Brian Rasic/WireImageEric Clapton may be singing the blues over a lawsuit that claims he credited a song from his 1992 MTV Unplugged album to the wrong blues artist.
The estate of Bo Carter — a blues artist in the 1920s and ’30s — claims that the 71-year-old British guitar legend incorrectly attributed the song “Alberta” to Lead Belly. Its lawsuit alleges Clapton actually performed Carter’s original song “Corrine, Corrina,” according to TMZ.
Lawyers for the estate say Bo wrote and owned the copyright to “Corrine, Corrina,” which was repeatedly covered through the years and became interchangeable with “Alberta.”
The suit alleges that Clapton’s Unplugged album went on to sell millions of copies, and all those royalties were mistakenly paid to Lead Belly’s estate, instead of Bo’s. The estate is suing Clapton — as well as other media and music publishing companies — for all the profits they made off the song.
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