Motherless Child Blues

"Motherless Child Blues" (or, in dialect, "Motherless Chile Blues") is the name of two distinctly different traditional blues songs. They are different melodically and lyrically. One was first popularized by Robert "Barbecue Bob" Hicks, the other by Elvie Thomas.

The song recorded by Hicks in 1927 tells of the singer's lack of respect for women and disenchantment with them. The song begins with the lyrics that give it its name:

This song has been performed by the octogenarian jazz legend Jimmy Scott and in a drum-and-bass reworking by the Scottish electronic artist Colin Waterson.

Eric Clapton adapted the song, retitled "Motherless Child", and recorded it for his album From the Cradle.

A song with a similar title, "Motherless Children" (also covered by Clapton), is a blues standard, versions of which have been recorded by Bob Dylan, Dave Van Ronk and Lucinda Williams.

The song recorded by Elvie Thomas with Geeshie Wiley in 1930 tells of a daughter not following her dead mother's advice:

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