommercialisation from ‘August’ (the month Connor was born) onwards, no interview with Phil Collins (one good thing I suppose!).

It was good at filling in (some of) the more personal stuff. It’s a shame they missed out the story about when he was holed up at Nutwood (sic) and Townsend and Ron Wood (I think!) had gone round to try to persuade him to do the Rainbow gig, and found that all the tradespeople, milkman, postman etc had been invited in and were staying there taking drugs, drinking and keeping Alice and Eric company.

Also no mention of when he was a ‘gun for hire’ and that infamous time he went on tour in Roger Waters band for the Pros and Cons of Hitchhiking. Alright I know, I know. What about his annual New Year’s Eve gig at Ripley Village Hall?

Having said all that, the rare footage was fantastic, and the restored stuff was so pristine it didn’t look like it was really from the era it was taken.”

I have absolutely no knowledge of any of those incidents, but they do seem to be fairly big events, but then again how on earth can you cover 73 years (fuck me he doesn't look that bad for 73 does he?) in 2 hours, something has to give.

This is true after all it is called life in 12 bars! Maybe they should have a made a 2 part docu. ..

The Rise and Fall.., followed by the Fall and Rise of Eric Clapton

absolutpepper

My take is that 12 bars is the story of Clapton the man, not Clapton the artist. It’s his life and his experiences both good and bad, and you could argue that those experiences deserve to be told without them being distracted by his music - after all it’s his experiences that shaped the music and not the other way around. I must confess, I’m not a huge Clapton fan outside of his Cream work but I read his autobiography a few years back and thoroughly enjoyed the documentary. I’d certainly recommend it and watch it again down the road.

TA22GT

absolutpepper said:

My take is that 12 bars is the story of Clapton the man, not Clapton the artist. It’s his life and his experiences both good and bad, and you could argue that those experiences deserve to be told without them being distracted by his music - after all it’s his experiences that shaped the music and not the other way around. I must confess, I’m not a huge Clapton fan outside of his Cream work but I read his autobiography a few years back and thoroughly enjoyed the documentary. I’d certainly recommend it and watch it again down the road.

That's my take on it too.
 I think by doing the film and being so open to the public he will have excorsised a few of his demons.
I found the bit of him on the sofa after they had cut his hair very painful. So much pain in his eyes.

Rocker

I too read his autobiography, thus I had a reasonable understanding of his childhood problems, his music, his addictions and his tragedies.

I recorded 'Life in 12 Bars' and simply never got round to watching it.  Eventually I did and with one thing or another, I had to split the viewing into three fairly equal slots.  The bad bits: all those blurry low res films of him playing and messing around - they added nothing to the documentary apart from portraying EC and his friends as a lot of a self centred jerks.  The good bits: somewhere around the hour and a quarter mark, the story suddenly took on a different feel - the footage about the death of his son and his recovery from that tragedy, his Crossroads guitar sales etc.

On the whole, I thought the narrative was very poor.  Eric Clapton is a major power in music - his music charmed millions of fans and his guitar playing inspired thousands of guitarists.  'Life in 12 Bars' does not do EC justice and is a poor attempt to chronicle his life.  EC and those of us who enjoy his music deserve better.

HAL9000

Just got around to watching this. I already knew a lot of the stuff, but hearing it in his own voice made it all much more real. The bit about being made to cut his hair (by the mother who had already rejected him) and having his guitar smashed by his (half?) brother - a deliberate act to destroy the things that were important to him - was pretty distressing. Then came the footage of his son. I don't think I've ever seen that before and, again, that made the account of Connor's death more real and tragic.

I know EC has behaved like a twat from time to time, but when you consider what he has been through its frankly amazing that he has picked himself up as well as he has.

RMJ

The whole thing with Patty was fascinating. I read subsequently that Patty thought Eric saw her as a trophy in some kind of willy waving contest between him and George Harrison, who he was very competitive with musically

EricTheWeary

Have also watched it now. Also watched it in chunks, just quite hard work at times; it's a fan only thing isn't it.

I'm not keen on the talking over old photos, especially the manipulated old photos, for such lengths of time. The odd talking head or longer section of concert footage maybe. 

It felt essentially like watching an obituary ( the similar docs on Amy Winehouse and Whitney Houston did, after all, end with their deaths). So I'm imagining it being tucked away in the archives until such a date it's required. 

Oh, and Muddy Waters singing! Oof, never grows old. And the speech by BB King toward the end had me in tears. 

Hattigol

I thought it was an excellent documentary.

He's certainly had his issues but equally certain is that he had the ability to be a complete arse - that much is clear if you read his autobigraphy.