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2018 is already shaping up to be a great year for music documentaries; one such movie, Elvis Presley: The Searcher, recently debuted on HBO to rapturous notices. Soundtracks to two more probing films are on the way from Universal On June 8, the label will deliver both Eric Clapton: Life in 12 Bars and Beside Bowie: The Mick Ronson Story.
No single compilation can successfully capture the entirety of Eric Clapton's remarkable career, though many from various labels have tried. Life in 12 Bars takes a different approach, featuring 32 tracks on two CDs, including songs from artists who inspired Clapton as well as tracks on which the guitarist appeared as a sideman. Sweetening the pot, the set premieres five previously unreleased tracks. It opens with cuts from blues figures like Big Bill Broonzy and Muddy Waters before chronicling Clapton's tenures with The Yardbirds, John Mayall and His Bluesbreakers, and of course, Cream. (A 17-plus minute version of "Spoonful" from Cream's Goodbye tour on October 19, 1968 at Los Angeles' Forum is one of the previously unreleased tracks.) It features guest appearances on The Beatles' "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" and Aretha Franklin's "Good to Me as I Am to You" before going onto performances by Clapton with Blind Faith, Delaney and Bonnie and Friends, Derek and the Dominos, George Harrison ("My Sweet Lord"), and Clapton as a solo artist.
Other never-before-released cuts include "High" and a live cover of Jimi Hendrix's "Little Wing" from Derek and the Dominos, the full-length version of "I Shot the Sheriff" from the 461 Ocean Boulevard sessions, and a live version of Chuck Berry's "Little Queenie" from the tour promoting that seminal LP. Additionally, alternative mixes of "After Midnight" and "Let It Rain" by Clapton himself from the artist's 1970 debut album take their place here. (Tom Dowd mixed the original LP, and Delaney Bramlett's alternate mix was issued in 2006.) The original studio version of "Tears in Heaven" closes this collection, which is available on 2 CDs or 4 vinyl LPs.
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Beside Bowie (released in 2017 and already available on DVD and Blu-ray) tells the life story of the late Mick Ronson (1946-1993), the renowned guitarist (and songwriter, arranger, producer, and multi-instrumentalist) who famously was beside Ziggy Stardust as one of the Spiders from Mars. Ronson began his groundbreaking work with Bowie in the band The Hype, and went on to play with him not only on The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, but on The Man Who Sold the World, Aladdin Sane, and Pin-Ups. "Extracurricular" work with Bowie included co-producing and playing on Lou Reed's Transformer and recording with Lulu, Dana Gillespie, and Mott the Hoople. Ronson went on to record three well-received solo albums (the third posthumously released) and contributed over the years to albums by Elton John, David Cassidy, Ellen Foley, John Mellencamp (including on his chart-topping "Jack and Diane"), Morrissey, Ian Hunter, Bob Dylan, and others before his untimely death from cancer in 1993.
The soundtrack album has key Bowie tracks ("Moonage Daydream," "Cracked Actor, Time") as well as recordings by Elton John ("Madman Across the Water"), Ian Hunter ("Once Bitten, Twice Shy"), Michael Chapman ("Soulful Lady"), Def Leppard's Joe Elliott (the previously unreleased "This Is For You"), and Ronson himself plus a previously unissued tribute from fellow Bowie collaborator Mike Garson, and two 1992 live cuts ("Heroes" and "All the Young Dudes") from the 1992 Freddie Mercury tribute concert featuring Bowie, the remaining members of Queen, and others. A new liner notes essay is included in the release which will be available on CD, digital, and 180-gram black vinyl. Limited edition red vinyl will be available directly from the UDiscoverMusic.com store.
Both of these soundtracks are due from Universal on June 8. The film Life in 12 Bars arrives on DVD and Blu-ray the same day. You'll find pre-order links and track listings for the soundtracks below!
Eric Clapton: Life in 12 Bars: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (Universal, 2018) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)
CD 1
- Backwater Blues - Big Bill Broonzy
- My Life is Ruined - Muddy Waters
- I Got My Mojo Working (Live) - Muddy Waters
- I Wish You Would (Studio Version) - The Yardbirds
- For Your Love - The Yardbirds
- Steppin' Out - John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers
- All Your Love - John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers
- I Feel Free - Cream
- Strange Brew - Cream
- Sunshine of Your Love - Cream
- Good to Me as I Am to You - Aretha Franklin
- Crossroads (Live) - Cream
- While My Guitar Gently Weeps - The Beatles
- Badge - Cream
- White Room (Live) - Cream
- Spoonful (Live) - Cream
- Presence of the Lord - Blind Faith
CD 2
- Comin' Home (Live) - Delaney and Bonnie and Friends feat. Eric Clapton
- After Midnight (Alternate Mix)
- Let It Rain (Alternate Mix)
- High - Derek and the Dominos
- My Sweet Lord - George Harrison
- Thorn Tree in the Garden - Derek and the Dominos
- Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out - Derek and the Dominos
- Bell Bottom Blues - Derek and the Dominos
- Layla - Derek and the Dominos
- Little Wing (Live) (October 24, Second Show) - Derek and the Dominos
- Got to Get Better in a Little While - Derek and the Dominos
- I Shot the Sheriff (Full-Length Version)
- Little Queenie (Live)
- Mainline Florida
- Tears in Heaven
All tracks by Eric Clapton unless otherwise indicated.
CD 1, Track 1 from The Big Bill Broonzy Story, Verve, 1961 (rec. 1957)
CD 1, Track 2 from Chess single, 1953
CD 1, Track 3 from Muddy Waters at Newport 1960, Chess, 1960
CD 1, Track 4 from Columbia (U.K.) single, 1964
CD 1, Track 5 from Columbia (U.K.) single, 1965
CD 1, Tracks 6-7 from Blues Breakers, Decca, 1966
CD 1, Track 8 from Fresh Cream, Polydor, 1966
CD 1, Tracks 9-10 from Disraeli Gears, Polydor, 1967
CD 1, Track 11 from Lady Soul, Atlantic, 1968
CD 1, Track 12 from Wheels of Fire, Polydor, 1968
CD 1, Track 13 from The Beatles, Apple, 1968
CD 1, Track 14 from Goodbye, Polydor, 1969
CD 1, Track 15 from Live Cream II, Polydor, 1972
CD 1, Track 16 and CD 2, Tracks 4, 10, 12 & 13 previously unreleased
CD 2, Track 1 from On Tour, Atlantic, 1970
CD 2, Tracks 2-3 alternate mixes from Eric Clapton, 1970
CD 2, Track 5 from All Things Must Pass, Apple, 1970
CD 2, Tracks 6-9 from Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs, Polydor, 1970
CD 2, Track 11 from Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs: 40th Anniversary Edition, 2011
CD 2, Track 14 from 461 Ocean Boulevard, Polydor, 1974
CD 2, Track 15 from Rush: Music from the Motion Picture Soundtrack, Warner Bros., 1992
Beside Bowie: The Mick Ronson Story - The Soundtrack (Universal, 2018) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)
- All the Young Dudes (Live at Wembley Stadium 1992) - Queen, Ian Hunter, David Bowie, Mick Ronson, Joe Elliott & Phil Collen
- Soulful Lady - Michael Chapman
- Madman Across the Water - Elton John feat. Mick Ronson
- Moonage Daydream - David Bowie
- Cracked Actor - David Bowie
- Time - David Bowie
- Once Bitten, Twice Shy - Ian Hunter
- I'd Give Anything to See You
- Hard Life
- Midnight Love
- Like a Rolling Stone
- This Is For You - Joe Elliott
- Heroes (Live at Wembley Stadium 1992) - Queen, David Bowie & Mick Ronson
- Tribute to Mick Ronson - Mike Garson
Tracks 1 & 13 from The Freddie Mercury Tribute, Picture Music International, 1992
Track 2 from Fully Qualified Survivor, Harvest, 1970
Track 3 from Rare Masters, Polydor, 1995
Track 4 from The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, RCA, 1972
Tracks 5-6 from Aladdin Sane, RCA, 1973
Track 7 from Ian Hunter, Columbia, 1975
Tracks 8-9 from Just Like This, Burning Airlines, 1999
Tracks 10-11 from Heaven and Hull, Epic, 1994
Tracks 12 & 14 previously unreleased
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Not sure which is stranger: The almost 20 year gap between “Mainline Florida” and “Tears in Heaven” on that Clapton soundtrack — with nothing in between — or that it ends with “Tears” and nothing that came after that was included (Ignoring some standout work from blues albums like From the Cradle and the Me and Mr. Johnson sessions)... Or that “Thorn Tree in the Garden” was included since it’s the one song on the Layla album Clapton didn’t sing.
“Thorn Tree” is a lovely song, but an odd inclusion nonetheless. Of course, I haven’t seen the film yet so maybe it does make sense in the context of that.
There appear to be some nice, unreleased treats and other less common gems on this soundtrack (I like the idea of including the Broonzy and Muddy tracks, as well as the Aretha song), but the majority of this is still very familiar stuff that many of us already have. Not sure if it’s really worth it or not.
Who knew there was a longer version “I Shot the Sheriff”? Curious to hear it, but I also wonder if it’s really that big a deal.
What I would really like, however, is a longer, uncut live version of Cream playing “Crossroads.” The version included here, originally on Wheels of Fire, was famously edited down from a longer performance and I am not aware of the full version ever having been released. For me, THAT would be a real treat.
And there are tracks for All Things Must Pass that have more Clapton's guitar work than My Sweet Lord (it is Harrison, NOT Clapton on lead slide here)
Excellent point, Mat! Again, odd choice for this soundtrack.
One more odd choice: “For Your Love”
Sure, it was a huge hit and it remains a classic. But it was also the song that caused EC to leave The Yardbirds. He hated it.
It also barely contains any Clapton on it. He plays a little in the middle of the song, but that’s it. The rest of it is driven by guest Brian Auger’s harpsichord. Not exaclty a Clapton showcase.
Yes, it makes sense in the context of the film because it basically jumps through the late '80s and picks up in the early '90s for the Unplugged comeback.
sorry, I meant late '70s to early '90s.
Hmm... I am interested in seeing this sometime, but I womder why the big time jump? The late 70s was a big time with big hits for EC (The Slowhand album, for one, was huge).
Chart success continued into the 80s, but the music suffered as he made some questionable choices (Phil Collins as producer, too many synths, etc.) and his alcoholism deepened. Skipping that seems like a bit of a cheat.
Anyhow, the soundtrack definitely has some appeal, but — as Mat and I pointed out — is also really puzzling. It’s good, but it could be a lot better.
It all sounds great, especially live 'unreleased' Spoonful. Huge Cream fan, if that can come out, is that whole show also available? Would make a great CD, considering 50 year anniversary is coming up with Nov. '68 final Albert Hall! Any insights from anyone?