All language subtitles for Eric Clapton Life In 12 Bars (2017)en

Hi, this is Eric Clapton here.

I just want to express
my sadness.

And...

To say, thank you,

to my dear friend B.B. King.

I want to thank him
for all the inspiration

and encouragement he gave me
as a player over the years

and for the friendship
that we enjoyed.

There's not a lot left to say
because this music...

it's almost a thing
of the past now.

So, if you're not familiar
with his work, then I...

I would encourage you to go
out and find an album called,

B. B King Live at the Regal.

Which is where it all really
started for me

as a young player.

I had a blissful childhood.

I was raised with a great deal
of love by my parents.

Especially by my mother.

Because she loved me
in an unconditional way.

He was a fair-haired little boy.

When he was quite young,
he had an imaginary horse.

He used to call it Bushbranch.

He used to say, "I'm just going
to see Bushbranch."

Shall I get it tied up outside.

He used to play cricket on the
green and things like that.

He was a lovable kid.

People say I was pretty
spoilt and I was selfish.

I'm sure I must've had
some qualities,

but not from what I hear.

I was very fond of painting
and drawing.

Anything that was introverted.

He used to draw comic pictures,

like Batman and planes
and airplanes.

But he was a bit of a loner
at that time, you know.

I knew that I was different.

And I knew that other kids
at school

regarded me as different
or maybe inferior

and I did have a massive
inferiority complex.

And I didn't know why.

Then I found out that my
sister was really my mother.

She left when I was very,
very young

and I was raised
by my grandparents.

I was a widow with two children.

At twenty seven.

My daughter had a baby,
and went to Canada.

So, I more or less
brought the baby up.

I had no children
with my second husband.

So he really loved Eric.

Pat was very lively,
very difficult youngster.

She wasn't easy.

Rose used to say
she was a nightmare.

She met this Canadian.

He was over here in England
in the village.

And it was one-night-stand.

In those days to be pregnant

and young and you're not married
was awful.

Rick was born and she just went
to Canada.

If Rose and Jack
hadn't have taken him on,

I don't know what would have
happened to him.

I really don't.

I felt hurt.

Very, very upset.

At that point
I mistrusted everybody

including my grandparents.

I was so confused.

It seemed to me that my life
had been a lie.

Hello, children everywhere.

This is Uncle Mac.
Good morning, to you all.

Here in London on Saturday.

Uncle Mac was on the
radio on Saturday morning.

And he would play
a variety of music for kids.

How Much Is That Doggie
In The Window?

All those kind of novelty
things he would play.

And then, every now and then,

he'd play some different music.

You didn't hear that
anywhere else.

Except on this kiddie's program.

And I thought, "Oh, man,
this is for me."

I didn't even know
that it was black music.

I didn't know about black and
white being different stuff.

But something about it got me.

Something stirred me.

Without me even being
aware of it.

It took all the pain away.

Well, obviously when I got
to the age to buy records,

I went and bought them.

He keep on going that he wanted
a guitar, so...

We bought him his acoustic.

Then he really got into it.

I could get the record player

down to the level that was right

and play along

to my heart's content.

Non-stop.

I used to suffer agonies
and that.

At three o'clock in the morning,
you know, he'd be playing

Big Bill Broonzy and all those
sort of records, you know,

and trying to copy them.

I mean, he had to go to school
the next day, ain't it?

It used to be,
"Are you coming to bed?"

At three o'clock in the morning.
It used to be terrible.

It was always one man

with his guitar
versus the world.

He was completely alone and

had no options other than
to just sing and play

to ease his pain.

And that echoed what I felt.

So, more and more and more
and more,

I wanted to be like that.

I enrolled in Kingston
School of Art when I was 15.

And I was really gripped
by the experience

of getting involved in a life
in the arts.

I wanted to know about
French literature.

I wanted to know about
French cinema, Japanese cinema.

I read Baudelaire.

I read Kerouac,
Ginsberg and Steinbeck.

But I was absolutely addicted
to blues.

Totally obsessed.

I had a record collection.

And I was skiving off a lot

going to try and find imports
in jazz record stores.

Muddy Waters, B. B King,

Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley.

There seemed to be
nobody that I could talk to,

would have any interest in this.

You had to travel miles
to find another person.

We used to meet up
at the Marquee Club

up in Oxford Street.

The blues night was
a Thursday night.

And you would meet like minds
there and just dance.

I met Mick and Keith and Brian
over there.

They were just part of this
crew that would go there.

And so blues music
led me to the friends

that I was gonna have.

In those days, there was very
little interest in the blues.

It wasn't popular music
in this country at all.

I was one of those snobby
purist people.

And I got very interested in
a style of piano playing,

played by Muddy Waters'
pianist, Otis Spann.

I thought well, this music
belongs in a band, really.

So, I advertised
in the Melody Maker.

This bass player got in touch
with me.

Well, he said, "If only we
could find a guitar player.

We could really start to get
this music working together."

We hired a room in a pub
with a piano

and this little fellow walked
in the door with a guitar.

He was about 17.

It was instantly clear
that he had a tremendous gift

and had worked really hard
to develop it.

We couldn't believe
how good he was.

It was a very small outfit
with no equipment.

We all went through
one amplifier.

Vocals, guitars and everything.

We did more rehearsing
than playing.

But it was fun.

Ben was the person I knew,

from the minute I met him
was a serious guy.

And he was a great piano player.

He was a deep inspiration
for me.

And a kind of father figure too.

I thought Eric had an obsessive
interest in music.

I thought it was the very core
of his being, really.

He was very friendly
but very private too.

And he tended to form very
close relationships

with people suddenly,
none of which ever lasted

for any length of time.

Anyway, Eric decided he was

going to be a professional
musician

and so he had to make
a career move.

Ten, nine, eight...

All right, take one now.
When you're ready.

Four, three, two...

We had been
working pretty regularly

and we'd lost
our lead guitar player.

Eric was in the same college
as we were.

We were one of the few
southern British blues bands.

So he joined the band sort of,
immediately.

We did a weekly gig on
a Sunday night

at a place called the
Crawdaddy Club in Richmond.

It was like a party.
Everyone would get together

and just go mad.

And I developed a little
following amongst these people

and I knew that there were
certain ways that I could

get them going.

He had his own group of
followers that used to stand

right in front of him
on the stage.

The Clapton clique.

Usually everyone would

go for the lead singer but
it was different in our band.

It spread and it became
a fan base.

It's great, you know,
it's good fun.

There's lots of people
all comin' in, which is nice.

And we're having
a good time, you know,

with Freddy and the Dreamers,

and The Yardbirds
and everybody. It's good.

We were considered
a good live act.

We were asked to do
The Beatles Christmas show.

And we thought
they were wankers.

But I got on with George
very well

because he was a guitar player.

We were both in bands

and we did a Christmas season
in the Hammersmith Odeon

together and Eric
was in The Yardbirds.

And we met then.

So people that came
to see Yardbirds

were really into the music.

When The Beatles came on,

they'd just start screaming
so that you couldn't actually

hear anything but the screaming.

We would watch from the wings

and I would see how pointless
these guys thought it all was.

Already.

George was clearly an innovator.

But the sad part was

that no one listened.

And I thought The Yardbirds
had real understanding

about what it was
really all about.

And it wasn't about being famous

or getting on TV or having a hit.

...but we're running anyway.

OK.

Jim, Keith and myself

started to have many ideas
about areas of music

we wanted to pursue.

And when the music publisher
came along

with the song For Your Love,

it just felt absolutely right.

It was pop.

All the material we were doing
was blues music

which hadn't even properly
filtered through

to the mainstream here.

So we were pioneering something.

I noticed they were deliberately
growing Beatles haircuts.

I thought we've sold out.
I've sold out.

I've gotta get out of here.

Eric played on the studio
sessions

for For Your Love.

And then immediately left.

We had this massive record
suddenly

and no lead guitar player.

I was so disheartened
by the music business,

because it seemed to me that
everywhere I looked

everyone was on the make.

I think I was probably a nasty
piece of work

to have around, you know,
if you were tryin' to launch

into the successful music world.

Eric came to my house in Oxford.

I was living on my own so,
it was a one to one thing.

And we just talked.

I wanted his advice
on what to do

because I liked playing the
guitar and I love blues music.

But I thought I was gonna
give up everything.

And I stayed with him
for about two weeks

and watched him carve.

We both have pretty
dysfunctional families.

And we would sort of sit
and talk about these things.

And I thought his interest in
his music was so obsessive

that he didn't really have
a choice about what he was

doing with his time.

He just had to go where
it was best to go.

I'm sure it's been with him
all his life.

And while I was there
someone tracked me down.

And it was John Mayall.

Thanks, Bu.
And before we run out of time,

I think it's about time we learn
to do the Crocodile Walk,

with Johnny Mayall
and the Bluesbreakers.

We're gonna get on a show
with him.

Look at those dancers!

I think, that's his new
guitar player.

It's quite a new thing.

God!

Wow!

When it came to blues
there was nobody like him.

Eric was that special.

He knew the history of it.
The background of it.

And he had the emotional
feel for it.

And the technique to express it.

He was given this freedom
to let loose.

Eric, how much do you think that
his influence

helped blues based bands?

If you're gonna
take it back to the roots

it's between him
and Alexis Korner.

They're the ones that started
actually physically playin' it.

And there were lots of people
that collected old blues records

but that didn't play.

But he worked in the clubs
playing it.

I mean, he's responsible for
the whole thing, really.

The minute I got into that band

I joined a working schedule
I'd never seen before.

We worked seven nights a week.

We played every night.

The Twisted Wheel in Manchester.

The Mojo in Sheffield.

The Boathouse in Nottingham.

The Club a'Gogo in Newcastle.

I still had no idea
how you talk to girls.

I was very shy.

And then suddenly I was
dating, picking up girls.

It was like a girl in every gig.

Eric lived in Ripley
and he didn't have transport.

So it became a matter of
convenience

that he'd stay at our house.

There was a spare room.
So he moved in there.

I had the family, you know,

so he was living in
the family house.

So it was very suburban.

The regular life with the mum
and dad and three children.

At night we did the gigs.

He was very cool.

He had an incredible
collection of records

that I listened to all day long.
For about a year,

I just would put on records
and play along with them.

and I went at it.

A lot of my influences around
that time

weren't just guitar players,
they were other singers

and also Indian music.

I listened to Bismillah Khan
a lot.

I wanted my guitar to sound
like his reed instrument.

One of the biggest influences

on what I wanted to achieve

with a guitar was Little Walter.

The sound he made with
the harmonica,

playing through an amplifier.

And it was thick and fat.

Very melodic.

I had been wandering into
music shops

in the west end of London.

And plugging a guitar in.

I'd try that guitar with
that amp.

And I found this amp
way out in West London

and it was perfect.

It was an absolutely
perfect sound.

He showed up with
that guitar and that amp

and immediately people started
to idolize what he was doing.

And to certain extent that's
what bugged him the most.

He didn't want to be
looked at and inspected.

He just wanted to play the way
he wanted to play

and leave him alone.

Now, from the time
that you left The Yardbirds

and joined up with John Mayall
and company,

your head seemed to change
tremendously as far as

your music was concerned.

What kind of things were
happening to your head then?

Well, I really didn't change
as much as you probably think

because it's not really
an individual change.

It was just put into
a different context.

So, I mean, the things
that I was doing

reflected differently, you know.

I mean the...

The context of The Yardbirds
as opposed to John Mayall

is totally different.
One is pop and one is...

Was then even more earthier
blues than it is now,

the stuff you played then.

And you know, I just played
the same things

but they just sounded different.

One more. Take three.

We had been
on the road for long enough

to go in and just play our set.

But at that period
there were technicians

doing the recording

that just came up to your amp
with a microphone,

stuck it two inches away from
the front of the amplifier.

It seemed to me that
if you wanted to get

the atmosphere that we were
getting in the clubs,

you needed for it to sound
like you were in the audience.

Ten feet away.
Not three inches.

And so when the guy did that

on that day that we went in
to record,

I said, "Excuse me,
I don't want it there."

"Put it over there."

He said, " Well, you're making
our job really difficult."

And I said, "I don't care,
that's the way I want it."

With Eric playing at the
sort of volume he was playing,

there was no way that
anyone could deal with it.

They didn't know what to do.
So we had to find a way

to deal with it.

That was the most
exciting part of the project

because when we found
how to deal with it,

we had the sound.

That changed everything.

Before Eric, guitar playing
in England had been

Hank Marvin and The Shadows.

Very, very simple,
not much technique.

Suddenly we heard something
that was completely different.

The record sounded unlike
anything that any of us

had ever heard before,
it was completely revolutionary.

Eric, now that blues
have started to emerge

as a really very powerful force
on the pop scene.

And everyone's latching
on to it even though

they don't necessarily
understand the music.

Now, do you think
this is a bad thing?

No, you see, what will happen is
that after a long time,

they will become
so well educated musically

that they'll be able to dig
spades singing the blues

instead of having to take
watered down imitations.

They won't have
to accept that any more

because they'll be
free thinking enough

to be able to look
at a colored man and dig him

without having any hang ups.
You know?

And then all the white guys
are gonna have to find

something their own to play,

that's good enough
to stand up to it

because they won't be accepted,
they'll be rejected.

There won't be any white
blues bands,

it couldn't happen.

What is it you think
about the music that draws

young white kids to it?

Now, you mentioned
the fact that,

groups like The Rolling Stones

have turned them on
to the music.

I think white kids really
love a beautiful sound.

That deep tone.

Then even white kids
sing the blues.

They can play more blues than
I can ever dream of playing.

But you know, they'll never be
able to vocal like me,

you know that.

And I'm singing that
out to the church

and got that big tone,
I guess that's why

the white kids come
to see me so often.

Does it have something
to do with the feeling that...

That's what I'm saying,
that tone is the feeling,

you got the feeling in there,
for those kids.

And there's no way
you can counterfeit that?

You can't counterfeit that.

You mean, in other words...

The young kids can learn
to play a guitar that way

but they can't learn
to sing that way?

Like me?

- You mean, white kids?
- Yeah.

Oh, no.

- You know better than that.
- Why is that?

They ain't got enough soul

and they didn't have
enough hard times.

I came around to Jones' house
one day

and he'd been out in
the garden reading

The Melody Maker
and he was furious.

And he said, "Eric's rehearsing
with a band in some church."

And I said, "Oh, is he?"

All of a sudden, there it was.

There was this new group
that's gonna be

making its debut somewhere
and that was it.

It was very sudden.

Total lunatic.

Just said he's gonna quit.

I wanted to be a blues trio.

Fusing jazz and rock.

It was just a thing where

the three of us liked
one another's playing

and we decided to do it.

It's so lovely now,
I kissed Eric Clapton.

I kissed him right on the lips.

I kissed the fairest
soul-brother in England.

See right now man?

Right now we're stoned
completely out of our minds.

And I find out,
even when I get sober,

I find out that I tell more
of the truth on my own self, man

when I am like this
than I am when I'm sober.

What you're going through now,
you know,

might in actual fact,
without you knowing it

just be a phase.

Your set of values now
might not exist

in any way in the next two years

they might change so completely.

Oh, beautiful.

The first time
I saw Jimi, I think

it was a gig we did in London

and I saw him a couple
of times at the speakeasy.

He used to come around to
the flat a lot and stay there.

We had a great time really.

He was so shy, and quiet,
withdrawn and gentle.

We talk about every day
kind of ambitions, you know?

And the way we want
the world to be

but the conversation never
stayed that way for very long.

'Cause Jimi had such
a surreal mind.

Once you start going
talking about anything.

You'd end up talking about
flying saucers, you know?

Sort of purple velvet moons.

It's like.

And you couldn't keep him on the
ground for any length of time.

You see, music and life itself
go together so closely...

it's sort of like a parallel
that turns on.

Music is nothing but imagination

sent out from somebody's soul,
man...

sent out from somebody's
real heart

that they can only express
through notes.

The only thing you can give
to anyone,

like the only thing I can give
to my darling Jimi here,

is time.

Eric came to my house in Oxford
with Ginger

and said he was forming Cream

and would I like to go
and work for them.

I think he wanted somebody
around who he knew.

He was enjoying the new fruits
of success hugely

and the psychedelic musical
adventure that was happening.

Eric and Cream came to New York

and they came to record
in our studio.

They played songs
that are not absolutely

in a 12 or eight bar form
but have a blues feel.

It's a new music.

Especially when Eric
played the guitar.

When I walked into my studio,

I had a bunch of English
roadies setting up

double stacks of Marshalls

and double bass drums
and double cymbal stands

and so I just looked
and I thought,

"What, have I got two
of everything?"

I couldn't believe what
I was looking at,

it was just three men.

What is the reaction to
The Cream in England?

Very good, very good,
we're very popular there.

Blues now, in England, is as big
as any other kind of music.

Whose work do you admire now?

The greatest young guitarist
on the scene at the moment

is a guy by the name
of Jimi Hendrix

who comes from New York.

He has his own group
in England now

called The Jimi Hendrix
Experience

which is a beautiful band,
you know.

He just plays blues things
and he freaks out occasionally.

And naturally I love BB King
and Otis Rush, and Albert King.

Do you ever think
there will be a time

when the authentic blues people

can be accepted by the mass
audiences?

I think it's going to be
a long time

because it's so tightly linked
in with the racial problem

in America.

For all the white people
in America

to acknowledge the success
of an American blues musician

is for them to completely
accept the civil rights.

It'll take a long time.

We were recording
in Atlantic Studios.

We're sharing that workspace
with Ray Charles,

Aretha Franklin, Otis Redding

and Wilson Pickett,
so we were in their play room.

A lot of the time,
we were going out

as Otis Redding was coming in
or Aretha Franklin was coming,

the sessions would overlap.

And one day Ahmet said,

"Well, would you like
to play?"

And I said,
"Would I? You kidding?"

- Okay.
- Standby.

I looked in
and there was Joe South,

Bobby Hinton, Bobby Womack.

There were like five
guitar players on the floor

and Aretha on piano, singing.

And I went in there
with my permed hair

and pink trousers,
high-heeled boots.

Looking like a freak from Mars

and they looked at me
like, "What's this?"

And I sat down and played.

Aretha Franklin started
laughing when she saw Eric

because he was wearing
a psychedelic costume.

But when Eric played the guitar,
Aretha stopped laughing

because it was the real thing.

Man, that was it,
I thought if that comes out.

I don't have to do
anything again.

I had just arrived
from Paris to be a model.

When I met Eric,
I didn't know who he was at all.

He was a bit shy,
he was a bit inhibited at first.

But then we started
going out together.

And we pretty much moved in
together very quickly.

Charlotte was very funny

and very, very open minded.

We had a friendship.

We just were comfortable
together.

She saw who I was
for better or worse.

I just started feeling like
Alice in Wonderland.

I was totally into the Beatles.

The next minute, we were invited

to take part of this
special event by the Beatles.

It was like, "Okay."
You know, normal.

When I moved into
the Kings Road,

George would drop by
on his route home out to Esher.

And I've been going to Esher
a few times

taking acid together, bit by
bit, we were becoming friends.

The audience there
was so much more advanced.

Cream very quickly realized,
they could just open up.

I mean they would play the
same number for 40 minutes.

Improvisation every night.

And the audience
couldn't have enough of it.

It was exactly what
they had wanted to hear

and it had suddenly arrived.

Many of these young players
coming along today

have been really turned on by
the way you play the guitar.

I'm grateful some of them
seem to like me.

I'm grateful because

to me, it seemed
to open a few doors for us

that seemed like that was
never gonna be open.

Because until the days of
rock 'n' roll a lot of times,

a lot of the places, we...
They just wouldn't accept us.

I'm not speaking racially,

I'm just talking about
the people at the hall

that just wouldn't accept us
in some of the places that...

The door's open now,
that you can go into.

B. B King played
the joints for years.

Otis Redding was
a black R&B singer

who played the southern route.

And what rock n' roll or
the popularity of rock n' roll

has afforded us
is the opportunity to use

good rock n' roll
as bait to bring the people in,

but once they got it,
to present them with

some of the people who,
were it not for them,

there wouldn't be
any rock n' roll.

I was playing in New York City

and I've been hearing about
this young guitarist,

the Cream and so on.

I met this young man.

Long hair and very quiet like.

We had a jam session.

Eric seemed to take time,
it's like putting pieces

in a puzzle.

Like an old seasoned guy.

It could sound good,
but if you gonna play

more than two or three notes,
you need to have

a story to tell.

And he told me
some very good ones.

White America had
never paid attention to blues.

So thanks to Eric, really,
it awakened.

Started them listening.

Now a lot of doors were
opened for B. B. King

and many other people
like myself.

They did like 300 shows a year.

And had a huge, huge following

based on their live
performances.

So at that time, Cream got to be

the biggest band in the world.

Much bigger than
the Rolling Stones

and the Beatles.

Eric Clapton, please.

When you're improvising,
do you use stock phrases?

Yeah, there are always phrases
that I always play

that are stock phrases
that I work from you know,

which are just like...

All these runs.

You know, I've put
together from old phrases

that I've first
started on like...

And then they're just
kind of messed up

with other things
which I've learned like...

If a guy likes playing football,

then that's what he'll use
to get...

To get all of his,
kind of, basic...

Kind of, angry bits
out of him, you know,

that you build up through
any day.

You can just, someone
is tooting the horn

in the car behind you
and you'll get angry

and you have no release
for it, you know?

Well, that happens to everybody,

but you know,
I've got the advantage of being

able to sort of play that out

on the guitar.

By being sort of...

fairly aggressive in
the way I'm playing,

not the way I use it.

That can be done too
with people like The Who.

Can you show us?

What you mean, you want me
to break the guitar up?

Well, no, not quite,

just an example of aggression
in your music.

Yeah, right.

Eric wasn't the best
communicator.

There was a lot of unsaid
things, you know,

about where he was at.

He enjoyed part of it very much.

There was an aspect
of being adored.

But it was difficult to keep up.

And to be on tour
for months and months.

There was constant,
serious dispute

between Jack and Ginger
every day.

It didn't matter to them what
they were arguing about really.

It was just, they were
at each other's throats

and it was very intense.

We shut one another out,

I mean I would just run away
from one another.

We never socialized.

We never really shared ideas
any more,

we just got together on stage
and played

and then
went out different ways.

The whole thing was awful.

Eric was picking up his guitar
at home.

And twanging on it non-stop.

Which is not always
the easiest thing

when you're trying to have
a conversation with somebody.

I remember finding myself
talking

and I would get a riff
from the guitar back,

rather than
proper communication.

It was very hard to keep up
on an emotional, personal level.

You know, I'm in love with Eric.

And then the world's
in love with him.

We just didn't talk about
feelings.

Eric just wouldn't go there.

I always felt he was
running away from something.

He started going to George
and Pattie's quite a lot

when they lived in Surrey.

When Cream broke up,
I think spiritually,

he was really rather bereft.

And he enjoyed hanging out
and played guitar

and started writing all day.

Yes?

Start again.

Okay.

George said,
"I'm going to do this song,

"I want you to play
the guitar."

- How we doing there, George?
- How we doing, Hal?

We did maybe two or three takes,

and there was a very few
attempts at the song.

Yes?

Just start again.

They were fast and furious,
they were harsh judges.

It was just one policeman.

His name was Inspector Pilcher.

He wanted to bust
all of the people

that were in the pop business
for drugs.

He ended up getting done
for corruption.

He busted George

and the word was,
he had planted dope.

Ginger knew someone
in the police force,

who said I was
on Pilcher's list.

That night, the Pheasantry
got raided

and they planted
hash everywhere.

So I thought, well,
I better get out of town.

It was the first time
I spent any money really,

any of the money
that I made with Cream.

I never owned anything before.

I mean, I'd been bumming
around all my life

from the day that I first
left Ripley.

I just fell in love with it.

I had the most incredible
feeling of coming home.

Now, Eric had a house in Ewhurst

which is just beyond Esher.

So it's quite easy for
the two of them

to go to each other's houses.

And it was just like a really
nice friendship going on.

George had a lot of respect
for Eric's guitar playing.

It was just four friends.

We'd hang out together

and we'd go to
the restaurants and bars.

He used to come over
to the house quite a lot.

Not always to see George.

I think as time went on.

You know how some people
have that stare that's longer

than it should be?

And I caught a couple of those.

I knew it was wrong.

George was my best friend.

But I felt a compulsion
towards her.

That she was probably
the most desirable woman

I had ever met.

And even though,
they were married,

I wanted her.

Even though she was unavailable

and that frightened me.

I felt there was a big
confusion in his head

about women and what they
represented to him.

It was so intense
and he was so intense.

It would have been OK, if my
daughter hadn't come home.

'Cause he'd always call me Mum,
little Mum.

But it never changed with him.

When I was nine,
my grandmother said to me.

This lady's coming
and she's your real mum

and we're gonna go and meet her

and she's gonna stay
for a little while.

She arrived by boat and we went
to meet her at Southampton.

She was on
one of those big liners.

She came with two kids.

Rick was very quiet that day.

He's very shy.

He wanted to see his real mum.

And I think Rick
was looking for love.

We got back to Ripley

and then when everyone came down
to get a cup of tea or whatever.

I wanted to know
the most important thing.

"You're my mum,
are you gonna be my mum?"

And she said,

"No. I think it's best
we leave it the way it is."

It was so cruel.

She didn't like the fact
he called her, "mum."

I couldn't believe anybody
could be so nasty.

She brought her other son, Bryan

and he said to Rick,
"Are you my brother?"

And she heard that,
and she said,

"No, he's not your brother."

I couldn't believe it, she could
say things like that to a child.

I was so angry with her.

I just felt rejection.

I didn't talk to anybody.

I was more on my own
than I had ever been.

Eric felt that he wanted to try
something a bit different

musically and asked me
if I'd be interested.

We were essentially
just experimenting.

None of us more than Eric
I think,

he was definitely going
through something.

We were just having fun,
we hadn't got an agenda.

I wrote a song called,
Presence of the Lord

which it starts out
with the line,

"I finally found a place
to live."

And I was really writing
about Hurtwood.

By now, Charlotte
had had enough.

We broke up
and she'd gone back to Paris.

And I had begun on and off
to see this girl, Alice.

She was a great woman.

But she didn't know that
I was obsessed with Pattie.

One morning,
I woke up and opening the mail,

I found this letter
with tiny little handwriting.

And I opened it and it said,

"Dearest L."

The spacing of the words
and the size of the lettering

compared to the size
of the page.

It was quiet,
but it was full of passion.

I almost had a sort of
physical reaction

that somebody could write
something so amazingly

beautiful and yet
keeping it quiet.

It was bursting with passion.

And later in the early evening,

the phone rang and it was Eric.

He said, "I mean
what I say in the letter."

The very first time I met Eric,

we were opening up
for Blind Faith.

That band broke up,
so I called up Eric

and I said,
"I just need to get away,

and just to get quiet
for a while."

And he said,
"Why don't you come over?"

We just hung out and played
and watched silly programs

and stuff, you know?

I was offered a concert
which was a benefit, you know?

I wouldn't make any money,
really but it was just a chance

to play somewhere.

Bobby and I thought,
"Why don't we do that?"

So we only did
the rhythm section,

but the only rhythm section
we knew that we could work with

was Jim and Carl.
So we got Jim and Carl over.

And I think that was
the only thing we had planned.

It was all about
just playing constantly.

There was times when
we jammed in E for like days.

There was really no break
from it,

there was like
a constant musical party.

Everybody came over to visit.

There was always
a lot of cocaine.

A lot of Mandrax, which is kind
of like a Quaalude.

LSD, mescaline
and a lot of pot, a lot of hash.

I knew something was wrong
with Eric, he wasn't himself,

he was very distracted
all the time.

Whenever I saw Pattie,
I saw him perk up a little bit.

He had a lot of pictures
of her around,

like modeling pictures.

I think that was even bigger
than his music,

because he seemed
to be so obsessed.

Eric started to phone me
and said, "Come on.

You're obviously unhappy,
come away with me."

And I'd say, "No, I can't.

You know, I'm married
to George"and he'll say,

"No, come on..."

He was fun and awake and alive.

It was the most
wonderful temptation

and I could only compare
him to George

who could be very cold
and would just turn off.

So from time to time,
during the summer,

Eric and I saw each other.

We'd go to little places for
coffee, lunch or even dinner.

George Harrison rang
one afternoon and he asked Eric,

if he and I would like to play
on his first album

that he's gonna do.

He had all these songs,
you know?

Eric and I had talked about
who we wanted in the band.

Of course we knew,
we wanted Carl.

And Jim Gordon
just storm trooped over

and we were ready to go,
we couldn't wait.

You know, because it was to go
into the studio and record

All Things Must Pass.

So, really, we put
the band together

during the All Things Must Pass
sessions.

That was our first recording,
it was All Things Must Pass.

It was the first Dominos
real recording.

But that's when
the drugs were coming in.

This guy would show up
at Abbey Road

and sell you your coke

but he'd make sure
that you bought smack as well.

That was the deal, he wouldn't
sell you one without the other.

Eric says,
"You wanna try some of this?

You know, the heroin.

I said, "No, man,
let me just watch you."

He did it.
Just snorted it, you know?

I said, "What does
it feel like?"

He said, "Pink cotton wool
surrounding me."

Then I went in
to a sort of trance.

It got really mysterious
and I didn't know where I was.

I had been given
a little Persian book.

The love story about
Laila and Majnun.

An absolute tragedy
of doomed love.

The hero ends up alone
in the desert

and gives his soul up
to Allah before dying alone.

I saw myself as that.

I saw the whole experience
with Pattie as tragedy.

Things became rather
tricky with George and I.

I met with Eric, we had
a drink in South Kensington,

he had a flat there.

Eric said, "You know,
I love you and I want you

to be with me,
come away with me.

I just feel that I need you."

We'd been flirting
for quite a while.

But we hadn't gone
over the line.

But that evening.

We made love.

And then we realized that
we were supposed to be

at this party.

Everybody was there.
It was a big party.

I went with Mick.

Paul McCartney was there,
Eric was there.

Pattie came without George.

For the first time, it felt
like there was a chance for us.

Eric said he wanted to talk
to me and we were in the garden.

This was quite late, you know,

because the sun was beginning
to come up.

And George appeared from nowhere

from the mists of the morning.

And I said, "I have
to tell you something,

I'm in love with your wife."

And George looked
at me accusingly and said,

"What are you gonna do,
are you going with him

or are you coming back
with me?"

I felt her detach.

Right there and then,
I knew the deal was off.

So I said, "George,
of course I'm going with you."

There were no extra words,
there was nothing else

to be discussed except who
was I going home with

and I found that
deeply depressing.

Everyone knew that
George was playing around

but she was absolutely
loyal to him.

And I thought,
"What do you want?

Do you want to see me crawl
across the floor to you?

What do I have to do?"

Eric was going through
this major major trauma.

That's why all that music
spoke that way.

It was Eric telling
the truth about

what was going on
with him right then.

That was for sure.

The people in the South
will go out back

and roll around
in the gravel, you know?

About being in love
with your best friend's wife.

Eric did it musically.

He wanted so much
to get Pattie back

and he said
it was time to record.

When we got to Miami.

We set up in Thunderbird
motel down there,

with very large bags of cocaine.

We really didn't have
enough songs for an album.

But we had faith.

Played all day,
played all night.

Get back to hotel,
hole up in Eric's room

or something and playing
that thing.

Once more, once more,
once more. Sorry.

They started playing
me concepts for songs

that they had not
finalized the arrangements on

and I just kept tape
rolling for a day or two,

because I was learning the songs
as they were playing them

and the songs and
the arrangements were evolving.

I can't do it. When it
gets a little more complicated

than a simple harmony,
I'm not sure if I could.

What if I started
out and did the first...

Is the guitar?

Yeah.

About two weeks
into the sessions,

we hit a brick wall.

We got stuck,
really badly stuck.

I'd written part
of the song in England.

For Pattie.

It had this sort of story
overlaid on it

about a little Persian book.
Laila and Majnum.

And I couldn't finish it.

What will you do
when you get lonely?

That was for sure, a tortured
soul singing right there.

But things were getting
complicated.

The band really needed
a new direction.

Tom Dowd took us all
to see the Allman Brothers.

And I was completely
blown away by this band

and they just were
incredible musicians.

Eric had never met Duane.

He heard about Duane, but Duane
and I were already tight.

It was Duane's show,
he ran that band,

he was the band leader.

That was it.

After the show, we asked him
to come back and we jammed

all night long.

I went down to Miami

Tom Dowd said "I know you want
to watch this cat play

'cos I know you've always
thought he's the best"

and I have, man...

I love his playing, I love the
attitude in which he plays,

I love everything he does,

he's a very wonderful,
very beautiful man.

So I shot down there, man.

And Eric says
"Bring your amp in...

hook yourself up man,

and we'll play,
we'll make us an album"

and I said "OK, man

if that's what you want,
that's what we'll do"

and then we did it.

- What you got?
- My hands are dead!

I play the Gibson,
Eric plays the Fender

all the way through.

So, if you can tell a Gibson
from a Fender, there you go!

If you can't you just go ahead
and hallucinate, I don't care!

I got two slide tracks on it,

Eric's got an acoustic track
on it

and I believe there's an extra
percussion track on it too,

I'm not sure.

There's a lot of goodness on
that album man, I mean it.

Duane and I just
became inseparable

for the rest of the time
we were there.

He was the catalyst we needed.

It was all about love songs.

Ballads with a different tempo.

It was that what
we can't see or touch

or smell, or taste or feel.

And of course,
it was all about Pattie.

That's why Eric is singing all
that pain and agony and stuff.

I met with Eric
in South Kensington

he said, "I've got something
for you to hear."

He played me this album.

My gosh, it was so powerful.

I was at bursting point
of emotion.

I couldn't believe that
I was the inspiration

for him putting this together.

I thought when I heard it,

that everyone would know
it was about me.

And I didn't want this
to happen.

I couldn't stop listening to it.

But once the album was finished,

I couldn't wait to get out
and go home.

It didn't work.

It was all for nothing.

It was like a...

Rejection.

The Jimi Hendrix Experience
is over.

The acid rock musician
died today in a London hospital

apparently from an overdose
of drugs.

During his short career, Hendrix
flailed his electric guitar

into some of the most unusual
sounds of an unusual music.

I went out into
the garden and cried all day.

'Cause he left me behind.

And not because he's gone,

but because he hadn't taken me
with him.

This made me so fucking angry.

Well,
it shattered Eric, you know?

We had just recorded Little Wing
couple of weeks before that.

That was Eric's tribute to Jimi.

So that had a huge impact
on Eric.

Morning, spot me on the
Bee Gees and the other one.

Excellent.

You hear the new mix down there.

Eric, you're...

That Derek, they oughta be
a smash hit.

I'm telling you, it's a mass...

Bill Baxter, Greenberg.

Jerry Greenberg.
All right, yeah.

Derek and the Dominos,
25 for cash box

and 24 for record.

I considered Eric the most
major artist on our label.

So I couldn't believe the record
wasn't selling in America.

I didn't know what to do.

And he knew, it was because
nobody knew that Derek was Eric.

So, at that time,
Eric was very vulnerable.

Why not call the group...
by your name?

Everybody knows...
that Derek and the Dominos

are Eric Clapton,
you know what I mean?

But then, what's the difference?

But, why, why not?

Well, because...

I guess it's just more fun
to have a name, you know...

It's just lighter, you know?

I read something somewhere

about the idea that you wanna
give up touring,

you're not considering
giving it all up?

I don't think I could
ever stop playing.

You know,
like I could vanish anytime,

I could just stop
making appearances at anytime.

I think I could,
I think that's quite easy.

You know, financially
if I was secure enough

to able to not have to go
on the road

which I'm not at the moment,

I need to go out to make money
to exist.

If I didn't need to do that,

as long as I had someone
around me to play with.

I could probably just
stay at home all the time.

He just finished a show
in America.

And I rang him up, and I said,

"Dad's dying."

He had this tumor on the brain.

He said, "I'll catch the next
plane back."

Luckily he hadn't got any more
shows that night.

But the day after the funeral
he had to go back

and play on a show that night,
you know.

That'd break his heart.
He really loved him.

I feel much
more alone these days.

You know and if I'm alone,
I'll cry.

You know, literally just weep.

What I want most is out.

You know, out of everything.

Because, right now, all I can
see is the suffering of today

and the suffering of tomorrow.

How would you describe
your relationship with heroin?

It comes first.

- In your life?
- Yeah.

It's like surrounding yourself
in pink cotton wool, you know?

Nothing bothers you,
whatsoever, man.

Nothing will faze you out,
in any way.

I also have this death wish.

- Really?
- Yeah!

Why?

I don't like life.

- You don't like life?
- No.

And I'm not gonna live very long.

Eric went into seclusion.

He turned and walked away,
without us.

And he got off into the heroin.

And I was gonna stay there
and wait it out.

But it didn't seem like
it was ever gonna happen.

I thought it was the beginning,
you know.

I didn't know it was the end.

I was in Wales at the time,

and I went down to Hurtwood
where he lived.

I didn't know anything
about heroin addiction.

I just thought because
I was one of his oldest friends,

if not his oldest friend,

there just might be something
we could talk about.

And I saw him moving past the
window upstairs in the house.

But the house was locked.

And nobody had responded
to me ringing the bell,

knocking the door.

In the end, I figured,
"He doesn't want to see you,"

and I left him alone.

I didn't see him
for a long time.

I thought to myself,
given his family history so far,

this is going to be very
difficult for him

to get through.

There are things you don't
get over.

You have to find a comfortable
place to put them.

But they're always there.

With '74 tour, we started
Scandinavia at first,

just as a warm up.

He was fragile,
I'm not sure whether he was

really aware of everything
around him.

What was going on around him.

I managed to come off heroin.

But I just went from
one addiction to another.

And the attitude back then
was that alcohol was okay.

But for me, alcohol was far
more dangerous than heroin.

Mr. Eric Clapton!

Whether it be record label
forcing him,

management forcing him,
may have been a little too quick

going on a huge tour like that,

and throwing him back into
the public limelight

after being a hermit through
the past four or five years.

I'll drink to that.

Eric discovered Courvoisier
and Remy Martin

and just went into it.

If he got a hold of something,

he'd hit at it
until it was gone.

And before you know it,

he'd be through a whole bottle
of cognac

before lunch time's over.

It looked like
he wanted to kill himself.

I'm drunk and I'm ready
to fucking trouble.

Clean up your act.

Some shows, he'd play 30 minutes

and say, "I'm done."

You know the contract may
have said an hour and a half.

But you also have 25, 000,
30, 000 people that have...

Get a little upset...
That you just left.

Sit down and shut up!

It was still legal to throw
bottles and coolers

and can openers and whatever
you want to throw up there,

you could throw.

You'd think your life
is in jeopardy.

Jamie Oldaker!

Smile, you cunt!

The first disappointing
confrontation with my mother

was when I was nine.

I learned how to recover from
that over the next few years.

Becoming good at art

and developing a strong interest
in music.

By then I'd kind of developed
a personal look.

He bought a pale blue silk suit,

when he was about seventeen.

And of course I'd never seen
anything like that

in Ripley before.

And he'd have to take
the collars off his shirts

and put white ones on.

Don't matter what color
the shirt.

And of course he had
his hair done.

He got talked about it in Ripley
because of that.

He was very, very dressy,
you know.

I had my guitar and
that was my total companion

in its little case.

And then there came this
invitation to go to Germany,

because Pat's husband
had been stationed there

with the Canadian Air Force.

He came over to visit us
in Germany

and he was just so keen
on the guitar.

And we said, if he wanted
to bring the guitar with him

to practice, he could.

Because really and truly,
like everybody else,

we didn't take it seriously.

We're on an army camp
and I didn't fit.

And it was suggested to me
that I should get a haircut.

I said, "I'd rather not,
I like my hair the way it is."

My mother put on this face like,

"Dare to defy me."

And I thought,
"I don't like you.

"You don't want me anyway.

And now you really
don't want me the way I am."

Rose said, "Please, do this."

Just to keep everybody happy.

So they gave me a crew cut.

It made me cry.

And a couple of days later,
my brother came in,

my half-brother and sat
on the guitar

and broke the neck
clean in half.

It was like, everything was
done to demolish

my personality

and make me null and void.

I was full of hatred,
anger and resentment.

So I thought, "Okay."

"That's the last time
I trust anyone."

Things became very difficult
with George and I,

and we decided it would be
better if we parted.

I heard that Eric was on a tour.
I went to surprise him.

Our relationship
hadn't been completed.

There was clearly more to it
than just snatched meetings.

I hadn't seen her
for all those years.

Pattie must have known

she was getting involved
with someone

who was pretty unstable.

As much as I could love
someone, I loved her.

I was not just screwed up,
but you know,

a full blown addict by then.

Maybe I never got beyond just
wanting her from a distance.

We would do all sorts
of things together

and he would say, he loves me.

But he wanted
to drink all the time

and it just increased.

But then when he had
too much to drink

or became really seriously
unpleasant

and I felt that he didn't love
me either.

So this was really ghastly

until maybe the next day
and he'd be loving again.

He was quite scary,

and he would scream
at me across hotel lobbies.

He was just listening
to a different drummer

when he was that drunk.

Mind if I have a drink?

No?

"Shut up... you just keep
relying on your past, mate!"

I tell you what, do you want
to come on stage and talk...

You want to come up
here and talk about it?

I'll fucking have you,
I'll tell ya.

It got to be a point
of wondering,

each show, what's going to
happen tomorrow night?

And I used to ask Carl,
"What's up with this guy?

They told me
he's a nice guy."

"You know, I have
to lock my doors every night

and hide from this guy,
'cause he's out of his mind."

When I realized what I said,

I just was so disgusted
with myself.

I was so fucking angry.

And I thought I needed to
apologize to the people

I said that to.

Because it was shocking
and unforgivable

and I was so ashamed
of who I was.

I was becoming not only
chauvinistic but fascistic too.

I was a kind of a semi racist

which didn't make sense.

I mean, half of my friends
were black.

I dated black women
and listened to black music

and championed black music.

But it didn't matter at all.

They could have all gone
to the wall

as long as I had the bottle.

I hated everything.
Everything.

I thought I had
this dream, you know?

About the perfect band,
you know?

You know...
the virtuoso

of each instrument, you know?

I thought I was a virtuoso.

My instrument,

thought Jack and Ginger
was the virtuoso

and, we all thought that.

I'm sad that it
actually ever happen, really.

Because...

I mean, I wouldn't want
to change anything

but probably would've
done better

to stay with John Mayall.

Because it was that Cream thing,
it was all like...

It was just aggressive music.

It's not even worth it, is it?

Just fucking do it.
She's got another stash.

Eric was a very sad person.

Very, very sad.

He was a broken man

who can't cope,
who can hardly speak.

He started having seizures

and then the doctor said to me,
unless he stopped drinking,

he would die.

The only reason
I didn't commit suicide

was the fact that I wouldn't
be able to drink any more

if I was dead.

My capacity for the love
of alcohol was boundless.

So I drank and drank and drank.

Again and again and again.

When making records
during the drunken period.

I personally find it difficult
to listen to,

because I can hear
how drunk I am.

All of these albums have,

elements where
it's moved up a notch.

I've been given
the chance to sing and play

in a way that I hadn't before.

I went off to Monserrat,
to make this album.

A lot of things took place
while I was there.

I had had an affair
with the studio manageress,

George Martin's
Air Studios in Montserrat.

A lovely woman called Yvonne,

very attractive lady,
very funny, very witty.

And I got a letter from her

saying she was pregnant
with a daughter

and that she didn't have
any expectations from me.

She was going to try
and raise the child

in her existing marriage.

I just knew I wasn't capable
of having a relationship.

Okay, let's just
do it more acappella.

One, two, three, four.

"To understand each other."

Am I gonna remember that?

Well, you wrote it.

I was in absolute
denial about my alcoholism.

I had gone to the best
treatment center in the world

but I got into dope again
and alcohol and blow.

And I was trying
to hide it from everybody.

Some people say you have to live
the blues to sing the blues.

During that period
of time in your life

where you were involved
with drugs and alcohol,

did you do that
to justify that point of view?

No, you know,
I was just a party animal.

A fun seeking boy.

And then I was in Milan, touring

and a promoter introduced me
to Lory Del Santo.

I was just smitten with her

and decided I'm going
to start my life from scratch

here in Italy without any idea
where it was going to go.

He was a complete asshole.

There was no relationship,
and I knew it wouldn't work.

And I felt so sad that
he and I split up

because of that ridiculous idea.

But he was a sick person
and he obviously believed it.

We tried to make a go of it.

But she didn't know
who she was dealing with,

I was not grounded in any way.

I said, "Well, look, I don't
think this is working.

I want to go back to my wife."

And she told me, "Well, that's
not really good news,

because I'm pregnant."

Conor was the first thing
that happened to me

in my entire life

that really got to my core

and told me, time to grow up.

Strong man.

I could not fuck around
any longer.

I could not damage this.

Recently you had a child,
what was that like?

Well that came about
quite out of the blue.

I met this young lady
and bang it happened.

It was like the baby
was looking for parents too.

You know, to give it life.

And he's great, it's wonderful.

You got a goal for the future?

Yes, just you know,
grow up happily with my son.

I got to the place where
I couldn't live without a drink

and I couldn't live with it.

When I tried to stop on my own,

my withdrawals were so hard
that I had a grand mal seizure.

I was on my own
in the house one day.

And I got down on my knees
and prayed.

Was a really clumsy experience

but it was born out of real
desperation.

And I said, "Just
let me have some peace."

What effect has fatherhood
had on you?

A very stabilizing
effect because you suddenly

have to stop being so selfish,

you have to think more about
the life of someone else.

It is like a blood thing.

It's a tie for the rest
of your life.

And I love him dearly

and really he's made
a massive change in me.

Lory and Conor
were staying in New York

in this place called the
Galleria on 57th street.

And I was in New York as well.

So I took Conor to see
the circus on Long Island.

We had a great time.

The following day, I was going
to take Conor for lunch

maybe on my own.

It was about eleven
in the morning.

I was getting ready to go
up to 57th Street.

Then I got a phone call
from Lory,

just kind of screaming.

She said, "He's dead."

I thought, "What's she
talking about?"

She said, "He fell out
the window."

There couldn't have been
a bigger nightmare.

Before anyone could stop him,
four-year-old Conor Clapton

had plunged to his death
from the 53rd floor

of the Galleria building.

He made it past his mother
and three other adults

who were in the apartment

to a window that had just
been cleaned and left open.

There was nothing
to break his fall

except the roof
of an adjoining building.

It's just a tragic accident,

that the child apparently
wandered into the bedroom,

wandered close to the window

and just by the fact that
the window ledge was low,

it appears that he just
tragically fell out.

I felt like I stepped
back out of myself.

I couldn't grasp it,
I could not grasp it.

And I went with the body
down to the nearest hospital.

I went to see him

and I said goodbye to him.

And I did lose faith.

It was horrific.

I just couldn't think
about that little boy.

This little soul.

Eric was a fighter.

But I know that

as well as myself,
a lot of his friends

were very concerned
about him, his sobriety.

He was on his own.

Italians had gone home
and Hurtwood was quiet

and it was just me there.

With my thoughts.

I started opening all my
letters of condolence.

Thousands and thousands of them.

I opened one and it was
from Conor.

And it had been posted
weeks before from Milan.

And I realized if I can go
through this and stay sober

then anyone can.

And I suddenly became
aware of the fact

that there was a way to turn
this dreadful tragedy

into something positive.

That I would consider living
my life from this point on

to honor the memory of my son.

I got hold of the little Spanish
guitar that I had lying around.

And I had it with me
the whole time.

From the minute I woke up.

And for the rest of that year,
I just played and played

to stop from facing
this situation.

Music saved me.

Just as it had when
I was a boy of nine.

It took the pain away.

And I wrote these songs
for myself

because I was feeling
terrible inside.

And the Grammy goes to
Tears in Heaven,

Eric Clapton.

And the song of the year is,

Eric Clapton and
Will Jennings, songwriters

for Tears in Heaven.

And the album of the year is...

Unplugged, Eric Clapton.

As much as I'm proud of
what I've achieved musically,

it's all dust really.

At some point, there will
be people who have no idea

what I did and who I am.

And I'm quite comfortable
about that.

Thank you.

Finally, me and my daughter,
Ruth

were able to begin
our own relationship,

which was wonderful.

And it took me to a place

where I was able to have
a great relationship with Ruth,

and also become available

to have a relationship
with another human being.

Now see that's, that was the
first time I felt like that

in my entire life.

I have a brochure I'm going to
show you quickly, called

Crossroads center at Antigua.

This is an Eric Clapton project,
what is it?

For the last three years,
I've been trying to start

a treatment center in Antigua.

For addiction?

For addiction to drugs
and alcohol, yeah.

So are you doing it for people
who live on the island?

I'm primarily doing it
for people that have no money

that need treatment.

There's 100 guitars here,
some of them were with me

through some really
extreme times.

But I want them to raise a lot
of money for the foundation

and to carry the message
of the center.

Five hundred thousand out there.

Six hundred thousand
I'm offered. 700,000, 800,000.

Eight hundred and fifty
thousand dollars.

And sold.

Music has given me a great life.

That's never betrayed me,
it's never gonna let me down.

But if it doesn't have
the same value as knowing

that there are people out there

that I've helped get sober
through the treatment center.

Let's bring on Hubert Sumlin.

Please welcome Buddy Guy.

Put your hands together
for the king of the blues.

B. B. King.

If he hadn't heard
and liked the blues.

He could just about be retiring
from the building trade now.

Having spent his life,
laying tiles like his father.

If you guide yourself
into the worst aspects of life

which he undoubtedly did.

Nobody pushed him down
to the depth

that he felt he reached
at several points.

And nobody has got him out.

Now, I mean that is a very
powerful personality.

It doesn't necessarily
have to show itself

in company.

But it must be there
for him to have survived.

And then I met Melia
and fell in love.

She's everything I ever wanted.

She's my soul mate.

She's a beautiful woman,
she's a great friend.

And she's a fantastic mother.

What more could a man ever want?

Hello, this is Sophie, here.

Here she is.
And this is Daddy.

And this is Ella.

Here is Mommy.

And here is me.

Hi.

It was everything I did
and all the mistakes I made

and everything
that brought me here.

And it couldn't be
much better, really.

I finally found the family
I always wanted.

And always needed.

And now here they are,
and I'm one of them.

My life is completely full.

And I would like to say a toast

to the Boss.

Give me a little
talking music, will you?

Robert, please.

Keep it down, keep it down.

Ladies and gentlemen, for you,

I know that you know
that Eric is a great artist.

He flew all the way to
California to make my first CD.

Not only did he do that,
he's done so many things

for a lot of us,
including this guy.

So I'd like you to know...

I'm gonna shut up in a minute,
but I'd like you to know

that I've been around the world,

I've played 90 different
countries around the world,

and I've met many people,
kings and queens.

But I've never met a better
man, a more gracious man

than my friend, I like to call
him my friend, Eric Clapton.

So I say to all of you...

May I live forever...

But may you live
forever and a day.

'Cause I'd hate to be here
when you pass away.

And when they lay me out
to rest...

As I mentioned, I'm 81 now.

When they lay me out to rest,

may the last voices I hear
be yours.

Saying while we was alive
we were friends.