Motherless Children
| "Motherless Children" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by Blind Willie Johnson | ||||
| B-side | "If I Had My Way I'd Tear the Building Down" | |||
| Format | 10" 78prm single | |||
| Recorded | December 3, 1927 in Dallas, TX | |||
| Genre | Gospel blues | |||
| Label | Columbia 14343-D | |||
| Blind Willie Johnson singles chronology | ||||
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"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.
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Wikipedia