News
Were You There? The Eric Clapton Visual Anthology Needs You!
26 Apr 13
U.S. Fans, did you see the big ad in EC’s “FiftyYears Further On Up The Road” Tour Program about the search for achival material for the authorized, career-spanning Eric Clapton Visual Anthology? (U.K. and European Fans, you’ll see it when the tour kicks off next month.) Currently in it’s ninth year of production, it will be completed within the next few years. But, the producers need YOUR help first.
Documentary projects of this scope can take anywhere from 7 to 15 years to complete. For example, it took something like seven years for Bob Dylan’s “No Direction Home” to be completed and an even more incredible eleven for Patti Smith’s “Dream Of Life.” Documentary films that air on PBS in America or on the BBC often take 3 to 5 years from inception to air date. So, it’s not surprising that a multi-disc set like the Eric Clapton Visual Anthology is envisioned to be will take more than a decade to hit the streets.
To date, nearly 100 interviews with Eric’s closest musical friends and contemporaries have been conducted. And even more are planned. A substantial amount of archival materials have already been gathered. In the ad, the producers even noted the vintage photographs and items of memorabilia pictured in the tour programme contributed by fans around the world. They’re very keen on finding similar images along with additional on and off-stage material and ephemera from roughly1963 to 1976 including special events that EC was part of like The Concert For Bangladesh, The Rainbow Concert and his 1969 appearance with The Plastic Ono Band in Toronto.
So, the producers are asking you – Eric’s great lifelong fans – to your check attics, closets and personal collections for 8mm or 16mm home movies / cine film, videotape, audiotape, photographs, polaroids, related ephemera of Eric as a group member and solo artist. Things like recordings of radio interviews from the ’60s and ’70s, vintage music magazines from around the world, newspaper articles, concert posters, etc.
These items could come from having documented something such as a chance encounter at an airport in the 70s, a boutique in the late 60s or even film or photos from your first ever EC concert. The material needn’t be ‘professional level’ quality. The focus is on the following periods:
– The Roosters / Casey Jones
– The Yardbirds
– John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers
– Cream
– Blind Faith
– Delaney & Bonnie & Friends with Eric
– Derek & The Dominos
– Solo Tours
Snapshots, film and memorabilia from the British Jazz / R&B / Blues Club Scene 1958 -1964 are also being sought. These items do not have to feature Eric Clapton. The producers are seeking things like photos of club exteriors, patrons inside of the clubs, musicians and bands performing, club membership cards, advertising posters, and newspaper clippings to use for historical background.
If you have any material that falls into the above categories, contact the producers directly by email at claptonanthology@gmail.com and provide as much detail as possible (but don’t send scans or attach video initially). You will be credited and compensated if your material is used in the production.