"From Four Until Late" (or "From Four Till Late") is a

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

song written by

Delta blues Delta blues is one of the earliest-known styles of blues. It originated in the Mississippi Delta and is regarded as a regional variant of country blues. Guitar and harmonica are its dominant instruments; slide guitar is a hallmark of the s ...

musician

Robert Johnson Robert Leroy Johnson (May 8, 1911August 16, 1938) was an American blues musician and songwriter. His singing, guitar playing and songwriting on his landmark 1936 and 1937 recordings have influenced later generations of musicians. Although his r ...

. He recorded it in

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

, during his penultimate session for producer

Don Law Donald Firth Law (February 24, 1902 – December 20, 1982) was an English-American record producer and music business executive. He produced Robert Johnson's only recordings, and as head of Columbia Records' country music division later worked w ...

on June 19, 1937. The lyrics contained his philosophical lines of "a man is like a prisoner, and he's never satisfied". British rock group

Cream Cream is a dairy product composed of the higher-fat layer skimmed from the top of milk before homogenization. In un-homogenized milk, the fat, which is less dense, eventually rises to the top. In the industrial production of cream, this proces ...

recorded the song for their debut album ''

Fresh Cream ''Fresh Cream'' is the debut studio album by the British rock band Cream, consisting of bassist Jack Bruce, guitarist Eric Clapton and drummer Ginger Baker. A mix of blues covers and originals, the album was a pivotal release in the history o ...

'' in 1966. Guitarist

Eric Clapton Eric Patrick Clapton (born 1945) is an English Rock music, rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone''s l ...

provided the lead vocal. Clapton also recorded another version of the song on his '' Sessions for Robert J'' album in 2004.

References

Robert Johnson songs Songs written by Robert Johnson 1937 songs Cream (band) songs Blues songs Song recordings produced by Don Law {{blues-song-stub