From the Cradle
Encyclopedia
From the Cradle is a blues
cover album
by Eric Clapton
. Released on 13 September 1994 (see 1994 in music
) by Reprise Records
, the album was Eric Clapton's long awaited follow-up to his massively-successful live album
, Unplugged
. Per the liner notes, "This is a live recording with no overdubs
or edits except for dobro
overdub on 'How Long Blues' and drum overdub on 'Motherless Child'."
Although long associated with the blues, From the Cradle was Clapton's first attempt at an all-blues album. He would subsequently record Riding with the King with B. B. King
; a tribute to Robert Johnson, Me and Mr. Johnson
; and a collaboration with J. J. Cale, The Road to Escondido
.
of Allmusic feels that the album is almost perfect and that the only thing bad about the album is Clapton's singing, which merely imitates the original recordings and sometimes can't pull it off. Tom Sinclair of Entertainment Weekly
felt that the recordings were "flawless" but were rather boring, especially when compared to the exitement of Cream
's live version of "Spoonful
". The Music Box' s John Metzger felt that Clapton's appearance on Saturday Night Live
to promote the album was more powerful than From the Cradle and that the album had nothing that hadn't been done before on it. Robert Christgau
compared Eric Clapton's work on the album to Son Seals
and Otis Rush
, saying that Clapton played better than the former, but sang worse than the later and felt that "Motherless Child" and "Blues Before Sunrise" were stand-out tracks on the album.
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
cover album
Cover Album
-Tracklisting:#Misono to Utaou! Animedley I # #...
by Eric Clapton
Eric Clapton
Eric Patrick Clapton, CBE, is an English guitarist and singer-songwriter. Clapton is the only three-time inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: once as a solo artist, and separately as a member of The Yardbirds and Cream. Clapton has been referred to as one of the most important and...
. Released on 13 September 1994 (see 1994 in music
1994 in music
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1994.-January–February:*January 25 – Alice in Chains release their Jar of Flies album which debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, becoming the first ever EP to do so....
) by Reprise Records
Reprise Records
Reprise Records is an American record label, founded in 1960 by Frank Sinatra. It is owned by Warner Music Group, and operated through Warner Bros. Records.-Beginnings:...
, the album was Eric Clapton's long awaited follow-up to his massively-successful live album
Live album
A live album is a recording consisting of material recorded during stage performances using remote recording techniques, commonly contrasted with a studio album...
, Unplugged
Unplugged (Eric Clapton album)
Unplugged is a live album by Eric Clapton released in 1992. It was recorded live in England for the MTV Unplugged series and includes both the hit single "Tears in Heaven" and a heavily reworked acoustic version of "Layla"....
. Per the liner notes, "This is a live recording with no overdubs
Overdubbing
Overdubbing is a technique used by recording studios to add a supplementary recorded sound to a previously recorded performance....
or edits except for dobro
Dobro
Dobro is a registered trademark, now owned by Gibson Guitar Corporation and used for a particular design of resonator guitar.The name has a long and involved history, interwoven with that of the resonator guitar...
overdub on 'How Long Blues' and drum overdub on 'Motherless Child'."
Although long associated with the blues, From the Cradle was Clapton's first attempt at an all-blues album. He would subsequently record Riding with the King with B. B. King
B. B. King
Riley B. King , known by the stage name B.B. King, is an American blues guitarist and singer-songwriter.Rolling Stone magazine ranked him at No.3 on its list of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time. According to Edward M...
; a tribute to Robert Johnson, Me and Mr. Johnson
Me and Mr. Johnson
Me and Mr. Johnson is an album by Eric Clapton released in 2004. The album is a tribute to legendary bluesman Robert Johnson. According to Clapton's autobiography, the recordings weren't intended to become an album. The band had rented the studio, but Clapton didn't have any songs written, so he...
; and a collaboration with J. J. Cale, The Road to Escondido
The Road to Escondido
The Road to Escondido is an album by J. J. Cale and Eric Clapton. It was released on November 7, 2006. Contained on this album are the final recordings of Billy Preston, to whom the album is dedicated....
.
Critical reception
From the Cradle has received a wide-range of reviews by critics. Stephen Thomas ErlewineStephen Thomas Erlewine
Stephen Thomas Erlewine is a senior editor for Allmusic. He is the author of many artist biographies and record reviews for Allmusic, as well as a freelance writer, occasionally contributing liner notes. He is also frontman and guitarist for the Ann Arbor-based band Who Dat?Erlewine is the nephew...
of Allmusic feels that the album is almost perfect and that the only thing bad about the album is Clapton's singing, which merely imitates the original recordings and sometimes can't pull it off. Tom Sinclair of Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
felt that the recordings were "flawless" but were rather boring, especially when compared to the exitement of Cream
Cream (band)
Cream were a 1960s British rock supergroup consisting of bassist/vocalist Jack Bruce, guitarist/vocalist Eric Clapton, and drummer Ginger Baker...
's live version of "Spoonful
Spoonful
"Spoonful" is a blues standard written by Willie Dixon and first recorded in 1960 by Howlin' Wolf. It is loosely based on "A Spoonful Blues", a song recorded in 1929 by Charley Patton , itself related to "All I Want Is A Spoonful" by Papa Charlie Jackson and "Cocaine Blues" by Luke Jordan...
". The Music Box
Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...
to promote the album was more powerful than From the Cradle and that the album had nothing that hadn't been done before on it. Robert Christgau
Robert Christgau
Robert Christgau is an American essayist, music journalist, and self-proclaimed "Dean of American Rock Critics".One of the earliest professional rock critics, Christgau is known for his terse capsule reviews, published since 1969 in his Consumer Guide columns...
compared Eric Clapton's work on the album to Son Seals
Son Seals
Frank "Son" Seals was an American electric blues guitarist and singer.-Career:He was born in Osceola, Arkansas where his father, Jim "Son" Seals, owned a small juke joint. He began performing professionally by the age of 13, first as a drummer with Robert Nighthawk, and later as a guitarist...
and Otis Rush
Otis Rush
Otis Rush is a blues musician, singer and guitarist. His distinctive guitar style features a slow burning sound and long bent notes...
, saying that Clapton played better than the former, but sang worse than the later and felt that "Motherless Child" and "Blues Before Sunrise" were stand-out tracks on the album.
Track listing
- "Blues Before Sunrise" (Leroy CarrLeroy CarrLeroy Carr was an American blues singer, songwriter and pianist, who developed a laid-back, crooning technique and whose popularity and style influenced such artists as Nat King Cole and Ray Charles. He first became famous for "How Long, How Long Blues" on Vocalion Records in 1928.-Life and...
) – 2:58 ; this version is inspired also by Elmore James's rendition of the song - "Third Degree" (Eddie BoydEddie BoydEdward Riley Boyd known as Eddie Boyd was an American blues piano player, born on Stovall's Plantation near Clarksdale, Mississippi, United States.-Life and career:...
/Willie DixonWillie DixonWilliam James "Willie" Dixon was an American blues musician, vocalist, songwriter, arranger and record producer. A Grammy Award winner who was proficient on both the Upright bass and the guitar, as well as his own singing voice, Dixon is arguably best known as one of the most prolific songwriters...
) – 5:07 - "Reconsider BabyReconsider Baby"Reconsider Baby" is a blues song written and recorded by Lowell Fulson in 1954. Performed in the West Coast blues style, it became Fulson's first record chart hit for Checker Records, a subsidiary of Chess Records...
" (Lowell FulsonLowell FulsonLowell Fulson was a big-voiced blues guitarist and songwriter, in the West Coast blues tradition. Fulson was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He also recorded for business reasons as Lowell Fullsom and Lowell Fulsom...
) – 3:20 - "Hoochie Coochie ManHoochie Coochie Man"Hoochie Coochie Man" is a blues standard written by Willie Dixon and first performed by Muddy Waters in 1954 . The song was a major hit upon its release, reaching #8 on Billboard magazine's Black Singles chart...
" (Willie DixonWillie DixonWilliam James "Willie" Dixon was an American blues musician, vocalist, songwriter, arranger and record producer. A Grammy Award winner who was proficient on both the Upright bass and the guitar, as well as his own singing voice, Dixon is arguably best known as one of the most prolific songwriters...
) – 3:16 ; originally performed by Muddy WatersMuddy WatersMcKinley Morganfield , known as Muddy Waters, was an American blues musician, generally considered the "father of modern Chicago blues"... - "Five Long YearsFive Long Years"Five Long Years" is a song written and recorded by blues vocalist/pianist Eddie Boyd in 1952. Called one of the "few postwar blues standards [that has] retained universal appeal", Boyd's "Five Long Years" reached number one on the Billboard R&B chart...
" (Eddie BoydEddie BoydEdward Riley Boyd known as Eddie Boyd was an American blues piano player, born on Stovall's Plantation near Clarksdale, Mississippi, United States.-Life and career:...
) – 4:47 - "I'm Tore Down" (Sonny ThompsonSonny ThompsonSonny Thompson was an American R&B bandleader and pianist, popular in the 1940s and 1950s.Born Alfonso Thompson in Centreville, Mississippi, he began recording in 1946, and in 1948 achieved two #1 R&B chart hits on the Miracle label – "Long Gone " and "Late Freight", both featuring saxophonist...
) – 3:02 ; originally performed by Freddie KingFreddie KingFreddie King , thought to have been born as Frederick Christian, originally recording as Freddy King, and nicknamed "the Texas Cannonball", was an influential African-American blues guitarist and singer. He is often mentioned as one of "the Three Kings" of electric blues guitar, along with Albert... - "How Long BluesHow Long, How Long Blues"How Long, How Long Blues" is a traditional eight bar blues song, made famous by Leroy Carr on his 1928 Vocalion Records recording with the guitarist Scrapper Blackwell...
" (Leroy CarrLeroy CarrLeroy Carr was an American blues singer, songwriter and pianist, who developed a laid-back, crooning technique and whose popularity and style influenced such artists as Nat King Cole and Ray Charles. He first became famous for "How Long, How Long Blues" on Vocalion Records in 1928.-Life and...
) – 3:09 - "Goin' Away Baby" (James A. LaneJimmy RogersJimmy Rogers was an American Chicago blues singer, guitarist and harmonica player, best known for his work as a member of Muddy Waters' band of the 1950s.-Career:...
) – 4:00 - "Blues Leave Me Alone" (James A. LaneJimmy RogersJimmy Rogers was an American Chicago blues singer, guitarist and harmonica player, best known for his work as a member of Muddy Waters' band of the 1950s.-Career:...
) – 3:36 - "Sinner's Prayer" (Lowell FulsonLowell FulsonLowell Fulson was a big-voiced blues guitarist and songwriter, in the West Coast blues tradition. Fulson was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He also recorded for business reasons as Lowell Fullsom and Lowell Fulsom...
/Glenn) – 3:20 - "Motherless ChildMotherless Child Blues"Motherless Child Blues" is the name of two distinctly different traditional blues songs. They are different melodically and lyrically...
" (Robert HicksBarbecue BobRobert Hicks, better known as Barbecue Bob was an early American Piedmont blues musician. His nickname came from the fact that he was a cook in a barbecue restaurant. One of the two extant photographs of Bob show him playing his guitar while wearing a full length white apron and cook's hat.-Early...
) – 2:57 - "It Hurts Me TooIt Hurts Me Too"It Hurts Me Too" is a blues standard that is "one of the most interpreted blues [songs]". First recorded in 1940 by Tampa Red, the song is a mid-tempo eight-bar blues that features slide guitar...
" (Elmore JamesElmore JamesElmore James was an American blues guitarist, singer, songwriter and band leader. He was known as "the King of the Slide Guitar" and had a unique guitar style, noted for his use of loud amplification and his stirring voice.-Biography:James was born Elmore Brooks in the old Richland community in...
) – 3:17 - "Someday After a While (You'll Be Sorry)" (Freddie KingFreddie KingFreddie King , thought to have been born as Frederick Christian, originally recording as Freddy King, and nicknamed "the Texas Cannonball", was an influential African-American blues guitarist and singer. He is often mentioned as one of "the Three Kings" of electric blues guitar, along with Albert...
/Sonny ThompsonSonny ThompsonSonny Thompson was an American R&B bandleader and pianist, popular in the 1940s and 1950s.Born Alfonso Thompson in Centreville, Mississippi, he began recording in 1946, and in 1948 achieved two #1 R&B chart hits on the Miracle label – "Long Gone " and "Late Freight", both featuring saxophonist...
) – 4:27 - "Standin' Round Crying" (McKinley MorganfieldMuddy WatersMcKinley Morganfield , known as Muddy Waters, was an American blues musician, generally considered the "father of modern Chicago blues"...
) – 3:39 - "Driftin'Driftin' Blues"Driftin' Blues" or "Drifting Blues" is a blues standard done in the West Coast blues style. Written and first recorded by Johnny Moore's Three Blazers,the song became one of the biggest blues hits of the 1940s. Over the years, it has been interpreted and recorded by numerous artists...
" (Brown/Johnny Moore/Williams) (Johnny Moore's Three BlazersJohnny Moore's Three BlazersJohnny Moore’s Three Blazers were a successful and influential African-American vocal and instrumental group in the 1940s and 1950s.The original members were :-Johnny Moore and his younger brother Oscar grew up in Texas and then Phoenix, Arizona, where they both started playing guitar and formed...
) – 3:10 - "Groaning the Blues" (Willie DixonWillie DixonWilliam James "Willie" Dixon was an American blues musician, vocalist, songwriter, arranger and record producer. A Grammy Award winner who was proficient on both the Upright bass and the guitar, as well as his own singing voice, Dixon is arguably best known as one of the most prolific songwriters...
) – 6:05 ; originally performed by Otis RushOtis RushOtis Rush is a blues musician, singer and guitarist. His distinctive guitar style features a slow burning sound and long bent notes...
Personnel
- Eric ClaptonEric ClaptonEric Patrick Clapton, CBE, is an English guitarist and singer-songwriter. Clapton is the only three-time inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: once as a solo artist, and separately as a member of The Yardbirds and Cream. Clapton has been referred to as one of the most important and...
– guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, vocalSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
s, producerRecord producerA record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music... - Dave BronzeDave BronzeDave Bronze is an English bass guitarist. The musicians he has worked with include Robin Trower, Dr...
– bassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick.... - Jim KeltnerJim KeltnerJames Lee "Jim" Keltner is an American drummer known primarily for his session work. He has contributed to the work of many well-known artists...
– drumDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
s - Andy Fairweather-LowAndy Fairweather-LowAndrew Fairweather Low is a Welsh guitarist, songwriter and vocalist. He was a founding member of 1960s British pop band, Amen Corner, and in recent years has toured extensively with Roger Waters, Eric Clapton and Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings.-Early career:Fairweather Low first found fame as a...
– guitar - Jerry PortnoyJerry PortnoyJerry Portnoy is an American harmonica blues musician, who has toured with Muddy Waters and Eric Clapton.-Biography:Portnoy grew up in Chicago's Maxwell Street neighborhood where his family owned a store...
– harmonicaHarmonicaThe harmonica, also called harp, French harp, blues harp, and mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used primarily in blues and American folk music, jazz, country, and rock and roll. It is played by blowing air into it or drawing air out by placing lips over individual holes or multiple holes... - Chris StaintonChris StaintonChristopher "Chris" Stainton is an English session musician, keyboard player and songwriter, who first gained recognition with Joe Cocker in the late 1960s...
– keyboardKeyboard instrumentA keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
s - Roddy LorimerRoddy LorimerRoddy Lorimer is a Scottish musician who has performed with a number of bands, including Blur, Gene, The Rolling Stones, The Who, Eric Clapton, Suede and The Waterboys. He is currently a member of the horn section Kick Horns....
– trumpetTrumpetThe trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air... - Simon ClarkeSimon ClarkeSimon Clarke is a former English footballer who played, as a striker, for West Ham United.-Career:Clarke was a product of West Ham's youth system. He played for Chelmsford Schools before signing for West Ham, playing for their youth and reserve teams...
– baritone saxophoneBaritone saxophoneThe baritone saxophone, often called "bari sax" , is one of the largest and lowest pitched members of the saxophone family. It was invented by Adolphe Sax. The baritone is distinguished from smaller sizes of saxophone by the extra loop near its mouthpiece... - Tim SandersTim SandersTim Sanders is a New York Times bestselling author, public speaker, and former Yahoo! executive. He joined Yahoo! through the acquisition of Mark Cuban's Broadcast.com in 1999. After arriving at Yahoo!, Sanders created and led the "ValueLab," an internal group dedicated to providing insight into...
– tenor saxophoneTenor saxophoneThe tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor, with the alto, are the two most common types of saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B, and written as a transposing instrument in the treble... - Richie HaywardRichie HaywardRichie Hayward was a drummer best known as a founding member and drummer in the band Little Feat. He performed with several bands and worked as a session player...
– percussionPercussion instrumentA percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...
on "How Long Blues" - Jack EnglishJack English (photographer)-Early life:Jack English is photographer, known for his work in the film and music industry. The first of two sons born in Leicester to businessman Jack English and Dutch mother Jansje Schoen...
– photographyPhotographyPhotography is the art, science and practice of creating durable images by recording light or other electromagnetic radiation, either electronically by means of an image sensor or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film... - Alan DouglasAlan Douglas (record producer)Alan Douglas is an American record producer who has worked with Jimi Hendrix, Miles Davis, Lenny Bruce and the Last Poets. He runs his own record label, Douglas Records....
– engineerAudio engineeringAn audio engineer, also called audio technician, audio technologist or sound technician, is a specialist in a skilled trade that deals with the use of machinery and equipment for the recording, mixing and reproduction of sounds. The field draws on many artistic and vocational areas, including...
, mixingAudio mixing (recorded music)In audio recording, audio mixing is the process by which multiple recorded sounds are combined into one or more channels, most commonly two-channel stereo. In the process, the source signals' level, frequency content, dynamics, and panoramic position are manipulated and effects such as reverb may... - Russ TitelmanRuss TitelmanRuss Titelman is an American record producer and songwriter. He has to date won three Grammy Awards. He earned his first producing the Steve Winwood song "Higher Love", and his second and third for Eric Clapton's Journeyman and Unplugged albums...
– producer, mixing
Album
| Chart (1994) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Top 50 Albums | 6 |
| Austrian Top 75 Albums | 1 |
| French Top Albums | 6 |
| German Albums | 6 |
| Netherlands Top 100 Albums | 3 |
| New Zealand Top 40 Albums | 2 |
| Norwegian Top 40 Albums | 4 |
| Swedish Top 60 Albums | 2 |
| Swiss Top 100 Albums | 1 |
| UK Albums Chart UK Albums Chart The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart... |
1 |
| US Billboard Billboard (magazine) Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis... 200 Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists... |
1 |
| Chart (1995) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Belgium (Flanders) 100 Albums | 24 |
| US Blues Albums | 1 |
Singles
| Year | Single | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | "I'm Tore Down" | Mainstream Rock Tracks | 5 |
| "Motherless Child" | Mainstream Rock Tracks | 23 |
Certifications
| Country | Provider | Certification Music recording sales certification Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,... (sales thresholds) |
|---|---|---|
| Austria | IFPI | Gold |
| France | SNEP Syndicat National de l'Edition Phonographique The Syndicat national de l'édition phonographique is the inter-professional organization which protects the interests of the French record industry... |
Double Gold |
| Germany | BVMI Bundesverband Musikindustrie The Bundesverband Musikindustrie or simply BVMI represents the music industry in Germany. The association represents the interests of nearly 350 labels and music industry related enterprises.... |
Gold |
| Sweden | IFPI | Gold |
| Switzerland | Swiss Music Charts Swiss Music Charts The Swiss Music Charts are Switzerland's main music sales charts. The charts are a record of the highest-selling singles and albums in various genres in Switzerland.The Swiss Charts include:* Singles Top 75... |
Gold |
| United States | RIAA Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America is a trade organization that represents the recording industry distributors in the United States... |
3x Multi-Platinum |
| United Kingdom | BPI British Phonographic Industry The British Phonographic Industry is the British record industry's trade association.-Structure:Its membership comprises hundreds of music companies including all four "major" record companies , associate members such as manufacturers and distributors, and hundreds of independent music companies... |
Gold |