"Eric Clapton: Life in 12 Bars" Documentary Film (2017)
Trailer (2 mins.). A serious look at the life of one of the most celebrated rock and blues period guitarists, English musician Eric Clapton, b. 1945, by Lili Fini Zanuck. What's clear from this in-depth film is that Clapton is a stellar musician and a genuine survivor of life, a man now in his seventies who has battled drug dependency-- no small feat in his occupation and prime era, who has overcome persistent emotional issues through a stable marriage, children and family later in life, and a performer who remains engaged today. 'His music saved him,' Clapton says; how lucky for us all. *Watch now on Showtime & online.*
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(Rolling Stone, 2018) Lili Fini Zanuck’s documentary "Eric Clapton: Life in 12 Bars" follows the guitarist as he pursues a single-minded mission to raise the profile of the blues in popular culture. During the Sixties, he moved through bands at a reckless pace in search for the right combination of blues aficionados – he joined, scored major hits and then left and/or dissolved the Yardbirds, John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, Cream, Blind Faith and Derek the Dominos in less than a decade. Collaborators were just a means to an end; Clapton’s commitment to the form was total.
Life in 12 Bars also grounds Clapton’s drive in an early childhood trauma: His mother left him to be raised by his grandparents, a rejection that would haunt his subsequent romantic difficulties and decades-long struggles with substance addiction. The documentary is relatively low on talking heads, preferring voiceover narration from Clapton or old video footage... Rolling Stone Film Review, Feb. 2018, https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/10-things-we-learned-from-eric-clapton-life-in-12-bars-doc-127351/
Eric Clapton and Duane Allman.
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interview where he discusses the deep insecurities, and needing alcohol and drugs for fuel, mood and energy-- so sad but common. In another piece he said as a kid he looked in a double mirror, saw a weak chin and broken nose, and thought who would ever like him because he was so ugly! Au contraire- the damaged ego at work. How great that he found strength and happiness finally.
>'Sex, Drugs & Rock 'N' Roll: Clapton After 'Cocaine,' NPR, 2007. Eric Clapton released a version of the J.J. Cale song "Cocaine." At the time, Clapton was consuming copious amounts of cocaine — and alcohol — and had only recently kicked a heroin habit. Now 62, the legendary guitarist looks back and wonders how he survived his decades of drug and alcohol addiction. Sober for 20 years, Clapton is the father of three young daughters, ages 6, 4 and 2.
Clapton writes about his many years of addiction in his new autobiography, Clapton. He calculates that he was spending the current equivalent of 8,000 pounds — about $16,000 — a week on heroin. Drug-Filled Days, Nights: "Financially, it was ridiculous," Clapton tells Melissa Block in the second of a two-part interview. Later, when he had overcome his heroin addiction but was still battling alcohol abuse, he once performed lying down on the stage. "It didn't seem that outlandish to me, and in fact, probably was all I was capable of, Clapton says.
He characterizes the mid-1970s as a time that was "extremely casual and crazy ... when anything was possible." "I think in the book I did refer to the fact that there were people who were moving through that period with respect and dignity, and I just didn't run into them that often," he continues.
>>Music as Salvation: Even during these dark days, the music kept him going."The presence of music in my life has always been the salvation element of it. Not necessarily the playing, as much as just being conscious of it, listening to it, has kept me moving," Clapton says...https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=15412830