From the Cradle by Eric Clapton
From the Cradle is a blues cover album by Eric Clapton. It is also his twelfth studio album. 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 he'd long been 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.
On this LP of blues covers, Clapton sounds about as loose and raw as a virtuoso can sound—in other words, like he's having fun. The results are both faithful and contemporary, like on "How Long Blues", where he pays tribute to Leroy Carr by setting his guitar aside and letting the barrelhouse piano lead. His take on Tampa Red's "It Hurts Me Too", meanwhile, shows no such restraint, following a distorted slide-guitar lead that sounds sharp enough to tear your shirt in half.
