Eric Clapton: Life In 12 Bars (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

Various Artists

Released on 6/8/18 by UMC (Universal Music Catalogue)
Main artist: Eric Clapton
Genre: Rock

Available in

16-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo

Unlimited Streaming

Listen to this album in high quality now on our apps

Start my trial period and start listening to this album

Enjoy this album on Qobuz apps with your subscription

Download not available

In 1991, Eric Clapton finished the music for the film Rush by Lili Fini Zanuck. A few months earlier, he had lost Conor, his four-year-old son, and dedicated Tears In Heaven to him. Just as it closed Rush, that piece provids the finale to Life in 12 bars, a documentary on the musician's life, made by Lili Fini Zanuck, best known for her Oscar-winning Driving Miss Daisy.

There are already quite a few Clapton compilations, but this one is of particular importance. For sure, there are only four "rarities", like a high-quality live take of Cream (Spoonful, recorded at the Forum in Los Angeles on 19 October 1969), an instrumental studio take from Derek And The Dominos of High, a piece that he would eventually perform solo on There's One In Every Crowd, a long version (6:50 instead of 4:26) of the Bob Marley cover I Shot The Sheriff, a result of the 461 Ocean Boulevard (1974) sessions, and finally a pretty fun live take of Little Queenie by Chuck Berry, at the Arena in Long Beach from July 1974, in the middle of Clapton's "sozzled" period

But the aim was to capture, across 32 pieces, the Clapton epic, spanning two decades, without getting too hung up on details. Or indeed on output after 1974, apart from Tears In Heaven. With a fairly exhaustive and balanced selection, although the idea of "balance" is very subjective, especially when applied to such an elusive figure, Life In 12 Bars starts with three evocations of Clapton's blues roots (Big Bill Broonzy and Muddy Waters); before moving on, unsurprisingly, to two pieces by the Yardbirds, including the very poppy For Your Love, the fundamental reason for his departure from the group; two pieces with John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers; eight with Cream; one with Blind Faith; one with Delaney & Bonnie & Friends; seven with Derek And The Dominos; six solo and, a big first, three important collaborations. With Aretha Franklin (Good To Me As I Am To You, on his 1967 Lady Soul), the Beatles (While My Guitar Gently Weeps, on The Beatles, in 1968) and George Harrison. And while his part on the immortal My Sweet Lord (All Things Must Pass, 1970) is a little less prominent than some of his other performances, although he certainly played on it. Equally discreet was his role on Badge by Cream, or Roll It Over by Derek And The Dominos, which it would have made for judicious inclusions. Likewise, it would have been a good idea to look at the famous collaboration with John Lennon and his Plastic Ono band in the late 1960s, or indeed with the Dirty Mac (Lennon, Keith Richards, Mitch Mitchell) on The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus in 1968... © Jean-Pierre Sabouret/Qobuz

More info

Eric Clapton: Life In 12 Bars (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

Eric Clapton

You are currently listening to samples.

Listen to over 100 million songs with an unlimited streaming plan.

Listen to this playlist and more than 100 million songs with our unlimited streaming plans.

From $10.83/month

Backwater Blues

Big Bill Broonzy

00:04:08

Bessie Smith, ComposerLyricist - Big Bill Broonzy, MainArtist - Bill Broonzy, Participant - Bill Randle, Producer

℗ 1960 UMG Recordings, Inc.

My Life Is Ruined

Muddy Waters

00:02:37

WILLIE DIXON, Producer - Muddy Waters, MainArtist - Jimmy Rogers, Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - McKinley Morganfield, ComposerLyricist - Leonard Chess, Producer - Phil Chess, Producer - Elgin Edmunds, Drums, AssociatedPerformer

℗ 1967 Geffen Records

I've Got My Mojo Working (Live At Newport Jazz Festival)

Muddy Waters

00:04:22

Preston Foster, ComposerLyricist - Muddy Waters, MainArtist - Leonard Chess, Producer

℗ 1960 Geffen Records

I Wish You Would

The Yardbirds

00:02:18

For Your Love

The Yardbirds

00:02:30

Steppin' Out

John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers