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 ; )

Eric Clapton - I Shot the Sheriff

This is a live performance by Eric Clapton playing his version of the classic reggae song "I Shot the Sheriff". The performance is from the 2004 Crossroads Guitar Festival.
The song was originally written and performed by Bob Marley and his band The Wailers. It appeared on their "Burnin'" album. The story of the song is quite simple; A man who admits to having shot the sheriff also claims that he has been falsely accused of shooting the deputy sheriff.
Clapton's version was released in 1974 on the 461 Ocean Boulevard album. Clapton's version is the most commercially successful version of the song peaking at no. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. This also meant that this was Clapton's only top charting hit in the US. And with the music standards dominating today I seriously doubt he will ever have a hit that becomes equally big. But that says more about the terrible taste of music consumers to day and nothing about Clapton.
It's a great performance and the band and Clapton really have a nice feel on it in their playing. I also really think that Doyle Bramhall II's rhythm and background playing on this makes for a very good performance. He plays something in the beginning with a wah pedal that just sounds awesome. Clapton has expressed his enthusiasm about Doyle in his autobiography alongside Derek Trucks. Also Clapton's guitar solo on this is long and played like only Clapton can. Truly a great performance of a great song.

Enjoy ; )