New DVD - Eric Clapton: The 1960′s Review

[12bar]

See
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003QTBSVM/?ta ... amp=211189

Review:
http://www.musicroomreviews.com/eric-cl ... dvd-review

While few would argue that Eric Clapton is one of the finest guitarists of all time, it is sometimes forgotten just how pivotal, influential and downright startling this man was during the 1960s. And while, throughout the 70s, 80s, 90s and 00s, Clapton has remained a musician and songwriter of rare ability with moments of glory resplendent on album after album it was during the decade in which he emerged that his awesome skills were used most creatively. As an early member of the Yardbirds, a crucial part of the Bluesbreakers, a founder member of Cream and ‘the one who mattered most’ in the short lived Blind Faith, EC, to many, really was a deity.
In this extraordinary documentary, his life and career throughout these crucial ten years is put under the microscope, and with the help of archive interviews with the man himself, exclusive contributions from friends, band mates and colleagues, rare and classic performance footage, seldom seen photographs, location and period archive plus a host of other features, the story in question is told in a manner it never has been before.
Includes brand new interviews with musicians and performers; John Mayall, Paul Jones, Neil Innes, Tom McGuiness, Chris Dreja, Top Topham, Ben Palmer, Dave Kelly and Cream producer Bill Halverson, plus expert insight from Cream biographer Chris Welch, Yardbirds biographer Alan Clayson and Uncut magazine’s contributing editor, Nigel Williamson.

Special Features
- Sony Boy Williamson and The Yardbirds
- Paul Jones on ‘Eric Clapton’s Powerhouse’
- Bill Halverson on Cream’s ‘Badge’
- Contributor Biographies

http://www.chromedreams.co.uk/eric-clap ... -740-p.asp

[deejaid]

I just finished watching this dvd and thought I share some thoughts with you all here.

First off, there are no new interviews with Eric Clapton. Most of the interview footage of Clapton is taken from the 2005 Cream Classic Artist dvd and 2006 Disraeli Gears Classic Albums dvd. While there are some interesting new interviews in this dvd from Chris Dreja, Tom McGuinness, and Cream biographer Chris Welch, the film is severely lacking in production value. The interviews are almost all shot in a harshly lit studio with a green screen. When interviews are shot in a natural setting, i.e. outdoors with Ben Palmer (he tells a good story about driving Cream to their first gig with him as road manager) the picture is flat with no sort of color grading in post production. In short, all the interviews just look cheaply done.

B-roll is what you would expect. Concert footage from the Farewell Concert, Blind Faith's free Hyde Park concert, and some early Yardbird's footage. Here would have been a great chance for the film makers to maybe shoot new footage around London (maybe at some old clubs at which Cream played, or at least at the spot the club used to be). Instead, the viewer is treated to the tired "Ken Burns Effect" of photo montages, with the same photos being shown 2 or 3 different times.

The film really drops the ball when it comes to mentioning Blind Faith. I say mention, because all that is given is the last 5 minutes of the film and a quick overview, almost an afterthought.

This all being said, there is some good insight from the men who played with Clapton in his early years. Some of the stories are very technical (Producer Bill Halverson explains the difficulty of recording Cream live for Wheels of Fire) which only the most hardcore Clapton fan will appreciate. While there is ample explanation of some aspects of Clapton's history, some things are really glossed over or skipped altogether, such as Tom Dowd and Felix Pappalardi's influence on Clapton and Cream.


If you are a die hard fan of Clapton you may want to add this dvd to your collection, but there are many others (the aforementioned Cream Classic Artist and Classic Album DVD's) that are much more enjoyable.

[12bar]

Thanks a lot! It's no more on my Xmas list...