Eric Clapton - Motherless Children

This is a live performance by Eric Clapton. He is joined on stage by Derek Trucks and Doyle Bramhall II. Bramhall and Clapton are playing slide on this tune while Trucks handles the rhythm part which is unusual as Trucks is known for his virtuous slide playing. The performance is from a concert in France from 2006. It's not professionally shot, but the audio is surprisingly good. Also this track is pretty rare for Clapton to do live.
The song is from Clapton's "461 Ocean Boulevard" (1974) album which was a highly successful album from Clapton, also containing Clapton's version of "I Shot the Sheriff" his only #1 hit on the Billboard hot 100.
The lyrics to the song are traditional and ergo have no writer. The arrangement is credited to Clapton and Carl Radle.
The song is basically about mothers and the big impact and love they have on everyone around them. It's also about the void left should a mother die. So I thought it would at the very least be somewhat relevant on mother's day.
It's a great performance and the audio is surprisingly tolerable.

Enjoy ; )

Cream - Outside Woman Blues

This is a live performance by British supergroup Cream performing a live version of the song "Outside Woman Blues". The performance is from their 2005 reunion concert at The Royal Albert Hall. It's a great performance and it shows just what this trio was capable of and still were capable of back in 2005.
The song was originally recorded by Blind Joe Reynolds in 1929. It has since been covered by a large number of artists, but most notably Cream. Cream's version was released in 1967 on their "Disreali Gears" album. There were only two covers on this album, and the rest of the songs were originals. Also the lyrics are credited to Blind Joe Reynolds, but with arrangement by Clapton. This is also very clear, if you take a listen to the original (click here for a performance of the original).
The song has been performed by a lot of artists and Clapton has also played the song live as a solo artist. Like this acoustic clip embeded below which is a very good version. It really marks Clapton's self-accompanied style and abilities and his vocal ability as well.

The song has also been performed by: Jimi Hendrix, Back Door Slam, Doyle Bramhall II, Van Halen and Johnny Winter.
I love both of Cream's versions of this song. They're both great performances who share displaying Clapton's guitar abilities and his vocal ability as well.

Enjoy ; )

Muddy Waters - Mannish Boy

This is a live performance by blues legend Muddy Waters playing the classic song Mannish Boy. It was released by Waters in 1955 on Chess records.
The song is an arrangement of and an answer song to Bo Diddley's song "I'm a Man". (Click here for a previous post of this song) Diddley's song on the other hand was heavily inspired by Muddy's song "Hoochie Coochie Man" written by Willie Dixon. "Mannish Boy" borrows the one chord stop-time arrangement and is also partially credited to Diddley.
It's quite a famous song and it's been done by other artists as well. It's been done live by both Roger Daltrey and Queen. Also Jimi Hendrix has done a version of this song. And it was recently featured in a H&M commercial sung by a woman who quite frankly slaughters the song. It's just so wrong to see a blues number covered and featured in a fashion commercial, plus why the hell did they hire a woman to record it. Does it make much sense for a woman to sing "now I'm a man"? No of course not!
So yeah listen to the original and listen to both Diddley's and Waters' version of this great composition. And avoid the H&M commercial like the plaque!

Enjoy ; )