There were certainly times where Eric Clapton’s typically shy fealty to the originals, not to mention his inability to match the sexually charged vocal intensity of forebears like Howlin’ Wolf and Muddy Waters, turned From the Cradle into a rote exercise.
But “Motherless Child,” released as part of this deep dive back into Clapton’s roots on Sept. 13, 1994, certainly wasn’t one of them. Presented not as a jangling country blues, but as something far more muscular, this traditional composition by Robert Hicks moved with a stomping sense of determination through every phase of a bad relationship. There were apologies for the way his damaged life makes him a bad mate, the dark accusations after an unexplained night out, then the final eruption of anger: “I did more for you than your daddy ever done!”
The brittle rhythm, like his dusty boot was stomping on the floorboard of a front porch, fit in snug amongst the acoustic groove, even as Eric Clapton — finally, blessedly, in a moment that fans have been hoping for since he left John Mayall in 1966 — let the blues overtake him.
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