Eric Clapton - life in 12 bars

"Life in 12 Bars is the name of Lili Fini Zanuck's feature-length 2018 documentary about Eric Clapton, so it fits that its accompanying soundtrack also attempts to tell his story, only through song. To that end, the double-disc soundtrack doesn't limit itself strictly to music Clapton recorded himself, either on his own, as a sideman, or with the many bands he's played in over the years. It kicks off with three vintage blues sides - "Backwater Blues" by Big Bill Broonzy, then two cuts from Muddy Waters -- and it later finds space for Aretha Franklin's "Good to Me as I Am to You" and George Harrison's "My Sweet Lord" ... the soundtrack to Life in 12 Bars draws a good portrait of Clapton at the most vital part of his career".

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""Life in 12 Bars" rushes too quickly through the latter days of Clapton's career, before ending on a upbeat note that - while undeniably moving - feels forced. But it's hard to overstate how powerful it is to hear Clapton on tape in the early '70s, telling an interviewer that the most important thing in his life is heroin, or to see his drunken mid-concert arguments with audiences. Unlike most rock docs, "Life in 12 Bars" isn't a look back from a distance. It's like living through one man's pain".

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"As a musical biography, this comes up short; it plays substantially better as a story of recovery and recovered integrity".

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