Format 10" 78prm single Label Columbia 14343-D | Genre Gospel blues | |
B-side "If I Had My Way I'd Tear the Building Down" Recorded December 3, 1927 in Dallas, TX " Motherless Children"
(1927) "Jesus Is Coming Soon"
(1928) | ||
"Motherless Children" is a blues standard first recorded by Blind Willie Johnson in 1927, and later popularised (inter alia) by such names as Bob Dylan, Dave Van Ronk, Steve Miller, Eric Clapton, Rosanne Cash and Lucinda Williams.
The song has an autobiographical theme, as Johnson's mother died when he was young. His father remarried soon after her death, and later the stepmother allegedly blinded the boy with lye after the father found her in flagrante delicto.
References
Motherless Children Wikipedia(Text) CC BY-SA